Liverpool come back to beat Leicester City and move seven points clear
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Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (second from left) secured the win, scoring his team's third goal.
PHOTO: AFP
LONDON – Liverpool manager Arne Slot has urged his men to go “game by game” as the Reds went seven points clear at the top of the English Premier League after a 3-1 win against struggling Leicester City on Dec 26.
Slot’s side were shocked by Jordan Ayew’s early strike at Anfield, but the leaders recovered their composure to equalise just before the interval through Cody Gakpo.
Curtis Jones marked his 100th top-flight appearance with the second goal soon after half-time, before Mohamed Salah’s 19th goal this term wrapped up the team’s 11th win in their last 13 games in all competitions.
Liverpool’s comeback lifted them well clear of second-placed Chelsea, who were beaten 2-1 by Fulham earlier in the day and have also played a game more.
“We went 1-0 down, it was a (tough) game before we made it 3-1 and you saw how good we really are,” Slot said. “It sounds weird, but I think we had a really good start.
“But then one moment where we underestimated the situation led to a goal. You have to work really hard to come back in the game, and it really helped to score the equaliser just before half-time.”
The rampant Reds have been beaten just once in 17 league matches this season.
They have won 22 of their 26 games in all competitions in a remarkable run since Slot arrived from Feyenoord in the close-season to replace Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp led Liverpool to their last Premier League title in 2020 and Slot has them perfectly positioned to emulate that feat. But he is taking nothing for granted.
“It’s bit of a boring answer, but as a manager you go game by game because you know how many you still have to play,” the Dutchman said of Liverpool’s title bid.
“You see especially in the Premier League results that you didn’t expect because teams have so much quality. Maybe if it was the Eredivisie it would feel like this (that we are well-placed) but not in this competition.”
Also through to the League Cup semi-finals and top of the Champions League, Liverpool, who travel to West Ham United for their last match of 2024 on Dec 29, will go into 2025 in contention for an unprecedented quadruple.
Leicester, third from bottom, are one point from safety after a third consecutive defeat.
“Looking at this team and how stable they are and the depth of their squad, they have a great chance,” Foxes boss Ruud van Nistelrooy said of Liverpool’s Premier League title bid.
Salah nearly gave the hosts the perfect start as his close-range effort smacked the post. But, on a night when Anfield was surrounded by a murky mist, Liverpool’s defence was lost in the fog in the sixth minute.
Ayew controlled a low cross before smashing a low shot past Alisson Becker at his near post.
Liverpool’s defence was unusually lax in the early stages but the tide soon turned. Slot’s men were pouring forward in waves and Salah’s curler again ricocheted off the crossbar just before half-time.
But Gakpo ensured Liverpool would be rewarded for their relentless pressure on the stroke of half-time as he stroked a superb strike into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Liverpool’s Curtis Jones scores their second goal.
His 10th goal in all competitions this season was a familiar sight for van Nistelrooy, who coached him during their time at PSV Eindhoven.
Leicester have not won at Anfield in the Premier League since 2000 and their hopes of a historic victory were in tatters just four minutes into the second half.
Sweeping into the Leicester area in a blur of pace and movement, Salah and Alexis Mac Allister teed up Jones to slot home from close range, with the goal surviving a lengthy video assistant referee check for a potential offside.
Salah then put the final flourish on Liverpool’s stirring fightback, cutting in from the right flank to guide a fine finish into the far corner in the 82nd minute. AFP, REUTERS
