HOME COOKIN’
Liverpool makes it 17 wins in 17 tries at Anfield after defeating Aston Villa 2-0
LIVERPOOL — Liverpool made it 17 wins out of 17 at Anfield after goals by Sadio Mane and Curtis Jones handed the champions a 2-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday which pushed Dean Smith’s side deeper into trouble.
Following their 4-0 mauling at the hands of Manchester City on Thursday, Juergen Klopp’s side struggled to break down a determined Villa.
Klopp fielded another strong side but with the ground empty and the title already in the bag, there was a lack of edge to Liverpool’s play.
The visitors’ were solid and organized and could even have gone ahead in the 52nd minute when Anwar El Ghazi forced a fine save out of Alisson.
But Mane broke the deadlock in the 71st minute, meeting a low ball from Naby Keita with a firm shot that rattled in off the underside of the cross-bar.
Substitute Jones scored the second, a minute from the end, with the 19-year-old hooking home after Mohamed Salah headed an Andy Robertson cross into his path.
The goal was Jones’ first in the Premier League and came a day after he signed a new five-year contract with the club.
“That’s Curtis in a nutshell. He signed a new contract yesterday which is good for him and good for us. We’ll have a lot of fun with him,” said Klopp.
Liverpool is now unbeaten in its last 57 Premier League home games with 47 wins and 10 draws and they have won 24 home games in a row.
ITALIAN SERIE A
Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne curled in a late goal to give them a 2-1 win at home to AS Roma on Sunday while inspirational midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo made his return for the visitors after a knee injury.
Insigne collected the ball just on the edge of the area, sent a dipping shot into the far corner in the 82nd minute and then celebrated by chest-bumping his coach Gennaro Gattuso as Napoli pulled level with their opponents on 48 points.
Roma stayed ahead in fifth spot on goal difference as the teams are level on their head-to-head record.
Arkadiusz Milik headed against the crossbar for Napoli in the first half and the rebound ricocheted off Jose Callejon and bounced over from close range.
At the other end, Lorenzo Pellegrini should have done better after Davide Zappacosta pulled the ball back.
Callejon put Napoli ahead 10 minutes after the restart when he got in front of his marker to turn Mario Rui’s
inviting cross into the net.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan levelled five minutes later, collecting Edin Dzeko’s crossfield pass and then surging forward to beat Alex Meret
with a bouncing shot from just outside the area.
Zaniolo, 21, who suffered a knee injury in January, was brought on in the 66th minute for a welcome return but it was Insigne had the last word as he condemned Roma to a third successive defeat.
SPANISH LA LIGA
Barcelona responded to a trying week by producing a scintillating display to thrash Villarreal 4-1 away on Sunday and stay alive in the Liga title race.
The Catalans had drawn their last two matches to hand more momentum to league leaders Real Madrid but Sunday’s win took them to 73 points after 34 games, four behind their arch-rivals who won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao earlier in the day.
An own goal from Pau Torres put Barca in front in the third minute, with Villarreal’s Gerard Moreno levelling on the rebound in the 14th before the visitors restored their lead through an outstanding curling strike from Luis Suarez six minutes later.
Antoine Griezmann
stretched Barca’s advantage just before the break with a sublime chip, having been dropped from the starting lineup in the last two games, while 17-year-old Ansu Fati
added a fourth in the second half with a low strike.