Sports
EPL: Salah ends goal drought as Liverpool beat West Ham
Mohamed Salah, the Egypt star, ended his Premier League goal drought on Sunday in style with two goals to inspire Liverpool’s 3-1 win at West Ham.
Salah had gone six league games without scoring until he broke West Ham’s resistance in the second half with his first goal in the competition since December.
The 28-year-old followed that fine strike with another eye-catching effort and his masterclass ensured Liverpool made it two successive league wins.
Salah is the first player to score at least 20 goals in all competitions in four consecutive seasons for Liverpool since Ian Rush in the 1980s.
Georginio Wijnaldum grabbed Liverpool’s third as Klopp’s side moved above Leicester into third place.
“What Mo made of Shaqiri’s pass was incredible. The first touch was unbelievable,” Klopp said of Salah’s second goal.
Liverpool are four points adrift of leaders Manchester City, who have a game in hand, and one behind second placed Manchester United.
After five league games without a win, the champions showed signs of emerging from their winter slump in Thursday’s 3-1 success at Tottenham and this was another step in the right direction.
“These boys are a really good group. They’re not happy at not being successful. They always have the right attitude,” Klopp said.
“We spoke about it in the last few weeks and maybe in the last week we have spoken about the right stuff.
“We have found a way to be uncomfortable again for other teams. It was a great game, very professionally controlled against a flying side.”
Liverpool’s previous away league wins this season had come at Chelsea and Crystal Palace and they inflicted more capital punishment on West Ham in their latest trip to London.
West Ham had won their last six games in all competitions and were unbeaten in their last six league matches.
But Liverpool squashed that streak emphatically, proving that the group who swept to the title last season shouldn’t be written off yet.
The Reds are rounding into form just in time for next Sunday’s crucial clash with Manchester City, which is preceded by a home game against Brighton on Wednesday.
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane was absent due to a muscle injury suffered against Tottenham, while Roberto Firmino was left on the bench as Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri started in attack.
With Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Fabinho all out injured, Nat Phillips came in alongside midfielder Jordan Henderson in Liverpool’s makeshift central defence.
At least Liverpool’s full-backs remain healthy and Andrew Robertson combined with Trent Alexander-Arnold to set up Wijnaldum for a shot that flashed just over.
Liverpool didn’t manage a single shot on target until first half stoppage-time when Salah’s speculative effort was held by Lukasz Fabianski.
But Salah almost broke the deadlock early in the second half as the Egyptian met Origi’s cross with a close-range shot that was blocked by Aaron Cresswell’s last-ditch challenge.
Leading the Liverpool charge almost single-handed, Salah shot narrowly wide from 20 yards.
Antonio was inches away from putting West Ham in front on the counter, the forward shooting just wide on the turn.
Salah finally ended his drought in the 57th minute as he took Curtis Jones’ pass in the Hammers area and showed typically deft footwork to open space for a superb curler into the far corner.
West Ham had no answer for Salah’s clever movement and he put the result beyond doubt in the 68th minute.
Picked out by Shaqiri’s brilliant long pass into the area, Salah controlled superbly before clipping a clinical finish past Fabianski from close-range.
Firing on all cylinders now, Liverpool struck again in the 84th minute when Wijnaldum capped a flowing attack by tapping in Firmino’s pass.
Craig Dawson’s 87th minute goal, finished from close-range, was little consolation for out-classed West Ham.
-AFP
Sports
Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
Gabriel Jesus struck twice as Arsenal became the first side since Chelsea in 2005 to go a full calendar year unbeaten in Premier League London derbies, defeating Crystal Palace 5-1 to close the gap on league leaders Liverpool to three points for the time being.
A hat-trick against Palace in a 3-2 EFL Cup victory on Wednesday earned Jesus a starting berth here, and it took just six minutes for him to reward Mikel Arteta’s selection.
A first Premier League goal since January arrived when Bukayo Saka’s cross bounced off Gabriel Magalhães, allowing Jesus to stride towards the ball and side-foot home. A nervy moment for David Raya went unpunished moments later, but just five minutes after going ahead, the Gunners were pegged back as the red-hot Ismaïla Sarr bent an effort around William Saliba and inside the far post.
A breathless start to the contest continued with a third goal in the opening 15 minutes, and perhaps predictably, it came from an Arsenal corner. This time, Gabriel Martinelli’s delivery was partially cleared, but only as far as Jesus, whose controlled finish flew into the corner.
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Another defensive lapse from the visitors almost saw the scores levelled once more, only for Raya to bail out Saliba with a one-on-one stop to deny Jean-Philippe Mateta. At the other end, Gabriel went close from yet another Arsenal corner before the away side extended their advantage through Kai Havertz, who reacted first after Jesus had nodded onto the far post.
Needing a response, the hosts were inches from reducing the deficit straight after the restart when Raya was equal to Sarr’s diving header. The Arsenal shot-stopper was then called into action again, getting behind Mateta’s rifled long-range shot and catching Sarr’s follow-up header.
Those saves kept the Eagles at bay, and with an hour played, the points were all but wrapped up. A well-worked move should have ended with Jesus’ second hat-trick of the week, yet Henderson saved well with his foot only to see Martinelli turn in substitute Declan Rice’s resultant low strike.
Determined to get on the scoresheet, Rice guided in Arsenal’s fifth goal late on, sealing three vital points in an evening where the only major blemish was Saka’s first-half injury.
Despite conceding in a seventh consecutive away league match – their longest travelling run without a PL clean sheet in over five years – Arsenal now find themselves within touching distance of the league summit, albeit having played more games than the sides above them.
Meanwhile, Palace had lost just one of their last eight PL fixtures (W3, D4), but defeat here means they’re yet to add to their solitary home league victory (D4, L4), leaving the Eagles 15th in the table.
Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
Sports
Atletico grab late winner at Barcelona to go top of La Liga
Atletico grab late winner at Barcelona to go top of La Liga
Substitute Alexander Sorloth scored an injury-time winner as Atletico Madrid fought back against Barcelona to replace them at the top of La Liga.
Pedri opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 30th minute, linking up with fellow Spain midfielder Gavi before slotting a low strike past Jan Oblak.
Despite their dominance, the hosts couldn’t hold on and Rodrigo De Paul hammered home the equaliser on the hour mark after leaping on a mistake from Marc Casado.
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Barcelona were left to rue more missed chances when Sorloth slammed in Nahuel Molina’s cross in the sixth minute of injury time to give Atletico their 12th straight win in all competitions.
The victory means Atletico will end 2024 as the top team in Spain, three points above Barcelona, who have played a game more.
Hansi Flick’s Barca side could slip to third if Real Madrid beat Sevilla on Sunday.
Atletico grab late winner at Barcelona to go top of La Liga
Sports
Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury to retain heavyweight titles
Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury to retain heavyweight titles
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury to retain his unified heavyweight world titles and prove his status as a generational great with another close points win in their rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Having inflicted a first career defeat on Briton Fury by split decision in May, Usyk’s astuteness and will to win once again prevailed at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena – and he retained his WBA (Super), WBC and WBO titles.
Fury, 36, found success in the first half of the fight. Some of the more eye-catching shots came from the Morecambe fighter, but the volume of punches and cleaner work were from Ukrainian Usyk.
All three judges scored it 116-112 to the 37-year-old champion.
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Usyk, an Olympic gold medallist and former undisputed cruiserweight champion, extended his undefeated record to 23 pro wins.
“He [Tyson Fury] is a great fighter, he is a great opponent. An unbelievable 24 rounds for my career. Thank you so much,” Usyk said.
Two-time world champion Fury has only ever lost to Usyk, his two defeats the major blemishes on a record also consisting of 34 wins and one draw.
Fury left the ring without conducting an interview, before IBF world champion Daniel Dubois climbed in and called for a rematch with Usyk.
A visibly frustrated figure in the moments after the scorecards were read out, Fury said backstage he was convinced he won the fight by “at least three rounds”.
Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury to retain heavyweight titles
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