Liverpool pile misery on Villa
Sadio Mane and Curtis Jones struck in the final 20 minutes to ensure Liverpool marked their first match at Anfield since being crowned Premier League champions with a 2-0 win over struggling Aston Villa yesterday.
After a 4-0 humbling at the hands of Manchester City in midweek, Jurgen Klopp’s men again failed to hit the heights that made them runaway leaders before a three-month hiatus due to the coronavirus.
But Mane’s sweet strike off the underside of the bar and Jones’s deflected effort kept up a run of 24 consecutive league wins at Anfield for the Reds and left Villa still languishing in the bottom three.
In front of an empty Anfield, Liverpool struggled to summon their best with the big prize already won and just rewriting the record books to play for.
Villa, by contrast, are still desperate for points in their battle to beat the drop and Dean Smith’s men were left to rue not taking their chances on the counterattack early in the second half as their winless streak stretched to 10 games.
John Egan grabbed an 80thminute equaliser as Sheffield United earned a 1-1 draw at Burnley after James Tarkowski had given the home side a firsthalf lead.
The result, at a windy and cold Turf Moor, leaves both teams still in contention for a Europa League place and provided some justice for the Yorkshire side who certainly did not deserve to leave Lancashire empty-handed.
United are eighth on 48 points from 33 games with Burnley ninth on 46, a point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur who host Everton today.
West Bromwich Albion moved a step closer to the Premier League with a 4-2 win over Hull yesterday.
The Brazilian winger produced three assists at the Hawthorns to ensure Albion remain second in the Championship.
Slaven Bilic’s side are five points ahead of third placed Brentford and one point behind leaders Leeds with five games left in the race for automatic promotion. —