Month: March 2021

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FERNANDES, SHAW ON TARGET AS UNITED END CITY WINNING RUN IN MANCHESTER DERBY

Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw struck early in each half as Manchester United ended Manchester City’s 21-match winning run with a stunning 2-0 derby victory.

Fernandes scored a penalty after just two minutes at the Etihad Stadium and Shaw added the second on 50 minutes as United inflicted a first defeat on their rivals since November.

The result cut City’s lead over United at the top of the Premier League to 11 points and, while it may be a stretch to suggest the title race has been reignited, it has slowed what was looking like a procession.

It may certainly rejuvenate United, who might have feared being dragged into a battle for a top-four place after an indifferent series of performances.

The only downside for the visitors was the loss of the inspirational Marcus Rashford through injury in the second half.

City had gone into the game undefeated in their previous 28 in all competitions and with their previous 21 opponents all beaten.

That had raised the prospect of reaching the world record for a top-flight side of 27 successive wins but that was under threat within moments of kick-off.

United raced out of the blocks and Anthony Martial was clumsily clipped by Gabriel Jesus with just 34 seconds gone.

Referee Anthony Taylor pointed straight to the spot for what was the 92nd penalty of this Premier League season, equalling the number awarded in the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign.

Fernandes, no stranger to penalties himself, thumped home his 10th spot-kick of the season despite Ederson getting a hand to his shot.

City were unusually rocky in the opening minutes and they were almost punished again moments later when Joao Cancelo failed to dribble out of his own area. Shaw seized possession but shot straight at Ederson.

Rashford tried his luck from long range but Ederson grabbed his effort at the second attempt.

With Kevin De Bruyne uncharacteristically sluggish, City took time to settle but they felt they should have had a penalty themselves after Raheem Sterling was challenged late by Fred in the area.

Nothing was given but Oleksandr Zinchenko drew a good save from Dean Henderson, who was continuing in place of the absent David De Gea, from distance.

Riyad Mahrez went close with a shot across the face of goal in the final moments of the first half and Rodri hit the woodwork from a Jesus lay-off after the restart.

Those near-misses were to prove costly for City as Shaw doubled United’s lead on 50 minutes.

Henderson launched a United attack with a quick throw and Rashford burst into the area to find Shaw in support. The left-back had three defenders in front of him but he caught them and the unsighted Ederson by surprise with an angled low shot which crept inside the far post.

City tried to respond but Jesus found nobody with a ball across the box when well placed, and they were fortunate not to go 3-0 down after a ricochet saw the ball break to Martial in their area. The Frenchman looked certain to score when presented with the one-on-one opportunity but Ederson saved low to his left.

Pep Guardiola sent on Phil Foden with 20 minutes remaining and the youngster went close with a shot on the turn that flew wide.

Rashford limped off but United had already done the damage.

City were unable to force their way back into the game allowing United, for now at least, the local bragging rights.

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SERIE A: ALVARO MORATA BRACE HELP JUVENTUS IN COME BACK WIN AGAINST LAZIO

Alvaro Morata scored twice and set up another as Juventus warmed up for next week’s Champions League game against Porto with a 3-1 comeback win over Lazio on Saturday to close the gap on the Milan teams in Serie A.

Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench before next week’s key last 16, second leg game against the Portuguese in Turin with Juventus trailing 2-1.

Champions Juventus fell behind to an early Joaquin Correa goal following a Dejan Kulusevski passing error midfield.

But Morata set up Adrien Rabiot to pull the hosts level before the break with the Spaniard scoring twice in a three-minute spell before the hour mark.

Andrea Pirlo’s side are third, seven points behind leaders Inter who host Atalanta on Monday, and one point adrift of AC Milan who play Hellas Verona on Sunday.

“Today we started the game 20 minutes late but it was normal because many were out of position and many returned (from injury),” said Pirlo.

“But there was a great reaction, we didn’t get down and despite the many absences we played an excellent match.

“For us it was a final, an important match for the standings and we’re happy.”

Paulo Dybala remains out injured along with defender Giorgio Chiellini and midfielder Matthijs de Ligt, while Rodrigo Bentancur positive for coronavirus .

But Juan Cuadrado started after missing three league games with Arthur and Leonardo Bonucci also returning off the bench in the second half.

Morata started up front alongside Kulusevski, with Ciro Immobile leading the Lazio attack alongside Correa.

And the Argentine pounced after quarter of an hour after Kulusevski gave the ball away, shaking off Merih Demiral to beat Wojciech Szczęsny in the Juventus goal.

Szczesny denied Luis Alberto a second eight minutes later.

Rabiot pulled a goal back six minutes before the break, picking up a Morata through ball to fire in a powerful left footed angled drive over Pepe Reina.

Both sides had chances after the break with Reina denying Federico Chiesa, Szczesny clearing from Correa and a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic header rattling the bar.

Chiesa set up Morata for the second after 57 minutes with the Spaniard completing a brace from the penalty spot three minutes later after Milinkovic-Savic brought down Aaron Ramsey in the box.

Morata made way for Ronaldo for the last 20 minutes with Arthur and Weston McKennie also coming off the bench in place of Ramsey and Cuadrado with Bonucci coming on for the final eight minutes.

Lazio’s top striker Immobile threatened but was unable to add to his 14 goals this campaign, drawing a blank for a fourth straight game as the Romans fell to their third defeat in four matches.

“It’s a defeat that hurts,” said Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi whose side’s hopes of Champions League football next season took a knock as they sit seventh, six points adrift of Atalanta in fourth place.

“We compromised the game alone, giving away an avoidable penalty. We made some mistakes and at Juventus, with some mistakes you don’t win.”

Sassuolo’s Europa League hopes further dwindled with a 2-0 loss at midtable rivals Udinese stretching their winless run to three games.

Spanish forward Fernando Llorente scored his first goal for Udinese just before the break with Argentine Roberto Pereyra firing in a second deep into injury time.

Sassuolo, in ninth, have won just two of 11 league games played since after Christmas. Udinese are four points behind in 10th place.

Spezia snatched a 1-1 draw at home against Benevento, in a match between promoted sides vying to stay in the top flight next season.

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MESSI GRABS TWO ASSISTS AS BARCELONA MARCH ON WITH VICTORY AT OSASUNA

Barcelona continued their rampant run of domestic form to beat Osasuna 2-0 away from home on Saturday and move to within two points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, with Lionel Messi setting up goals scored by Jordi Alba and teenager Ilaix Moriba.

Messi helped Barca take the lead on the half-hour mark when he carved open Osasuna’s defence with a superb cross-field ball to Alba, who controlled before blasting into the roof of the net.

He then laid the ball off when 18-year-old midfielder Ilaix struck in the 83rd minute, producing a confident finish inside the post from outside the area to score his first goal for the club in only his third league appearance.

The victory followed Barca’s heroic second leg comeback win over Sevilla to reach the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday and notched a 13th league win in 16 games, while they are unbeaten since losing at Cadiz on Dec. 5.

The Catalans stay second but moved on to 56 points after 26 games, two points behind Atletico Madrid who have played 24 matches and host third-placed Real Madrid on Sunday. Osasuna are 13th on 28.

“We just needed to keep on winning. It wasn’t our best performance but we played well and we deserved the win,” said Barca coach Ronald Koeman.

“We played with a lot of energy. We were tired, but we put in a professional performance and scored two great goals. I’m very happy, this is a very important run and I hope we stay on this path.”

Perhaps still feeling the effects of the 3-0 win over Sevilla after extra time, Barca took a while to settle and nearly went behind in the second minute. They were spared thanks to the first of three impressive saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The German had to scurry back to stop an audacious attempt from Osasuna’s Jonathan Calleri, who went for goal from his own half. He also made a truly outstanding save to deny Kike Barja later in the first period, flying to his top right hand corner and throwing up his left hand to swat the ball away.

With Barca then leading through Alba’s vicious strike, Ter Stegen rescued the visitors for a third time, denying midfielder Ruben Garcia from close range.

Having gone through a tumultuous campaign on and off the pitch this season, things are looking up for Barca, who will elect a new president in Sunday’s election.

They then head to France looking for another miraculous Champions League comeback against Paris St Germain for Wednesday’s last-16 second leg, looking to overturn a 4-1 deficit.

“We have to rest now and then we’ll prepare the game. I don’t want to say it’s impossible, and we’ll go there and try to get a good result,” Koeman added.

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SAINTS GET FIRST WIN IN TEN MATCHES AT ROCK BOTTOM SHEFFIELD

Goals from James Ward-Prowse and Che Adams gave Southampton a long-awaited and much-needed victory and plunged Sheffield United nearer to relegation from the Premier League.

A first win in 10 matches stopped Saints’ alarming slide and moved them 10 points clear of the bottom three, but the rock-bottom Blades look more unlikely by the week to pull off the greatest of escapes.

The 2-0 defeat leaves Chris Wilder’s side 12 points adrift of safety with just 10 matches remaining to save themselves.

It was an all so familiar story for the Blades – playing well, making chances, but shooting themselves in the foot at the other end with poor defending and individual mistakes.

They were given a boost after 12 minutes when Danny Ings went down injured off the ball and had to be replaced by former Blade Adams.

It was a blow for Southampton but they would have taken the lead shortly afterwards had Nathan Tella showed a little more composure in front of goal, slicing his first-time shot well wide when goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was out of position.

Tella was involved again when the visitors went ahead after 32 minutes. Referee Paul Tierney awarded the spot-kick after Ethan Ampadu brought down the 21-year-old with a challenge from behind. Ward-Prowse tucked away the resulting penalty.

The Blades should have equalised right at the end of the first half but David McGoldrick chose to try and chip Fraser Forster from the edge of the penalty area, making it an easy save for the giant goalkeeper when really he should have been given no chance.

Wilder made an attacking change for the start of the second half, introducing striker Oli McBurnie and taking off midfielder Oliver Norwood. But four minutes after the break his side were 2-0 down.

John Lundstram’s poor clearance was flicked into Adams’ path by Stuart Armstrong and the substitute hit the ball superbly on the half-volley, sending it into the top corner.

Enda Stevens put a header wide at the far post on the hour as another chance was missed by the Blades.

The hosts’ approach play continued to be sharp, neat and incisive, but, as has been the case all season, it broke down in and around the penalty area.

Wilder’s team continued to make life difficult for themselves. Lys Mousset gave the ball away this time and Ramsdale had to make a fine save to turn Tella’s effort away for a corner.

Takumi Minamino should have done better than shoot wide when unmarked inside the penalty area midway through the second half, before Ramsdale got a strong hand behind a low strike from Adams.

Ramsdale was keeping his team in the game and Nathan Redmond was next to be denied by another fine save from the Blades goalkeeper.

Frustration appeared to get the better of John Fleck in stoppage time when his robust challenge on Adams on the halfway line was late and, arguably, out of control. Tierney gave the Blades midfielder a yellow card but Saints players were incensed by the tackle and surrounded the referee looking for a red card.

There was pushing and shoving between the two sets of players and McBurnie and Jannick Vestegaard were also booked for their part in the tussle.

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WOLVES RUE MISSED CHANCES TO SETTLE FOR DRAW AT VILLA PARK

Romain Saiss’ extraordinary miss forced Wolves to settle for a goalless derby draw at Aston Villa.

The defender fired over an open goal from a yard out after Conor Coady hit the post.

Emi Martinez also denied Coady in the second half at Villa Park as the hosts drew just their fourth game of the Premier League season.

Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa hit the woodwork for Villa during a dominant first half but they lost their way after the break and relied on Saiss’ howler to claim a point.

It kept Villa ninth in the Premier League, while Wolves remain 12th with both sides now in danger of seeing their seasons fade away in the final 10 games.

Defeat at Sheffield United in midweek dented Villa’s surprise European hopes and they tried to recover quickly.

Watkins had already hit the woodwork more times than any player in the top flight this season and he struck it for a seventh time when his 25-yard rocket rattled the crossbar after four minutes.

It was a sign of things to come as, 11 minutes later, Konsa also smacked the crossbar from five yards when Tyrone Mings missed Bertrand Traore’s low cross.

Inconsistent Wolves – with three wins in their previous 14 top-flight outings – struggled to match Villa’s tempo as they pressed for an opener.

Pedro Neto tried to be proactive on the rare occasion he saw the ball but was quickly shut down by a home defence who had clearly marked him down for special treatment.

Despite Villa’s momentum, though, they never tested Rui Patricio during a first half which, the brief flashpoints aside, often lacked spark.

Watkins’ shot deflected wide three minutes into the second half but from the resulting corner, Neto fashioned the visitors’ first chance.

Coady headed clear and Neto was left racing towards goal with just Matt Targett covering.

He forced the forward wide, but Martinez still had to parry his shot behind.

It was the cue for Wolves to up their game and Saiss somehow missed his golden chance after 57 minutes.

A neat short corner saw Neto cross for an unmarked Coady at the far post and the defender – who scored his first Premier League goal against Manchester City on Tuesday – planted a diving header against the post.

The ball bounced across goal but a stretching Saiss managed to lift the ball over from almost under the bar.

It was a huge let off for Villa who had dropped from their first-half levels to allow Wolves to wrestle back control.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were chasing a winner and Martinez bailed Villa out with 14 minutes remaining.

Ross Barkley inexplicably played the ball back into the box after Joao Moutinho’s free-kick and Willian Jose’s shot deflected to Coady five yards out.

He had just Martinez to beat, but the goalkeeper raced out to turn his shot wide from point-blank range.

But Villa almost stole it in injury time when Patricio’s low save denied Watkins and Konsa lashed the rebound wide.

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ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI HATRICK STUNS DORTMUND IN KLASSIKER THRILLER

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick to leave him on 31 Bundesliga goals this season and seal Bayern Munich’s 4-2 comeback win over Borussia Dortmund in Germany’s ‘Klassiker’.

Dortmund raced into a 2-0 lead as Erling Haaland netted twice in the first nine minutes behind closed doors at the Allianz Arena.

However, Lewandowksi then struck twice, the second from the penalty spot, to haul Bayern level before the break.

Leon Goretzka put Bayern ahead for the first time with two minutes left before Lewandowski completed his hat-trick on 90 minutes.

“The quality is certainly there, that’s our DNA,” said Thomas Muller of Bayern’s fightback.

The win leaves Bayern two points clear of RB Leipzig at the top of the table.

“We shook ourselves up at 2-0 down and deserved to win because we were the dominant team for (the last) 60 minutes,” said Bayern coach Hansi Flick.

Bayern have won the last five meetings between the clubs.

“We weren’t good enough. We started well, but didn’t play good enough football. We should have been more brave,” said Dortmund midfielder Emre Can.

The match delivered on its billing as the battle of the Bundesliga’s star strikers.

Haaland scored with just two minutes gone when his shot clipped the heel of Jerome Boateng.

Bayern were reeling after nine minutes when Thorgan Hazard flicked the ball back inside for Haaland to again smash the ball home.

Dortmund could have been 3-0 up on 25 minutes but Thomas Meunier squandered the chance to shoot.

A minute later, Bayern pulled a goal back when Leroy Sane squared the ball for Lewandowski to score.

Bayern went into the break level when Mahmoud Dahoud brought down Kingsley Coman in the area and Lewandowski converted the penalty.

After a frantic first-half, the tempo dropped in the second as both teams suffered key injuries.

“We started great and ended very badly,” admitted Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.

Haaland came off after an hour gone with a cut on the back of his ankle.

With ten minutes left, Boateng had to be helped off in clear discomfort after twisting his knee.

Dortmund were left fuming for what captain Marco Reus claimed was a foul on Can late on.

“It was a clear foul – if that had been against Bayern, it would have been given,” fumed Marco Reus.

Bayern settled the matter when Goretzka pinged his shot in off the post before Lewandowski completed his hat-trick with an outstanding low drive.

With ten games left, Lewandowski threatens to break Gerd Mueller’s all-time record of 40 Bundesliga goals in the 1971/72 season.

Earlier, RB Leipzig briefly climbed top of the table with a 3-0 romp at Freiburg thanks to goals by Christopher Nkunku, Alexander Sorloth and Emil Forsberg.

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TOTTENHAM EDGE FULHAM 1-0 WITH A CONTROVERSIAL HANDBALL RULING

Tottenham were the beneficiaries of the controversial handball law as they held on to a 1-0 win at Fulham that boosts their top-four hopes.

The International Football Association Board’s meeting on Friday could not be more timely after the Cottagers were denied an equaliser by a harsh handball rule in the second half.

After Spurs led in the first half through Tosin Adarabioyo’s own goal, Scott Parker’s men had the ball in the back of the net when Josh Maja fired home, but replays showed the ball cannoned into the hand of Mario Lemina from a Davinson Sanchez clearance when he was a matter of yards away.

VAR applied the laws and ruled the goal out, robbing Fulham of what would have been a worthy leveller and potentially having a huge impact on their quest for Premier League survival.

They did more than enough to take at least a point out of the game, completely dominating the second half but they could not find another way through.

It was far from convincing from Jose Mourinho’s side, but they held on to register an important win, staying in eighth position but moving four points off the top four.

After a sluggish start Spurs came to life after 15 minutes and began to look dangerous

Gareth Bale fired a free-kick over the crossbar while Harry Kane uncharacteristically put a free header straight at Alphonse Areola following Son Heung-min’s pinpoint cross.

Having fired their warning shots, they took the lead in the 20th minute.

Bale, fresh from his devastating performance against Burnley on Sunday, was again involved as he set Dele Alli free down the middle. The midfielder. making his first Premier League start since the opening day of the season, found Son on the left and then made his way into the box to get on the end of the return pass, with the final touch awarded to Fulham defender Adarabioyo.

That gave Spurs control of the game and they went on to dominate possession and territory.

Kane had a reasonable appeal for a penalty turned down after VAR backed referee David Coote’s decision before Son put a header wide at the far post when picked out by Alli.

Despite being in control, Spurs almost went in at half-time level as Fulham created their best opening in first-half stoppage time.

Antonee Robinson did well to get in down the left and the ball was pulled back to First the Frenchman expertly tipped over Joachim Andersen’s header from a free-kick and then from the resulting corner he kept out Adarabioyo’s effort.

The Cottagers thought they had a deserved leveller just after the hour as Maja fired into the bottom corner after Lemina’s first effort had been saved by Lloris.

But Sanchez’s clearance had hit Lemina’s arm from close range before falling to Maja and VAR ruled the goal out.

This was an all-too familiar sight for Spurs, taking a lead and then reverting into their shells as Fulham threw bodies forward. Lemina, who blazed over.

Fulham started the second half brightly and forced Hugo Lloris into two smart stops from set-pieces.

First the Frenchman expertly tipped over Joachim Andersen’s header from a free-kick and then from the resulting corner he kept out Adarabioyo’s effort.

The Cottagers thought they had a deserved leveller just after the hour as Maja fired into the bottom corner after Lemina’s first effort had been saved by Lloris.

But Sanchez’s clearance had hit Lemina’s arm from close range before falling to Maja and VAR ruled the goal out.

This was an all-too familiar sight for Spurs, taking a lead and then reverting into their shells as Fulham threw bodies forward.

It took until the 83rd minute for the visitors to have a shot in the second half and it should have killed the game.

Erik Lamela played in Kane, but the England captain had a rare off night in front of goal and allowed Areola to block the shot.

It was frantic at the end but Spurs held on with Fulham left feeling a sense of injustice

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TOP FOUR FINISH POSSIBLE FOR WESTHAM – DAVID MOYES

West Ham boss David Moyes has said finishing in the top four of the Premier League “is a possibility” for his side this season.

The Hammers, who are currently sixth, have not finished in the top four since 1985-86.

“A top-10 position would be excellent for West Ham considering where we were – but we’re much higher up now, so I’m looking up,” Moyes told Football Focus.

“I don’t see why we can’t be around those [top four] positions.”

West Ham, who are set to face Leeds at London Stadium on Monday, have won 13 league games this season – three more than they managed in the 2019-20 campaign.

“We wanted to get away from the West Ham where you weren’t sure which West Ham was going to turn up – were you going to get a disappointing result against a team you shouldn’t, or win when you probably weren’t expecting to?” said Moyes.

He added: “The players have changed my mentality because now I’m looking up to see how high I can get – I have to praise the players for that.”

The former Everton and Manchester United boss recognises results are in stark contrast to this time last season, but thinks there is more to come from his side.

“I hope with West Ham we can build a really exciting young team – that would be my big hope for us now. This time last year we were talking about do you think you can avoid relegation, can you stay out of the bottom three?

“People are asking different questions now – do you think you can finish top four or qualify for Europe? It shows you how far we’ve come,” said Moyes.

The Scottish manager, who returned to West Ham in 2019 after being let go in 2018 after less than a year in charge, says that things feel different this time around.

“I’m glad to be back. The first time round I really enjoyed myself and I was disappointed when I wasn’t asked to stay on because I thought we’d done a good enough job to remain in the position.

“I admired the owners for coming back for me and realising the job we had done in the first place was a good one,” he said.

Moyes guided West Ham to a 13th-place finish in the 2017-18 season, despite the club being in the relegation zone when he joined in November.

“We’re in a sad world of football management at the moment where changing managers very quickly does happen.

“Managers continually have to prove themselves all of the time. Whatever you’ve got in the bag – experience, cups, medals – I don’t know if that counts for an awful lot,” Moyes added.

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LIVERPOOL, RB LEIPZIG SET FOR BUDAPEST RETURN FOR SECOND LEG UCL TIE.

Liverpool are returning to Budapest for the return leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with RB Leipzig.

Coronavirus restrictions in Germany meant last month’s first leg was switched to the Puskas Arena in Hungary’s capital, where Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane goals sealed a 2-0 win for Jurgen Klopp’s men.

The return tie will also be played on neutral territory, with UEFA confirming Budapest will again host the sides as next Wednesday’s match is moved away from Anfield.

“Liverpool can confirm the Champions League last-16, second-leg tie with RB Leipzig will be played in Budapest,” the Premier League club said in a statement.

“Puskas Arena in the Hungarian capital will host the fixture, the same venue the teams contested the first meeting at on February 16.

“Covid-19 regulations in Germany have prevented Leipzig from travelling to the United Kingdom to play the match at Anfield as planned.”

Chelsea’s first leg against Atletico Madrid was moved from Spain to Bucharest last month, while Borussia Monchengladbach’s home tie against Manchester City was played in Budapest rather than Germany.

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MASON MOUNT CONDEMNS LIVERPOOL TO FIFTH STRAIGHT HOME DEFEAT

Liverpool’s woeful home form is now a full-blown crisis as Chelsea’s 1-0 victory inflicted a fifth successive league defeat – the worst run in the club’s history.

It shows how far the defending champions have fallen that this was billed as a battle for a Champions League place but in reality there was only one side in the hunt and all it took was Mason Mount’s 42nd-minute goal to lift them back into the reckoning.

Chelsea’s last win at Anfield in 2014 effectively did for the title hopes of Brendan Rodgers’ side. This one was a blow to Liverpool’s chances of a top-four finish.

Jurgen Klopp’s side, now four points adrift of that with Everton and West Ham ahead of them, have now gone more than 10 hours without a goal at Anfield, a testament to the old adage of ‘if you don’t shoot, you don’t score’.

The hosts failed to register a shot on target until the 85th minute and Georginio Wijnaldum’s weak header was never going to test Edouard Mendy.

They have taken one point from the last 21 on offer at home since Christmas and scored just two goals, one of which was a penalty.

None of their established front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane or Roberto Firmino managed the feat but the sight of Salah, the Premier League’s leading scorer, being substituted just past the hour looked baffling.

The Egypt international thought so as he sat shaking his head having been replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Chelsea, by contrast, looked full of threat with Timo Werner – a player Liverpool were interested in but decided they could not afford last summer – a constant problem for the hosts.

Despite one goal in his previous 17 Premier League outings he caused problems with his movement, drifting out to the left, then popping in the middle to give Fabinho a real headache on his return to the side.

The Brazil midfielder, replacing Nat Phillips after he became the latest centre-back to pick up an injury, was partnering Ozan Kabak in Liverpool’s 15th different central defensive starting partnership in 27 league matches.

Faced with a statistic like that is is perhaps understandable why there was a lack of cohesion at the back and Werner should really have profited.

He fired one early shot over and then failed to lift his effort over Alisson Becker, back in goal after the death of his father in Brazil last week.

Even when the Chelsea forward did beat Alisson, who had another rush of blood in charging out to meet Werner only for the ball to be tipped over his wild swing of the leg allowing the Germany international to slot home, VAR ruled the attacker’s arm had been offside 20 yards earlier in the build-up.

Liverpool’s one chance fell to Sadio Mane but Salah’s first-time ball over the top got caught under his feet and missed his shot with only Mendy to beat.

Chelsea were still controlling the game and caught their opponents on the counter-attack when N’Golo Kante quickly swung a loose ball out to the left wing from where Mount cut inside to beat Alisson having been given far too much time to pick his spot.

All five of Mount’s league goals have come away from home.

Tuchel spent the first five minutes of the second half screaming at his players to press harder and play higher up the pitch but Liverpool’s players were equally vocal when Firmino’s cross hit the raised arm of Kante from close range but there was to be no penalty award.

Andy Robertson cleared off the line from Hakim Ziyech after Alisson parried Ben Chilwell’s shot as Chelsea continued to look more dangerous.

Klopp’s attempt to change the direction of travel saw him send on Diogo Jota for his first appearance in three months and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Jota’s first touch was a half-chance from a deep cross but he was, understandably, not sharp enough to take it.

Werner, meanwhile, was doing everything but score as Alisson’s leg saved another shot as he bore down on goal.

Chelsea’s organisation, drilled into them by Thomas Tuchel in the short time he has been at the club, served them well as Liverpool ran down blind alleys, aimed hopeful crosses into the box but generally ran out of ideas.