London: Liverpool continued their compelling push for the Premier League title as a Mohamed Salah double saw them repel a severe challenge from Crystal Palace to win Saturday a remarkable game 4-3 at Anfield and stretch their lead at the top to seven points.
Manchester United also continued their stirring revival under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who enjoyed a record seventh straight win at the start of his caretaker reign with a 2-1 win over Brighton.
Palace were threatening the shock of the day. Andros Townsend had given the Eagles a first half lead, offering them the prospect of their fourth win in five visits to Anfield.
Salah and Roberto Firmino struck after the break but Palace equalised with a James Tomkins header and it needed Salah to extend his league-leading tally to 16 goals, after a wretched error by Palace’s recalled 39-year-old keeper Julian Speroni, to restore the lead.
Even after James Milner was sent off for a second yellow card foul and Sadio Mane made it 4-2, Palace pulled one back through Max Meyer and Liverpool were relieved to extend their unbeaten league home run to 32 matches.
The hard-earned victory took Juergen Klopp’s side on 60 points from 23 games, seven clear of Manchester City, who had lost 3-2 at home to Palace.
Norwegian Solskjaer’s perfect start continued with goals from Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford. The win also meant Solskjaer equalled the longest winning streak by a manager from the beginning of his reign at a club in the Premier League era — six by Carlo Ancelotti, for Chelsea in 2009, and Guardiola for Man City in 2016.
Agencies