Online Reporter
Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Premier League with a dominant but chaotic 6-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur yesterday thanks to doubles from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.
Diaz met Trent Alexander-Arnold’s beautiful cross with a diving header to open the scoring before Alexis Mac Allister nodded home from close range to double Liverpool’s lead, but James Maddison pulled one back four minutes before half-time.
Dominik Szoboszlai scored in added time and Salah netted twice in seven second-half minutes, before Dejan Kulusevski’s volley was followed by Dominic Solanke’s 83rd-minute goal to set up a frantic finish until Diaz made it 6-3 two minutes later.
Liverpool are top with 39 points from 16 games, four points above second-placed Chelsea who have played a game more. Spurs remain 11th, with 23 points from 17 games.
Meanwhile, Striker Nicolas Jackson struck the post with a close-range header as Chelsea were denied the chance to go top of the Premier League table as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton at a blustery Goodison Park.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim took responsibility for his team’s undoing in a depressing 3-0 loss to Bournemouth that saw thousands of frustrated fans head to the exits well before the final whistle.
Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo scored to keep United 13th in the table, the first time they have been in the bottom half at Christmas in Premier League history.
“It is my responsibility to coach them,” Amorim said. “Of course we want to improve. In this moment, everything is so hard, a club like Manchester United to lose 3-0 at home, it’s really tough for everybody.
“And of course the fans are really disappointed and tired. You can feel it in the stadium, and I understand that, but we have to face it.”
Conceding from set pieces has become a theme of United’s woeful season and the issue reared its head again on Sunday when Huijsen headed home from a corner kick in the 29th minute.
It was the 17th goal that United have conceded from set pieces in the Premier League in 2024, the most by them in a single calendar year in the league’s 32-year history. Wolverhampton Wanderers kicked off the Vitor Pereira era with an impressive 3-0 victory over Leicester City in the Premier League to snap a four-match losing streak and move a step closer to the safety zone.
Pereira, who was appointed Wolves’ new manager last Thursday, made several changes to the starting line-up from Gary O’Neil’s last game in charge and the visitors played with courage and intent to score all three goals in the first half.
With goals from Goncalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes and Matheus Cunha, the victory gave Wolves fans some Christmas cheer as they moved up to 18th, two points behind 17th-placed Leicester — SuperSport.
