Unstoppable Liverpool win Merseyside derby
LONDON: Only two points separate Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League. There’s no doubting who the entertainers are with the most high-powered attack.
Liverpool hit four goals for a third consecutive game by beating Everton 4-1 on Wednesday, taking the team’s scoring tally to 43 in 14 games—the most in a major European league so far.
Juergen Klopp’s 2020 champions remained in third, but with another 24 games to go that’s far from a concern. “The performance of all of the boys was absolutely outstanding,” Klopp said.
On a rare occasion when the front-runners were playing at the same time, Manchester City won 2-1 at Aston Villa to stay a point ahead of Liverpool in second and Chelsea remains a point better off at the top after beating Watford by the same score.
Salah is fronting Liverpool’s scoring charge and he now has 19 goals in as many appearances this season in all competitions after his double at Everton.
Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard couldn’t help out his old team in his third game in charge of Aston Villa. Bernardo Silva’s volley from Gabriel Jesus’ cross followed Ruben Dias’ goal for Manchester City in the first half at Villa Park.
Ollie Watkins reduced the deficit in the 47th with a first-time finish off a corner to the near post but City held on.
Hakim Ziyech scored his first league goal of the season to clinch Chelsea’s 2-1 win at Watford. The substitute converted a cross in the 72nd from Mason Mount, who had put Chelsea in front in the first half before Emmanuel Dennis equalised. Results: Aston Villa 1 (Watkins 47) lost to Manchester City 2 (Dias 27, Silva 43); Everton 1
(Gray 38) lost to Liverpool 4 (Henderson 9, Salah 19, 64, Jota 79); 2 (Bednarek 3, Adams 34) drew with
Leicester 2 (Evans 22, Maddison 49); Watford 1 (Dennis 43) lost to Chelsea 2 (Mount 29, Ziyech 72); West Ham 1 (Soucek 5) drew with Brighton 1 (Maupay 89); Wolves 0 drew with 0
Real Madrid go seven points clear
MADRID: Karim Benzema applauded Real Madrid’s fans after they chanted “Karim, Ballon d’or” as his goal against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday sent Madrid seven points clear at the top of La Liga.
Benzema’s 20th goal in 24 games this season proved the difference in a 1-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu that puts Madrid firmly in charge of the Spanish title race, even after only 15 games played.
“We’re on a good run and I like the atmosphere right now in the team,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.
A run of seven consecutive wins in all competitions has helped pull Ancelotti’s team away from the chasing pack and Benzema, along with the explosive Vinicius Junior, has been instrumental.
Ancelotti insisted on Tuesday Benzema had not been “crying” about losing out to Lionel Messi in the Ballon d’or on Monday, with the Frenchman finishing fourth in the final vote.
Napoli held; Milan rivals close gap
MILAN: Napoli have the Milan giants breathing down their necks in the Serie A after being held 2-2 by Sassuolo on Wednesday. Luciano Spalletti’s side looked set to maintain their three-point lead at the top following second-half strikes from
Dries Mertens and Fabian Ruiz.
But a superb finish from Gianluca Scamacca with 19 minutes remaining put the hosts back in the game and Gian Marco Ferrari snatched a draw in the final minute with a bullet header.
AC Milan are just one point back in second and Inter Milan another point behind in third following their respective wins over Genoa and Spezia. Results: Bologna 1 (Svanberg 35) beat Roma 0; Inter 2 (Gagliardini 36, Martinez 58-pen) beat 0; 0 lost to
3 (Ibrahimovic 10, Messias 45+2, 61); 2 (Scamacca 71, Ferrari 89) drew with 2 (Fabian Ruiz 51, Mertens 59)
PSG’S perfect home record ends
PARIS: Paris Saint-germain (PSG) dropped points at home for the first time this season by drawing 0-0 with Nice in the Ligue 1 on Wednesday.
Nice goalkeeper Walter Benitez parried Kylian Mbappe’s low strike in the 27th minute and denied Angel di Maria in the 51st. PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was less busy but still had to push behind Andy Delort’s close-range header in the 32nd to help maintain a 12-point lead atop the standings.
PSG had won every previous home game in all competitions this season and were on a four-game winning streak in the league.