Ronaldo penalty gives United win at Norwich

Salah spoils Gerrard's Anfield return, Chelsea win at Leeds

LONDON: Cristiano Ronaldo converted a 75th-minute penalty to give Manchester United a barely deserved 1-0 win at Norwich City in the Premier League on Saturday after the visitors struggled to create chances at Carrow Road.

The result lifted United to fifth place in the standings on 27 points from 16 games, behind fourth-placed West Ham United on goal difference, while Norwich stayed bottom on 10 points.

United's interim boss Ralf Rangnick was pleased with the outcome and a solid defensive performance but conceded that they needed to improve in every department.

Steven Gerrard's return to Anfield as Aston Villa manager ended in a 1-0 defeat by Liverpool with a 67th minute Mohamed Salah penalty keeping the Merseysiders a point behind Premier League leader Manchester City.

There was little fanfare for Gerrard, the Liverpool-born former captain and Champions League winner, as he took his place in the technical area and from the opening moments it was clear that he had set his side up well to frustrate his old club.

Liverpool dominated the first half with Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez doing well to save efforts from Andy Robertson and Salah.

After the break, Martinez produced a brilliant reflex stop to keep out a powerful header from Virgil van Dijk but Liverpool's pressure finally paid off when Salah went down in the box under challenge from Tyrone Mings.

The Egyptian fired home an unstoppable spot-kick to secure the win for Jurgen Klopp's side. Liverpool is on 37 points with leader City, who beat Wolves 1-0 earlier, on 38 points.

Chelsea got their Premier League title challenge back on track with a dramatic 3-2 home win over Leeds United, settled by an injury-time penalty converted by Jorginho who had earlier scored another spot kick.

The Blues displayed more of the uncharacteristic fragility in defence that has raised questions about their chances of winning the league under Thomas Tuchel, who made them European champions last season.

But the win kept the Londoners in third place with 36 points.

Arsenal weathered storms on and off the pitch before coasting to a 3-0 Premier League win over Southampton as boss Mikel Arteta dropped captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the match-day squad for disciplinary reasons. Agencies

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