Liverpool pound Newcastle to strengthen grip on 1st place

Manchester City drop to third after losing to Leicester : Chelsea ride Hazard brace Liverpool, Dec 27: Liverpool battered Newcastle United 4-0 to extend their winning streak to eight and go 6 points clear at the top of the English Premier League (EPL).

The poor outcome here on Wednesday spoiled Newcastle coach Rafa Benitez’s return to Anfield, where he was at the helm with Liverpool for six seasons.

The hosts took the lead in the 11th minute on a goal by Dejan Lovren, but Newcastle managed to contain the potent Liverpool attack for the rest of the first half.

Three minutes after the re-start, Mo Salah went down in the Newcastle box and won a penalty. The Egyptian stepped to the spot and converted to make it 2-0.

Super-sub Xherdan Shaqiri boosted the advantage to 3-0 with a goal in the 79th minute and Fabinho got his first in a Liverpool shirt with five minutes left to complete the rout.

Liverpool, still unbeaten in the Premier League half-way through the season, climb to 51 points, 6 ahead of second-place Tottenham Hotspur, who were 5-0 winners Wednesday over Bournemouth.

Defending champions Manchester City are third, trailing the Reds by 7 points after losing 2-1 Wednesday away to Leicester City.

Pep Guardiola’s men on Wednesday took an early lead through a Bernardo Silva goal at Leicester’s King Power Stadium but the 2015 English champions fought back with goals from Marc Albrighton and Ricardo Pereira.

The champions also ended with just ten men following Fabian Delph’s straight red card in the 89th minute.

City have lost four of their last three league matches and have now slipped seven points behind leaders Liverpool and one point behind Tottenham Hotspur.

City dominated the game and in the 14th minute, Sergio Aguero spotted Silva’s clever run and fed the ball to the Portuguese who calmly flicked it past Kapser Schmeichel.

The lead lasted just five minutes as Albrighton received a pass from Jamie Vardy inside the box and made no mistake from close range to level the scores. City continued to control the game in the second half but Leroy Sane’s poor header in the 81st minute was punished with a spectacular finish from Ricardo.

Guardiola said afterwards: “We have to accept it, we have to realize that we have to work harder and try to get immediately one good result and get our confidence back.

“We are together, we will work harder and we will come back with some good results. The season is very long and we have lots to fight for.

Manchester City will play Southampton on December 30, before a home game against league leaders Liverpool on January 3.

Eden Hazard scored a brace to give Chelsea a 2-1 victory against Watford and lift the former champions back into the top four at the mid-point of the 2018-2019 season. The win brings Chelsea to 40 points, 2 ahead of fifth-place Arsenal, who drew 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion earlier on Wednesday.

Despite the loss, Watford remain in the top half of the table with 27 points, while Chelsea find themselves just 4 points behind defending champions Manchester City in third place. For Hazard, the double increased his goal total with Chelsea to 101. (IANS)

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