Frustrated Liverpool pay double penalty
Wood denied chance to grab his hat-trick
Liverpool dropped two points in the Premier League title race as Jermain Defoe converted two penalties to earn struggling Sunderland a 2-2 draw yesterday.
Ten-man Manchester City moved up to third as they beat Burnley 2-1 at home – Gael Clichy and substitute Sergio Aguero scoring second-half goals after Fernandinho had been shown a red card before the interval.
Manchester United continued their impressive form with a 2-0 win at West Ham, for whom Sofiane Feghouli was sent off in the 15th minute.
Hull City’s relegation worries intensified when they lost 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion despite taking the lead, while Middlesbrough eked out a point against champions Leicester City in a drab 0-0 draw at the Riverside Stadium.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman enjoyed a 3-0 victory over his former club Southampton, although the goals scored by Enner Valencia, Leighton Baines and Romelu Lukaku all came late on.
With leaders Chelsea not in action until they play Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow, Liverpool had the opportunity to close the gap on Antonio Conte’s side to three points and looked poised to do so as they twice took the lead.
Daniel Sturridge’s flicked header gave Liverpool a 19thminute lead but Defoe levelled six minutes later after Ragnar Klavan tripped Didier Ndong.
Sadio Mane’s close-range finish in the 72nd minute looked to have sealed the points for Liverpool but Mane was penalised for handball six minutes from time and Defoe kept his cool to dispatch another penalty.
‘‘I don’t know exactly what I saw,’’ Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said of his team’s display. ‘‘We can play better football.’’
Fernandinho’s 32nd-minute lunge on Burnley’s Iceland midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson was deemed twofooted by referee Lee Mason and he did not hesitate to show a red card to the Brazilian who has been sent off three times in his six games.
Burnley were unable to capitalise Leeds United manager Garry Monk says he does not ‘‘really care’’ about denying on-fire All Whites striker Chris Wood a potential hat-trick.
Wood was subbed off in the 82nd minute after scoring two superb goals in Leeds’ 3-0 Yorkshire derby win over bottom-placed Rotherham in English Championship action yesterday.
The 25-year-old old Kiwi has scored 16 goals in 28 games for Leeds this season in all competitions. He has been on target 13 times in the Championship and is fifth on the top scorers chart, which is headed by Newcastle United’s Dwight Gayle with 19 goals.
Wood is ‘‘in the form of his life’’, according to former Leeds striker Noel Whelan, now a media pundit.
But that did not stop Monk
on their numerical advantage though and City actually improved after the break when David Silva and Aguero were introduced off the bench.
Clichy gave his side the lead in the 58th minute with a precise shot past Burnley goalkeeper Tom yanking the tall targetman for the final eight minutes at Elland Road.
Asked by reporters if he was concerned at potentially upsetting Wood with a hat-trick in his sights, Monk said: ‘‘I don’t really care, to be honest. No, listen, you do what you feel is right for the team and right for the squad. It’s a squad game and you make the decisions on that.’’
Wood made his first start of 2017 after Monk eased him back into action after a hamstring injury with four games off the bench.
Leeds, who are fifth in the standings, played tepidly in the first half. A Kyle Bartley header gave Leeds a 1-0 advantage early in the second half and Wood’s double ensured United celebrated their sixth win from their last eight games.
Heaton. Four minutes later Aguero grabbed his 11th league goal of the season with a superb finish from a tight angle.
Ben Mee halved the deficit 20 minutes from time and there were a few late jitters as City held on for a valuable win.