FOOTBALL – LIVERPOOL continued their march towards the Premier League title with a 1-0 victory over Everton in a scrappy Merseyside derby as Diogo Jota slotted home the winner in the second half last night.
The champions elect restored their 12-point lead over second-placed Arsenal while Everton, whose nine-game league unbeaten ended, are 15th on 34 points.
Everton’s Beto had a goal chalked off for offside and missed a sitter before Jota broke the deadlock in the 57th minute with his first goal in two-and-a-half months. Luis Diaz back-heeled the ball into Jota’s path and the Portuguese forward beat a tackle before firing into the net.
Liverpool fans thought Everton should have been reduced to 10 men after 11 minutes following a fierce tackle by defender James Tarkowski on Alexis Mac Allister, but Everton’s captain was only shown a yellow card.
Meanwhile, Jack Grealish scored his first Premier League goal for 16 months as Manchester City eased to a 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium to keep alive their hopes of Champions League qualification for next season.
Grealish netted inside two minutes and Omar Marmoush added a second goal as City moved into fourth place in the table with 51 points from 30 games. Leicester are in 19th with 17 points from the same number of matches, 12 points from relegation safety.
Pep Guardiola watched from the stands as he serves a touchline ban and what seemed like several thousand City fans missed the first nine minutes, including Grealish’s goal, as they vacated their seats in protest at the club’s ticket prices.
Leicester slipped to a seventh Premier League loss in a row without scoring a goal on another dire night in which they did not even manage a shot on target.
Marcus Rashford scored his first league goal for Aston Villa who earned a comfortable 3-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion which moved the visitors ahead of the hosts in the standings.
Villa move up to seventh in the table on 48 points, one behind Chelsea who host Tottenham Hotspur today, while Brighton are one point behind in eighth place.
Alexander Isak scored his 20th Premier League goal of the season and Sandro Tonali fired a stunning winner as Newcastle United beat Brentford 2-1 at St James’ Park to boost their bid for a Champions League place.
Newcastle, playing for the first time since their landmark League Cup triumph at Wembley, are now fifth on 50 points – one behind champions Manchester City and with a game in hand.
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