Everton deal a blow to Liverpool
LIVERPOOL were left a point behind Premier League leaders Manchester City after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton in yesterday’s Merseyside derby.
City, who beat Bournemouth 1-0 on Saturday, have 71 points while Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have 70 after their fourth draw in their last six games. Both sides have nine matches left. Mohamed Salah had the two best openings for Liverpool before the break, but his soft 15th-minute shot barely troubled Jordan Pickford and then the Everton goalkeeper was swift off his line to foil the Egyptian as he raced goalwards.
Everton’s approach was to harry and disrupt Liverpool and they did that task well but struggled to create opportunities with Theo Walcott unable to capitalise on a rare opening, screwing his shot wide.
Salah threatened again in the 57th minute as he bore down on Pickford, but Everton defender Michael Keane stopped a near certain goal with a perfectly timed last-ditch sliding tackle.
Klopp threw on Roberto Firmino in the 63rd minute, but the striker was unable to open up an Everton defence that raised their game to deal a blow to their local rivals’ title hopes.
Meanwhile, Watford’s Andre Gray scored a stoppage-time winner as Leicester City began life under new boss Brendan Rodgers in underwhelming fashion, suffering a 2-1 defeat at his former club in the Premier League yesterday.
Watford clinched victory in the second minute of added time as Troy Deeney received the ball following a poor goal kick by Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel and fed substitute Gray who held his nerve to slide his finish into the net.
Eighth-placed Watford had taken the lead through Deeney in the fifth minute as the striker got his body across Wes Morgan and rose well to head home Gerard Deulofeu’s whipped ball from a free kick for his first goal in 10 matches at Vicarage Road. Leicester responded after the break as Jamie Vardy ran onto a fine through ball from midfielder Youri Tielemens and dinked his finish over Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster in the 75th minute for his 10th league goal of the season.
Watford manager Javi Gracia hailed captain Deeney’s impact as they moved to 43 points from 29 games, behind seventh-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers on goal difference. “Everybody knows how important is for us because of his professionalism, he personality, ambition and character on and off the pitch,” Gracia told Sky Sports.” |