City’s misstep at home against Tottenham (3-2) on Saturday will have definitely revived the English championship. Liverpool did not miss the opportunity to get closer to the leader, Manchester City, on Wednesday February 23, by crushing Leeds (6-0) in a late match of the 19th day.
Liverpool, who now have the same number of matches as Pep Guardiola’s men, are now just three points behind – 60 to 63 – with 12 Premier League matches remaining, including a head-to-head showdown at the Etihad , At the beginning of April. IThe Reds even took the lead on goal difference (+48 against +46).
Mohamed Salah converted two penalties, one for a handball from Stuart Dallas (1-0, 15th), the other for a foul on Sadio Mané (3-0, 35th), his 18th and 19th goals of the season, and offered a decisive pass to Joël Matip in the meantime (2-0, 30th).
In the final minutes, a double from Sadio Mané (4-0, 80th, 5-0, 90th) and a goal from Virgil van Dijk (6-0, 90+3) considerably weighed down the bill and darkened the horizon of the Peacocks of Marcelo Bielsa whose maintenance is far from certain.
Earlier in the evening, Tottenham again missed an opportunity to get closer to 4th qualifying place for the Champions League by losing to the poorly ranked Burnley (1-0), in a late match of the 13th day.
After a soporific first period, Harry Kane came close to giving the Londoners the advantage, but headed the crossbar (47th). With 20 minutes remaining, Burnley central defender Ben Mee, completely left free by the Tottenham defence, took a free kick from Josh Brownhill at the far post to give Burnley the victory. One success enhanced by Watford’s home defeat against Crystal Palace (4-1) which allows Burnley to move to 18th place.
Sean Dyche’s men are only 2 points behind Newcastle, 17th and first non-relegation, but who played one more game. The gradual updating of the calendar with matches postponed due to Covid-19 or bad weather gives a very different picture of the end of the season.
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