Salah helps end Reds rut
Liverpool win tricky fixture at West Ham, Spurs miss Kane
With a trademark leftfooted curler into the top corner and the deftest of finishes from a clinical counter-attack, Mohamed Salah ended one of his longest goal droughts in the Premier League for Liverpool in style.
The champions’ chief scorer is back doing what he does best. And that should make them the biggest threat to relentless leaders Manchester City in the title race.
Salah’s sublime second-half double set Liverpool on their way to a 3-1 win at West Ham yesterday, which backed up a victory by the same scoreline at Tottenham on Friday.
Jurgen Klopp’s team hadn’t won any of their previous five games and had dropped off the remorseless title pace being set by City, who have won eight straight league games.
Despite their lengthy injury list — and Sadio Mane joined it this week because of a minor muscle problem — Liverpool cannot be discounted, even if the third-placed Reds are four points behind City having played one game more.
They jumped above Leicester, who lost 3-1 at home to Leeds and dropped to fourth. Sixth-placed Tottenham also lost, 1-0 at Brighton.
“If you want to win the league, you have to win every game,” Salah said. “This year, City were struggling in the beginning. We were struggling three or four games ago. You just need to keep winning if you want to win the league. It was a really big week.”
Salah scored twice in an FA Cup loss to Manchester United the previous weekend but hadn’t netted in six league matches, a barren run he had experienced only once — in FebruaryMarch 2019 — since joining Liverpool in 2017. But there was no stopping him at the Olympic Stadium.
His opener in the 57th minute was classic Salah, twisting and turning as he came in from the right before bending a shot into the far corner beyond keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
His second goal in the 68th was even better, as he controlled a high, hanging pass from Xherdan Shaqiri with his weaker right foot and poked home a finish with his left.
“The first touch was unbelievable,” Klopp said, “then the fine finishing touch.”
Georginio Wijnaldum added a third off a well-worked team move in the 84th minute before Craig Dawson grabbed a consolation for an outclassed West Ham.
However well Liverpool play, they will need City to drop their stunning levels of late. For Klopp, ideally that happens when City visit Anfield on Monday.
● Missing injured striker Harry Kane, Tottenham struggled for creativity and cutting edge up front in a 1-0 loss at Brighton that left Jose Mourinho’s team six points off the top four.
Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the game in the 17th minute as fourth-from-last Brighton moved seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Kane, who has 12 goals and 11 assists in the league, hurt both ankles against Liverpool and was replaced for the Brighton match by Gareth Bale.
The on-loan Wales winger underwhelmed in his first start in 12 weeks and lasted just 61 minutes before being substituted.
Chelsea picked up their first win under newly-hired manager Thomas Tuchel by beating Burnley 2-0 thanks to goals from Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso. Spurs host Chelsea on Friday.