Liverpool shifts to the top
Liverpool overwhelmed Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at a fervent Anfield on Sunday to take over at the top of the Premier League table with six games of the season remaining.
Spurs never recovered from an early Younes Kaboul own goal, with further strikes from Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson securing an eighth successive victory for Brendan Rodgers’s in-form side.
The win took Liverpool two points above previous leaders Chelsea, beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace on Saturday, and left the 18-time champions on course for a first English league title since 1990.
Third-place Manchester City, four points below Liverpool, have two games in hand, but both they and Chelsea must visit Anfield before the season’s end.
“We have won eight games in a row and we will enjoy that,” Liverpool manager Rodgers told Sky Sports.
“It’s just about going back to work next week and we have a tough game against West Ham next.
“The dream is for our supporters. They want to win the title. It has been a long time, but it’s not in my thinking. We just need to prepare and do well and if we do that, we will win games.”
Tottenham had been thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool in December’s reverse fixture, precipitating the departure of coach Andre Villas-Boas, and Sunday’s defeat left Tim Sherwood’s side eight points below the top four in sixth place.
Liverpool have made a habit of scoring early in recent weeks and it took them under two minutes to take the lead against Spurs, with Kaboul inadvertently knocking Glen Johnson’s low cross into his own net.
Spurs’ cause was not helped by an injury to centre-back Jan Vertonghen and his replacement, Michael Dawson, was to play an unfortunate role in Liverpool’s second goal in the 25th minute.
His volleyed pass towards Kaboul allowed Suarez to pounce and the Uruguayan ran away from the Spurs centre-backs before driving a left-foot shot across visiting goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
The goal was Suarez’s 29th in the league this season, eclipsing the Premier League club record of 28 set by Robbie Fowler in 1996.
Source: AFP
