Weekend recap: Liverpool gifted late win, Man Utd grind out victory as City stroll

Our Premier League recap continues as we look at how Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United did over the weekend. 

Liverpool

Liverpool claimed all three points against Tottenham on Sunday when Toby Alderweireld’s stoppage-time own-goal gave them a priceless 2-1 win. The Reds had taken the lead through Roberto Firmino after 16 minutes. Andy Robertson put a brilliant cross into the box for the Brazilian to head past Hugo Lloris, who was poor once again. Spurs equalised through Lucas Moura in the second half, but it was Liverpool who were victorious in the end after Mo Salah headed the ball across the Spurs box and Lloris couldn’t deal with it, with the ball eventually diverting in off Alderweireld to gift Liverpool a late win.

Jurgen Klopp’s men returned to the top of the Premier League table with the victory. They’re two points clear of Manchester City but have played a game more. Liverpool will take so much confidence from this win, though, as they keep finding a way to dig out results when it looks like they’re about to drop points. It’s certainly a sign of champions, but only time will tell if Liverpool will claim their first title since 1990. This season’s title race is not disappointing.

Manchester City

Manchester City temporarily returned to the top of the league when they beat Fulham 2-0 at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Bernardo Silva opened the scoring after just five minutes with a smart finish from outside the box. The game was killed when Sergio Aguero deftly dinked the Fulham keeper after 27 minutes. At that stage, it looked like the floodgates would open and City would hammer Fulham, but the Cottagers put up a fight and it wasn’t a walkover. Fulham did have some chances in the game and put City under pressure at times, but couldn’t get themselves back in the game. City didn’t really chase more goals and decided to conserve their energy.

Pep Guardiola’s men trail Liverpool by two points but have a game in hand. They’ll still feel confident of reclaiming their Premier League crown, but they certainly have a battle on their hands. The quadruple is still a possibility, but it’ll obviously be very difficult for them to go and win the league, the Champions League and the FA Cup. Of course, they can’t be ruled out, because they’re just that good.

Manchester United

Manchester United moved back into the top four with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford against Watford on Saturday. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won his first game since being named permanent United manager, but they really had to work for the three points. Watford were extremely impressive, as they have been on plenty of occasions this season, and caused United plenty of problems. Man United took the lead through Marcus Rashford after 28 minutes when the forward was played through on goal smartly by Luke Shaw. He made no mistake with his finish. Anthony Martial doubled United’s lead with 18 minutes remaining. Abdoulaye Doucoure pulled one back for the Hornets in stoppage time but it wasn’t enough.

Man United have been so impressive under Solskjaer and keep winning games. When he was appointed, finishing in the top four seemed almost impossible. He has them right up there, though, and they have a great chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. They do have some very difficult fixtures, including games against Manchester City and Chelsea in the league, as well as Barcelona in the Champions League. But, with Ole at the wheel, they can feel confident of finishing the season well.

---

This article was written by PremPlace. You can see their website by clicking here.