Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, on May 5.Jon Super/The Associated Press
Mohamed Salah quickly put last week’s sideline spat with Jurgen Klopp behind him by scoring first in Liverpool’s 4-2 win against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.
The sight of Salah arguing with his departing manager late on in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at West Ham last week dominated debate in the following days.
But the Egyptian was back in the starting lineup and back on the score sheet to set his team on course for victory against the Spurs at Anfield.
Salah had already come close to scoring by the time he rose at the far post in the 16th minute to head in Cody Gakpo’s cross from the left.
Tottenham had been given hope in its pursuit of Champions League qualification after fourth-place Aston Villa had a surprise 1-0 loss at Brighton. But Ange Postecoglou’s team never looked capable of taking advantage of that result after being outclassed by Liverpool.
The home team went 2-0 up in the 45th after Salah’s shot was saved by Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and Andy Robertson converted from the rebound.
It was the least Liverpool deserved after dominating the chances in the first half and forcing Vicario into a host of desperate saves.
The title may be all but beyond Klopp’s team, but Liverpool still looks intent on ending the season on a high for the German, who is stepping down as manager.
Gakpo scored Liverpool’s third goal five minutes after the break when heading low at the far post following Harvey Elliott’s curling left-foot cross.
Nine minutes later it was Elliott’s turn to score with a moment of individual brilliance that brought the home fans to their feet and a beaming grin to Klopp’s face.
Collecting the ball on the right, Elliott needed one touch to get away from Rodrigo Bentancur. Then, from around 18 metres, he curled an unstoppable left-foot shot into the top corner and beyond the dive of Vicario.
Postecoglou sent on Richarlison in the hope of salvaging something and the Brazil international quickly made an impact by turning home Brennan Johnson’s cross in the 72nd.
He then turned provider to tee up Son Heung-min to fire in from close range five minutes later.
Richarlison forced Alisson into a low save when racing through late on, which led to Joe Gomez producing a flying clearance to stop Johnson from converting the rebound.
Aston Villa slips up
A bad week for Aston Villa got worse on Sunday after a surprise 1-0 loss at Brighton in the race for the top four in the Premier League. Unai Emery’s team lost 4-2 at home to Olympiakos in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday. And on a day when Villa could have secured its place in next season’s Champions League, it suffered another setback. João Pedro’s 87th-minute goal at the Amex Stadium gave hope to fifth-place Tottenham in its pursuit of Villa in fourth. Tottenham played Liverpool at Anfield later Sunday with the chance to move within four points of Villa with a game still in hand. Villa would have been certain of a top-four finish if it had won at Brighton and Spurs had gone on to lose against Liverpool. But after Pedro saw his late penalty saved by Robin Olsen, he was alert enough to head home from the rebound.
Chelsea routs West Ham
Chelsea’s troubled season could still end on something of a high after Mauricio Pochettino’s team boosted its chances of European soccer next season with a 5-0 rout of West Ham on Sunday. The win at Stamford Bridge moved Chelsea up to seventh in the standings and two points behind sixth-place Newcastle. Only the top six teams in the Premier League will be guaranteed a place in Europe next season. While Chelsea’s exorbitant spending under U.S. owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital was supposed to put the 2021 Champions League winner back in contention for the biggest prizes, qualification for Europe would represent progress after finishing in the bottom half of the table last year and another season of struggle this term. After a morale-boosting 2-0 win against Tottenham on Thursday, Chelsea followed it up by thrashing West Ham.
Chelsea women thrash Bristol City
Chelsea crept closer to Manchester City with an 8-0 rout over Bristol City in English Women’s Super League action on Sunday. Man City, which was beaten 2-1 by Arsenal on Sunday, still leads the standing with 52 points, but Chelsea has 49 points and a game at hand. In addition, it has in control of the goal difference. In other action, it was: Liverpool 1, Manchester United 0 and West Ham United 1, Leicester City 1.
Real Madrid wins 36th Spanish league title
BARCELONA Real Madrid put its Spanish rivals out of their misery by clinching the league title on Saturday with four games remaining, just in time to turn its full focus to its Champions League semi-final with Bayern Munich. Madrid did the expected and beat relegation-threatened Cadiz 3-0 even though it was mostly with bench players. Barcelona then lost 4-2 at Girona with a collapse that coach Xavi Hernandez admitted was typical of his team’s trophyless season. That combination of results secured Madrid its record-extending 36th Spanish league title with Girona, which leapfrogged Barcelona into second place, facing an insurmountable 13-point deficit with only a maximum 12 points left in play.
PSV Eindhoven wraps up its 25th Dutch Eredivisie title
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands PSV Eindhoven sealed its first Dutch league title in six years and the 25th in its history by beating Sparta Rotterdam 4-2 on Sunday. Peter Bosz’s team, that features U.S. players Sergiño Dest, Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi, dominated the Eredivisie season, losing only one match, scoring 107 goals while conceding 19, with two matches still to play.