The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Problems Mount up for Liverpool with fifth straight home defeat
Liverpool’s woeful home form is now a full-blown crisis as Chelsea’s 1-0 victory inflicted a fifth successive league defeat last night – the worst run in the club’s history.
It shows how far the defending champions have fallen that this was billed as a battle for a Champions League place but in reality there was only one side in the hunt and all it took was Mason Mount’s 42nd-minute goal to lift them back into the reckoning.
Chelsea’s last win at Anfield in 2014 effectively did for the title hopes of Brendan Rodgers’ side. This one was a blow to Liverpool’s chances of a top-four finish.
They have taken one point from the last 21 on offer at home since Christmas and scored just two goals, one of which was a penalty.
● Richarlison continued Everton’s Champions League charge in a 1-0 win at West Brom.
The striker’s secondhalf header briefly lifted the Toffees into the top four following a third straight win.
Victory ended the plucky Baggies’ minirevival to keep them nine points from safety as they slipped further towards the trapdoor.
Mbaye Diagne’s stoppage-time goal was ruled out for offside as Sam Allardyce’s side remained second bottom.
● Tottenham were the beneficiaries of the controversial handball law as they held on to a 1-0 win at Fulham that boosted their top-four hopes.
Spurs led in the first half through Tosin Adarabioyo’s own goal, Scott Parker’s men had the ball in the back of the net when Josh Maja fired home, but replays showed the ball cannoned into the hand of Mario Lemina from a Davinson Sanchez clearance when he was a matter of yards away.
VAR applied the laws and ruled the goal out, robbing Fulham of what would have been a worthy leveller.