Bournemouth 0 Liverpool 2 [Salah 30 pen, 75]
Liverpool moved nine points clear at the top of the Premier League as Mohamed Salah scored twice in a 2-0 win against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Arne Slot’s leaders were aiming to become to first team to beat their hosts in the league since November 23rd and they were given a stern test en route to ending an 11-match unbeaten run for Andoni Iraola’s side.
The league’s top scorer Salah, as so often during this wonderful Liverpool season, was the difference, scoring a penalty in the first half and a brilliant solo goal in the second to secure his team’s 17th win in their 23 games.
Nottingham Forest 7 [Dunk 12og; Gibbs-White 25; Wood 32, 64, 69 pen; Williams 89; Jota Silva 90+1, Brighton 0
Nottingham Forest thumped Brighton 7-0 helped by a hat-trick from striker Chris Wood in their Premier League clash at the City Ground on Saturday in an emphatic bounce back from last week’s humbling 5-0 loss at Bournemouth.
Forest remain third on 47 points after 24 games to consolidate their hold on a top four spot that brings Champions League football next season, while Brighton are ninth on 34.
An own goal from Lewis Dunk in the 12th minute kicked off the scoring as Brighton’s skipper lunged to clear Morgan Gibbs-White’s low cross and poked the ball into the net.
Gibbs-White doubled Forest’s lead in the 25th minute with a glancing header from Anthony Elanga’s corner.
Wood netted his first goal seven minutes later when, left completely unmarked, he headed Elanga’s cross past Bart Verbruggen. Forest continued to run riot after the break and Wood tapped home Elanga’s cross from close range in the 64th.
The New Zealander completed his hat trick five minutes later with a penalty, awarded after Tariq Lamptey bundled Gibbs-White to the ground. Neco Williams got the sixth in the 89th and Jota Silva put the icing on the cake with a low strike in added time.
Newcastle United 1 [Murphy 37] Fulham 2 [Jiménez 61; Rodrigo Muniz 82]
Substitute Rodrigo Muniz condemned Newcastle boss Eddie Howe to defeat in his 700th game as a manager as Fulham came from behind to edge a 2-1 win at St James’ Park.
The Magpies went ahead when Jacob Murphy marked his 200th appearance for the club with his fourth goal of the season, but the lead was always precarious and Raul Jimenez’s 11th of the campaign set up Muniz to snatch victory, eight minutes from time.
Marco Silva’s side made life intensely difficult for the hosts throughout and Newcastle, who face Arsenal in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday, will need to be significantly better if they are to make their 2-0 lead in the tie count.
Everton 4 [Doucouré 1; Beto 6, 45+2; Ndiaye 90] Leinster City 0
Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the fourth-fastest goal in Premier League history after just 10 seconds as Everton powered to a 4-0 victory over struggling Leicester and moved 10 points clear of danger.
Beto, the Toffees’ only fit striker, then scored twice before the interval for the first time in his Goodison career to send a timely message he is ready to fill the void left by Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s lengthy absence.
It all amounted to more trouble for under-pressure Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose 17th-placed side have lost eight of their last nine league matches since he was appointed on December 1st.
The contrast in the opposing technical area was stark. Under David Moyes, Everton have won three consecutive league matches for the first time since April after an initial defeat on his return to the club.
Moyes is desperate to add to his threadbare squad before the end of the window but may find solutions from within as Beto, aided and abetted by the much-needed vision of James Garner in his first start since October after injury, played a crucial role and eventually departed to a standing ovation just before Iliman Ndiaye scored the fourth in added time.
Irish defender Jake O’Brien, wo started at right back, had a goal ruled out for offside after he tapped home from a corner kick.
Wolves 2 [Bellegarde 12, Cunha 90+7] Aston Villa 0
Struggling Wolves stunned high-flying rivals Aston Villa to end a run of four straight defeats and move out of the relegation zone.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde scored the opener in the 12th minute, lighting up Molineux with an angled shot rifled in at the near post after Pablo Sarabia played the ball through, and Matheus Cunha made it 2-0 deep into second-half stoppage-time.
The three points, against a side who sealed a Champions League last 16 spot in midweek, lifted Wolves out of the bottom three on a day when relegation-threatened rivals Ipswich Town and Leicester City both lost.
Villa, who made four substitutions at the break and had a goal disallowed in the second half, stayed eighth in the standings – missing an opportunity to close the gap to fourth-placed Manchester City from four points to one.
Ipswich Town 1 [Delap 31] Southampton 2 [Aribo 21; Onuachu 87]
Southampton revived their faint survival hopes with only a second Premier League victory of the season thanks to Paul Onuachu’s 87th-minute winner at Ipswich.
This bottom-of-the-table clash looked destined to finish all square after Ipswich hitman Liam Delap struck his ninth goal of the campaign after 31 minutes to cancel out Joe Aribo’s opener at Portman Road.
A point did little for either team’s survival prospects and as the seconds ticked away Kieran McKenna’s men looked more likely to claim a late winner, but they were stunned when Onuachu fired in after Arijanet Muric spilled Kamaldeen Sulemana’s low effort to secure Saints a precious 2-1 away win.
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