Man City one win from title, Salah saves Liverpool again

Manchester City are one win away from being crowned Premier Leaguechampions after a swaggering 3-1 victory over Everton, while MohamedSalah was Liverpool’s hero yet again as the Egypt star clinched a 2-1win at Crystal Palace yesterday.Pep Guardiola’s side maintained their 16-point lead at the top thanks toa scintillating first half display at Goodison Park. City, on afive-match winning run in the league, can look forward to the deliciousprospect of sealing the title when bitter rivals Manchester United visitEastlands next Saturday.Leroy Sane put City ahead with a sumptuous volley from David Silva’spin-point cross in the fourth minute. Gabriel Jesus increased City’slead eight minutes later, the Brazil forward heading in from Kevin DeBruyne’s cross.Thrashed 4-0 at Everton last season in one of the worst defeats ofGuardiola’s glittering career, City underlined their vast improvementsince then as Raheem Sterling finished off a ruthless counter-attack inthe 37th minute.Yannick Bolasie drilled home for Everton in the 63rd minute, but City’sclub record 13th away league win means they have 84 points and can breakthe previous record total for Premier League champions — Chelsea’s85-point haul in 2005 — if they beat United.Having already won the League Cup, City next face a Champions Leaguequarter-final first leg against Liverpool on Wednesday. In rainy southLondon, Liverpool trailed when Luka Milivojevic drove struggling Palaceinto a 13th-minute lead from the penalty spot after Loris Karius fouledWilfried Zaha.But Senegal winger Sadio Mane levelled four minutes after the break witha close-range finish. Salah, in the midst of an incredible debut seasonat Liverpool, proved the match winner as he smashed home in the 84thminute.Salah, who has 37 goals in 42 games in all competitions this term, hasscored in the joint-most Premier League matches (21) in a single38-match season. That ties the mark set by Robin van Persie in 2012-13and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007-08. “I think the moment you see it is Mo(on the ball) you feel good. It was a very cool finish and long may thatform continue,” Klopp said.Liverpool were unable to hold onto second place as Manchester Unitedmoved two points ahead of them with a 2-0 victory against Swansea at OldTrafford. “ Every point is vital because we want to stay in secondplace,” United manager Jose Mourinho said. “In other leagues we would befighting for the title. We are having a positive season and we stillhave the FA Cup to come.”Romelu Lukaku scored for United with a deflected strike from Alexis Sanchez’s pass in the fifth minute.Former Chelsea and Everton star Lukaku, who has netted in five times inhis last six appearances, now has 100 career Premier League goals.Chile forward Sanchez bagged just his second goal since joining Unitedfrom Arsenal in January in the 20th minute. The Premier League’s highestpaid player had gone seven games without a goal until he finished offJesse Lingard’s pass.Marko Arnautovic lifted the gloom at West Ham as his double inspired acrucial 3-0 victory against relegation rivals Southampton. Hundreds offans staged a march against West Ham’s co-owners David Gold and DavidSullivan before kick-off in the aftermath of the crowd protests thatmarred their recent home defeat against Burnley.Amid a tense atmosphere that saw extra security measures to protect theowners, on-loan Inter Milan midfielder Joao Mario eased the anxiety witha 13th-minute opener for David Moyes’ side. Four minutes later,Arnautovic doubled West Ham’s lead and celebrated by shouting angrilytowards Saints boss Mark Hughes, who fell out with the Austrian whenthey were together at Stoke. And Arnautovic ensured West Ham’s fans wenthome happy for once with a superb volley in first-half stoppage time.“The supporters were great and they appreciated the performance of theplayers. We got the job done early which helped,” Moyes said.West Ham are five points above the relegation zone, while Southamptondrop into the bottom three. West Bromwich Albion look certain to berelegated after Burnley’s 2-1 win at the Hawthorns handed the bottomclub an eighth consecutive defeat. Leicester struck late in a 2-0 win atBrighton, with Albion striker Glenn Murray missing a penalty beforeVicente Iborra and Jamie Vardy sealed the points. Newcastle beatHuddersfield 1-0 and Watford drew 2-2 with Bournemouth.English Premier League resultsBrighton 0 Leicester 2 (Iborra 83, Vardy 90+6)Crystal Palace 1 (Milivojevic 13-pen) Liverpool 2 (Mane 49, Salah 84)Everton 1 (Bolasie 63) Manchester City 3 (Sane 4, Jesus 12, Sterling 37)Manchester United 2 (Lukaku 5, Sanchez 20) Swansea 0Newcastle 1 (Perez 80) Huddersfield 0Watford 2 (Femenia 13, Pereyra 49) Bournemouth 2 (King 43-pen, Defoe 90+2) West Brom 1 (Rondon 83) Burnley 2 (Barnes 22, Wood 73)West Ham 3 (Mario 13, Arnautovic 17, 45+4) Southampton 0Today: Arsenal v Stoke (1230 GMT), Chelsea v Tottenham (1500 GMT)