Liverpoolpartyon Vandijk’stwo Germany, France, Portugal in same Euro 2020 group
Dutch centre-back’s goals widen Reds’ lead to 11 points after win over Brighton
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool hung on after having goalkeeper Alisson Becker sent off to beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to 11 points thanks to two first-half headers from defender Virgil van Dijk.
Liverpool, who also equalled their unbeaten top flight run of 31 games set between May 1987 and March 1988, have 40 points from 14 games, with secondplaced champions Manchester City on 29 after they were held to a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United.
It was a nervy record-extending 14th successive Premier League win at home for Liverpool, who missed a string of chances either side of Van Dijk’s double before they were forced to defend desperately in the closing stages.
The towering Dutch defender acknowledged Alisson’s sending off was a blow ahead of Liverpool’s Merseyside derby at home to Everton on Wednesday and also praised Brighton.
“We should have done better,” Van Dijk was quoted as saying by the BBC.
“We put him in that situation but it is what it is. We have to deal with it. It is a disappointment but we go again.
“They (Brighton) are a good side. They play football and take risks. It’s not easy. We should have gone better than we did in the second half but you have to give them credit as well.”
EARLY FIRST STRIKE
Van Dijk opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a looping header after Trent Alexanderarnold floated in a free kick from the right and the two combined again for the second goal six minutes later.
Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan denied Sadio Mane with a fine reflex save but was powerless when Van Dijk made his run to meet Alexander-arnold’s corner at the near post.
Centre back Lewis Dunk missed two chances to pull one back for Brighton, sending a shot wide from close range shortly before halftime and then glancing a header inches wide of the far post in the 54th minute.
Then came a frantic climax as Alisson was sent off in the 77th minute for handling the ball outside the penalty area.
While stand-in keeper Adrian was still yelling out instructions to the wall at the far post, Dunk took advantage and stroked a quick low free kick into the opposite corner.
Brighton pressed for an equaliser and Adrian parried an Aaron Mooy piledriver in the 85th minute as the home side held on, much to the delight of the packed crowd at Anfield.
SPURS WIN
LONDON:JOSE Mourinho’s dream start as Tottenham Hotspur manager continued as Dele Alli scored twice in a 3-2 victory at home to Bournemouth — a third successive win for the Portuguese since replacing Mauricio Pochettino.
Despite watching them win their first back-to-back league games since April, it was not all good news for Mourinho, though, as his side conceded late goals for the second week running. Alli, whose struggles so far this season had mirrored Tottenham’s dismal start, has looked rejuvenated in the past week since Mourinho arrived, and put Tottenham in front in the 21st minute from close range. Shortly afterwards Davinson
Sanchez had a goal scrubbed off by VAR, but Alli doubled Tottenham’s lead five minutes after halftime from Toby Alderweireld’s long ball.
Moussa Sissoko’s 69th minute goal gave Spurs a third, taking their tally to 10 in three games under Mourinho.
CHELSEA SHOCKED
A 48th-minute goal from Aaron Cresswell earned West Ham United a surprise 1-0 victory at Chelsea, their first win since September.
Cresswell latched on to a pass from Pablo Fornais and cut inside Chelsea’s 19-year-old defender Reece James before shooting into the far corner past Kepa Arrizabalaga. It was West Ham’s second real chance of the game after a 25th-minute effort from Michail Antonio, whose point-blank header was well parried by Arrizabalaga.
CITY STUMBLE
NEWCASTLE: Manchester City’s title hopes faltered once more as the champions twice blew a lead to draw 2-2 at Newcastle.pep Guardiola’s men were frustrated for long spells after Jetro Willems quickly cancelled out Raheem Sterling’s first half opener, but seemed to have found the moment of magic they needed thanks to Kevin De Bruyne’s sensational strike eight minutes from time.
But City’s defensive flaws were soon exposed once more as Jonjo Shelvey swept home a free-kick six minutes later.
NEWCASTLE: Germany, France and Portugal have been drawn in the same group at the 2020 European Championship in a tough start for the winners of the last three major tournaments.
The runner-up in Group F, which also features a playoff winner determined next year, will meet the winner of a group containing 2018 World Cup semi-finalists England and Croatia.
Croatia went on to lose the final in Moscow to France, which meets 2014 World Cup champion Germany and reigning European champion Portugal in Group F.
The fourth team will be determined by the winner of the playoff path in March featuring Iceland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania in semi-finals and a final. Only the top two teams in each of the six groups are certain to qualify for the round of 16 along with the four top-performing runners-up.
Euro 2020 is being staged across 12 countries.
Wembley is the main venue for the tournament, with seven games including the semifinals and final on July 12. Glasgow’s Hampden Park is paired with the north London stadium in Group D but Scotland has to qualify by beating Israel and either Norway or Serbia.
The tournament will open with Italy hosting Turkey in Rome on June 1
WEMBLEY IS THE MAIN VENUE FOR THE EVENT, WITH SEVEN GAMES INCLUDING THE SEMIS AND FINAL ON JULY 12