EPL Wrap: Salah scores twice as Liverpool return to winning ways; Arsenal pip Chelsea in North London derby
Liverpool continued their resurgence up the Premier League table with an important 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in north London.
A brace from Mohamed Salah was enough to give the Reds a huge three points that could well turn their fortunes in a season that has not started as Jurgen Klopp would have imagined.
Spurs now lose ground in the race for the top four as they missed the chance to leapfrog Newcastle into third as the former saw off Southamptom.
It was the visitors who started the encounter the brighter; taking the lead through their Egyptian king Salah, who started the initial move with some nice interplay between himself and Harvey Elliott. The forward followed in the advance, sweeping home after Darwin Nunez set down an Andy Robertson cross.
Salah doubled his and the visitors’ tally five minutes before the break as he capitalised on Eric Dier’s poor defensive header under a high ball from Alisson, and he was calmness personifed as he chipped coolly over the onrushing Hugo Lloris.
Talismanic striker Kane struck to reduce th3 deficit for Spurs with 20 minutes to play but Liverpool held on to secure the all important win.
Gabriel Magalhaes poked home a corner into the roof of the net as Arsenal returned back to the Premier League summit with a 1-0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The goal, which came from a corner, saw Bukayo Saka hit a low cross into the box, which pinged through several Chelsea defenders. The ball looked to be going in, but for good measure, Gabriel poked it into the roof of the net from close range.
After the goal, Arsenal continued to push, with chances falling to Saka and Martin Odegaard, but the visitors were unable to double their lead.
Chelsea had a penalty scare late in the second half as it looked like Marc Cucurella had handled the ball inside the box, but a quick VAR check confirmed that the incident happened outside of the area.
Arsenal will host Brighton while Chelsea face the herculean task of playing Manchester City in the Carabao Cup in their next games.
Unai Emery secured Aston Villa’s first Premier League home win over Manchester United since 1995 as they defeated Erik ten Hag’s team 3-1 at Villa Park.
Leon Bailey scored for Villa in the seventh minute and when Lucas Digne curled in a free-kick not long after there were wild scenes of celebration among the home support. Luke Shaw’s deflected strike, which went in off Jacob Ramsey, just before the interval gave lacklustre United hope – but not for long.
Ramsey’s fine finish from Ollie Watkins’ cut-back soon halted the comeback and it was no more than Villa deserved.
This historic win makes it back-to-back Premier League home wins for the first time either this season or last as they move up to 13th in the table.
The defeat ends United’s run of nine games unbeaten in all competitions and means they waste the chance to close the gap on the top four.
Newcastle’s charge up the Premier League table continued after their 4-1 hammering of Southampton. The Magpies moved into the top three with their latest victory, leaving Saints mired in the bottom three.
Miguel Almiron is in the form of his career and it was his eighth goal in 13 appearances – equalling his best ever season tally already – that got Newcastle started on the South Coast.
Elsewhere, Crystal Palace beat West Ham in dramatic fashion at the Olympic Stadium.
The Hammers who were looking to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat at the hands of Manchester United were dealt a massive blow as they eventually lost 2-1 to Patrick Viera’s men.