UNSTOPPABLE: It was Dutch manager Arne Slot’s 18th win in 20 games in all competitions as his dream start as Liverpool’s new manager continued
Reuters, LIVERPOOL, England
Liverpool piled on the pain for Manchester City with a 2-0 victory at Anfield to open up a nine-point lead at the top of the English Premier League on Sunday after Manchester United’s new manager Ruben Amorim enjoyed an emphatic first league win.
Mohamed Salah supplied a goal and an assist as Liverpool eased to a victory which ended with the home fans taunting City manager Pep Guardiola about “getting sacked in the morning.”
Liverpool lead Arsenal by nine points after 13 games while champions City have now lost four successive Premier League games for the first time since 2008 and are down in fifth place.
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, left, and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland compete for the ball during their English Premier League game at Anfield in Liverpool, England, on Sunday.
Photo: Reuters
Amorim’s first Premier League home game could not have gone any better as Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee both scored twice in a 4-0 drubbing of lowly Everton.
Chelsea continue to thrive under Enzo Maresca with a 3-0 home win against a struggling Aston Villa the latest evidence that the Italian might have found the right formula at Stamford Bridge. His side are joint second with Arsenal on 25 points.
Tottenham came back down to earth from their 4-0 rout of Manchester City last weekend as they could only draw 1-1 at home with Fulham who ended the match with 10 men.
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham celebrates scoring their first goal during their La Liga game against Getafe at Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid on Sunday.
Photo: Reuters
Fragile City looked ripe for the taking as they headed to Anfield and so it proved as the home side dominated.
Salah set up Cody Gakpo for a tap-in after 12 minutes.
They eventually doubled their lead in the 78th minute when a terrible mix-up in City’s defense ended with their keeper Stefan Ortega taking out Luis Diaz and Salah slotted the spot kick.
Players react as Fiorentina’s Edoardo Bove, not pictured, receives medical attention during their Serie A match against Inter at Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, Italy, on Sunday.
Photo: Reuters
It was manager Arne Slot’s 18th win in 20 games in all competitions as his dream start as Liverpool’s new manager continued.
“These teams — like City, I saw Arsenal yesterday and I saw Chelsea today — they are all capable of getting the same winning streak as we have,” Slot said. “So, let’s not get carried away by one or two wins.”
The Dutchman is right not to get ahead of himself but a nine-point gap with the form his side are showing already looks like a huge challenge for the chasing pack.
United are nowhere near being title contenders but Portuguese Amorim has quickly spread some joy around Old Trafford. Sunday was United’s biggest victory margin in a league game since a 5-1 win over Leeds United in 2021 and lifted them three spots to ninth in the table after 13 games, only four points behind fourth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.
SERIE A
AP, MILAN, ITALY
The Italian league title race did not seem so important on Sunday after a player collapsed on the field during a Serie A match.
League leader SSC Napoli had won 1-0 at Torino earlier in the day and was waiting to see how its rivals would fare, especially ACF Fiorentina and Inter, which were playing each other later Sunday and were just four points behind.
However, Fiorentina midfielder Edoardo Bove fell to the ground in the 16th minute of the match, which was abandoned shortly afterward with the scoreline at 0-0.
The 22-year-old Italian was swiftly stretchered off to an ambulance and taken to hospital, where he is in a medically induced coma.
Fiorentina said initial tests have “ruled out acute damage to the central nervous system and the cardio-respiratory system” and that Bove would be re-evaluated in the next 24 hours.
Fiorentina players were distraught on the field and were comforted by staff members as well as Inter players. Several were openly sobbing before both teams filed off the field.
Napoli ended the weekend still top of a tight Serie A table.
Scott McTominay scored the only goal of the match in the first half as Napoli pulled away from one of its closest rivals as SS Lazio lost 3-1 at relegation-threatened Parma.
Lazio stayed on 28 points along with Atalanta BC, Inter and Fiorentina, while Napoli moved onto 32. Atalanta was to play against Roma yesterday after the press time.
Juventus has 26 points after substitute Ante Rebic leveled in stoppages to snatch a 1-1 draw for US Lecce.
LA LIGA
AP, MADRID
Kylian Mbappe made some peace with Real Madrid’s fans.
Mbappe scored in Madrid’s 2-0 win over Getafe in the Spanish league on Sunday to help ease the pressure on the France star.
Mbappe, who has been criticized by some supporters because of his disappointing performances since joining the Spanish powerhouse this season, found the net in the 38th minute to seal Madrid’s victory at Santiago Bernabeu.
Jude Bellingham, also the target of some fans’ criticism for recent poor play, had put Madrid ahead at the Bernabeu by converting a 30th-minute penalty.
The win moved Madrid within a point of league leader Barcelona, which lost 2-1 to Las Palmas on Saturday. Madrid, the defending champion, has a game in hand.
Madrid was one point ahead of city rival Atletico Madrid, which won 5-0 at Valladolid on Saturday.
Also Sunday, Villarreal drew 2-2 with visiting Girona after leading 2-0 and eventually conceding an equalizer seven minutes into stoppage time.
Athletic Bilbao rallied to win 2-1 at Rayo Vallecano with a pair of second-half goals by Oihan Sancet, while Athletic’s Basque rival Real Sociedad defeated Real Betis 2-0 at home.
