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LONDON. — Mohamed Salah became the first player to score, at least 20 goals in all competitions in four consecutive seasons for Liverpool, since Ian Rush in the 1980s.
The Egyptian star scored twice as the champions beat West Ham 3-1 at the London Stadium to move within on epoint of their greatest rivals Manchester United in the championship race.
“It was a great game, a very professional game, very controlled against usually a flying side,” Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, said after the game.
“We didn’t create enough in the first half. We made little adjustments at half-time and it paid off. We scored three unbelievable goals.”
“These boys are a really good group.
“They’re not happy at not being successful, not winning, but they always have the right attitude.” Klopp’s injury-hit champions appeared to have lost their way after a five-game winless spell but are back on track after beating Tottenham and West Ham in the space of 72 hours. Earlier, defenders Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso showed Chelsea’s misfiring strikers the way, producing stunning finishes in a 2-0 win against toothless Burnley.
Leicester, looking to close to within two points of leaders Manchester City, lost 3-1 to Leeds and Tottenham went down 1-0 to Brighton in the evening kick-off.
Defeat for Brendan Rodgers’s Foxes meant Liverpool — with no fit senior centre-backs and missing forward Sadio Mane — had the chance to climb to third in the table.
Two goals from Egypt international Salah and a late Georginio Wijnaldum effort lifted them to 40 points after 21 games, a single point behind Manchester United and four behind leaders Manchester City.
Salah, who had not scored in six English Premier League matches, put the visitors ahead in the 57th minute with a fine curling lob over Lukasz Fabianski and added the second after a lightning break following a West Ham corner. Liverpool grabbed a third when substitutes Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain combined to set up Wijnaldum for a tap-in before a late consolation for West Ham’s Craig Dawson.
Chelsea manager Tuchel celebrated his first victory as manager of the Stamford Bridge club. The former Paris Saint-Germain boss was brought in to replace Frank Lampard last week with a brief to haul the stuttering side back into the race for Champions League spots. — AFP.
Online Reporter