Four-goal Salah on song for Liverpool

LONDON: Mohamed Salah struck four goals and Roberto Firmino added a fifth as Liverpool swept past Watford at Anfield last night.

Salah struck twice in the first half to give the home side a two-nil lead at halftime. Firmino added a third just after the break and Salah completed his hat-trick in the 77th minute with a sweet leftfooted strike.

The Egyptian completed the rout with Liverpool’s fifth goal of the night, five minutes before full-time as Jurgen Klopp’s team moved into third place.

Turkey forward Cenk Tosun struck twice after the break as Everton beat 10-man Stoke City 2-1 in the snowy Midlands to end a miserable run of away form.

Stoke had Charlie Adam sent off before halftime for a foul on Wayne Rooney but defended resolutely to hold the visitors at bay until the 69th minute when Tosun scored from close range after a goalmouth scramble.

When substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-moting poked in Joe Allen’s free kick in the 77th minute, injuring himself in the process, it seemed second-bottom Stoke might salvage an important point in the relegation scrap.

But their hopes were crushed when Tosun beat England keeper Jack Butland with a diving header from Theo Walcott’s delivery to end a run of five straight league defeats on the road for Everton. Stoke remained three points below the safety zone.

Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace ended a seven-game winless run and moved out of the relegation zone after an accomplished 2-0 win at fellow Premier League strugglers Huddersfield Town.

Palace were full value for the victory having taken the lead in the 23rd minute through James Tomkins before skipper Luka Milivojevic’s Liverpool 5 Watford 0

Bournemouth 2 West Bromwich Albion 1 Stoke City 1 Everton 2

Huddersfield Town 0 Crystal Palace 2

P W D L F A Pts Man City ............ 30 26 3 1 85 20 81 Man United ....... 30 20 5 5 58 23 65 Liverpool ............ 31 18 9 4 73 34 63 Tottenham ......... 30 18 7 5 59 25 61 Chelsea ............. 30 17 5 8 52 27 56 Arsenal .............. 30 14 6 10 55 41 48 Burnley .............. 30 11 10 9 27 26 43 Leicester ............ 30 10 10 10 45 43 40 Everton .............. 31 11 7 13 37 50 40 Bournemouth .... 31 9 9 13 37 49 36 Watford .............. 31 10 6 15 39 55 36 Brighton ............. 30 8 10 12 28 40 34 Newcastle ......... 30 8 8 14 30 40 32 Swansea ........... 30 8 7 15 25 42 31 Huddersfield ...... 31 8 7 16 25 52 31 Crystal Palace... 31 7 9 15 30 48 30 West Ham ......... 30 7 9 14 36 57 30 Southampton .... 30 5 13 12 29 44 28 Stoke City .......... 31 6 9 16 29 58 27 West Brom ........ 31 3 11 17 24 49 20

68th-minute secured the win.

The return of Wilfried Zaha to the Palace starting line-up after over a month out with injury not surprisingly had a positive impact.

Without Zaha Palace had slipped back into the relegation zone, losing their last

penalty four games.

Indeed, such is Zaha’s influence that throughout the campaign Palace have not won any of the nine matches he has missed and Hodgson will be hoping the knock that forced him off late in the game is not serious.

The lead came from a corner from early substitute Yohan Cabaye with Huddersfield’s defence failing to clear and Tomkins poking home at the second attempt.

Palace felt, with some justification, that they should have had a penalty in the 55th minute when Benteke went down as Mathias Zanka pulled on his arm but referee Mike Dean waved away the appeals. The second came, with an air of inevitability, when Zanka’s lunging challenge brought down Townsend inside the area and Milivojevic confidently drove home the penalty.

It took a fine save from Huddersfield keeper Jonas Loessl to keep out a wellcrafted effort from Cabaye as Palace stayed on the front foot on a day which may turn out to be crucial in their bid for top-flight survival.

Long-range goals from Jordan Ibe and Junior Stanislas helped Bournemouth grind out a comeback 2-1 home win over West Bromwich Albion.

The visitors dominated the first half as Salomon Rondon twice came close before he headed a Kieran Gibbs cross into the path of strike partner Jay Rodriguez, who turned sharply and blasted the ball past keeper Asmir Begovic from close range.

The home side, who lacked any spark or creativity for most of the match, levelled out of the blue as Ibe’s tame-looking shot from 25 metres in the 77th minute bounced in front of goalkeeper Ben Foster.

But there was nothing Foster could do about the 89th-minute Bournemouth winner as Stanislas curled in a delightful free kick from 25 metres. – Reuters