Mahrez miss lets Pool off the hook
Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez missed an 86th minute penalty as the Premier League champions were held to a 0-0 draw at Liverpool in a top of the table clash on Sunday.
Substitute Leroy Sane was brought down in the area by the lunging Virgil van Dijk, but Algerian Mahrez blasted the spot kick over the bar at Anfield.
The result leaves the pair level with Chelsea on 20 points although City remain top on goal difference.
Liverpool, who remain unbeaten in their past 18 home games against City, came out roaring and dominated the opening 10 minutes, but Pep Guardiola’s visiting side weathered that early storm and were the more dangerous after the break.
Mahrez twice forced good saves out of Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker but then failed to find the target from the penalty spot when it mattered most.
● Ross Barkley scored his first goal for Maurizio Sarri’s unbeaten Chelsea in a 3-0 win at Southampton on Sunday.
Chelsea’s Willian had a shot deflected on to the crossbar and Danny Ings missed a golden opportunity at the other end, before Barkley created the opener for Eden Hazard.
The English midfielder pressed high to win back the ball and set up Hazard, the division’s top scorer, who netted his seventh of the league season after 30 minutes at St Mary’s.
Barkley, who signed for Chelsea in January from Everton, tapped in the second from Olivier Giroud’s acrobatic cross before Hazard played in substitute Alvaro Morata to seal the win in stoppage time.
● Two goals from Frenchman Alexandre Lacazette, a wonderful back-heeled strike from Aaron Ramsey and two more from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Arsenal a 5-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The Cottagers had kept the Gunners in check in the first half, letting in one from Lacazette on the half-hour before drawing level through Andre Schurrle just before the half-time break.
But the north London visitors ran rampant as the second half wore on, with Lacazette scoring again before substitutes Ramsey and Aubameyang all made their way through Fulham’s leaky defences.
The loss leaves Fulham on the edge of the relegation zone in 17th place, having let in four more goals than any other team in the league.
Arsenal, meanwhile, move up to third above Tottenham on goals scored.