Champions League race heats up as Liverpool and Tottenham win
LONDON — Liverpool and Tottenham put the squeeze on Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification next season after chalking up 2-0 victories in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah struck his 32nd goal in all competitions and Sadio Mane made sure of victory as second-place Liverpool breezed past Newcastle to make it an unhappy Anfield return for former manager Rafael Benitez.
Son Heung-min took his goal tally for the campaign to 15 with a double blast in Tottenham’s triumph over Huddersfield at Wembley Stadium.
They moved the pressure firmly on to fifth-place Chelsea, which is five points adrift of Tottenham, when Antonio Conte’s team visits champion-elect Manchester City today.
Manchester United is third, but can leapfrog Liverpool by winning at Crystal Palace on Monday.
Arsenal, whose Champions League hopes are receding by the week, visits Brighton today.
Also on Saturday, Swansea continued its revival under new manager Carlos Carvalhal by thrashing West Ham 4-1, and Burnley came from behind to defeat Everton 2-1 and reach 40 points in the league for the first time.
Cenk Tosun put the visitors in front with his first goal for the club, but Burnley fought back through Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood. Everton defender Ashley Williams was sent off in the 86th minute for elbowing Barnes.
Watford piled on the misery for West Bromwich Albion by beating the bottom club 1-0 with a goal from captain Troy Deeney. Riyad Mahrez scored seven minutes into stoppage time to earn Leicester a 1-1 home draw with Bournemouth, and Stoke drew at Southampton 0-0. Liverpool has lost once in 19 league games and didn’t look like losing twice in 20 despite a stubborn Newcastle rearguard at Anfield.
The breakthrough came just before halftime. Alex Ox lade Chamberlain drove his way through the heart of the defence before sliding the ball to the unmarked Salah, who beat goalkeeper Martin Dubravka from eight yards. Loris Karius denied Newcastle a first-half equalizer when he produced a flying save to tip a Mohamed Diame effort over the crossbar.
Liverpool secured maximum points in the 56th minute when Roberto Firmino released Mane, who sidefooted the ball beyond Dubravka.
“There were two wonderful goals, a few more were possible, and it was a world-class save from Loris,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said.
Tottenham has gone 17 matches in all competitions without a loss, its longest undefeated sequence for 51 years.
“We don’t think too much about the past,” manager Mauricio Pochettino said.