Zimpapers Logo

Liverpool opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League with an emphatic and hugely impressive 3-1 win over defending champions Manchester City at Anfield yesterday.

The victory leaves unbeaten Liverpool on 34 points from 12 games, eight ahead of Leicester City and Chelsea, and nine in front of Pep Guardiola’s fourth-placed City.

Liverpool grabbed a sixth-minute lead with a thundering drive from Brazilian Fabinho, who pounced on a clearance from Ilkay Gundogan and blasted past Claudio Bravo from over 20 metres out.

Yet City felt the stunning effort should have been ruled out — and a penalty awarded to them — as prior to the break that led to the goal Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to handle the ball inside the box but the VAR review went against the visitors.

City pushed forward in response and Raheem Sterling missed a close-range header, but Liverpool struck again in the 13th minute when Andy Robertson crossed from the left and Mohamed Salah nodded the bouncing ball past Bravo to make it 2-0.

City’s third defeat of the season looked assured when Liverpool made it 3-0 six minutes after the interval as Jordan Henderson worked space for a cross on the right flank and Sadio Mane stooped to head home at the back post.

Bernardo Silva pulled a goal back for City in the 78th minute, drilling home a low cross from Angelino and the visitors enjoyed some late pressure but Liverpool held firm.

Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Aston Villa 2-1 in yesterday’s Midlands derby with goals from Ruben Neves and Raul Jimenez taking them into the top eight in the Premier League.

It was a difficult afternoon for Villa from the moment they lost goalkeeper Jed Steer to injury after only five minutes.

Wolves dominated and the only surprise was it took them until nearly halftime to go ahead, Neves giving replacement keeper Orjan Nyland no chance with a thumping drive.

Another injury for Villa led to left back Matt Targett being replaced before the interval but the visitors showed plenty of endeavour after the break to stay in the game.

Villa even threatened to equalise on the odd occasions but Wolves effectively sealed the points when Jimenez, guilty of wasting some earlier chances, fired into the corner after good work by the dangerous Adama Traore.

There was some consolation for Villa when Trezeguet halved the deficit in stoppage time but it was too late.

Wolves’ first Premier League win over Villa for eight years lifted them to 16 points from 12 games while Villa remain fourth from bottom with 11 points. — Reuters