Mane double gives Liverpool a lift
LIVERPOOL roared back into the mix for a top-four finish with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday that opened the door for Chelsea to strengthen their vice-like hold on the English Premier League title race.
Two goals from Sadio Mane in a vibrant first half scuppered second-placed Tottenham’s hopes of keeping pace with leaders Chelsea.
While Chelsea look unstoppable, the real battle is below them where only two points separate Tottenham and sixthplaced Manchester United.
Arsenal put two Premier League defeats – and days of uncertainty about manager Arsene Wenger – behind them to beat Hull City 2-0 and move above Manchester City into third. United stayed sixth after beating Watford 2-0 – a victory that meant they become the first club to reach 2 000 points in the Premier League since it began in 1992.
Fifth-placed Manchester City play Bournemouth tonight when victory will leapfrog them into second.
At the other end of the table, the bottom three all lost with 20th-placed Sunderland thrashed 4-0 at home by Southampton, and 19thplaced Crystal Palace going down 1-0 at Stoke City.
Liverpool were without a league win in 2017 and had been knocked out of both domestic cups during a recent slump, but rediscovered their verve to outplay a lacklustre Tottenham side whose ninegame uneaten league run came to shuddering halt.
Senegalese Mane, whose absence on African Nations Cup duty coincided with Liverpool’s slump, scored in the 16th and 18th minutes and could have doubled his total.
Alexis Sanchez scored both goals for Arsenal at the Emirates, although his first in the 34th minute owed much to luck as the ball went into the net via his hand.
“The referee apologised to us after half time and said it was a handball,” Hull defender Andrew Robertson said.
The Chilean’s second also came via a goalline handball, this time from Hull’s Sam Clucas in stoppage time, which led to a penalty and sending-off.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United looked unrecognisable from the side who spluttered through the early months of the season and extended their unbeaten league run to 16 games.