London: Liverpool were brought crashing back down to earth following last weekend’s 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United, when they were beaten 1-0 away to Bournemouth.
Philip Billing’s finish at the far post after excellent work from Dango Ouattara was enough to give Bournemouth three vital points Saturday after they had started the weekend at the bottom of the table.
Liverpool controlled nearly 70 per cent of the ball, but the best chance of the game was a 70th-minute penalty that Mohamed Salah blasted high and wide, and some brave defending from Bournemouth did the rest.
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp admitted it was “never really our game,” and he praised his rivals while saying “that’s life” over Salah’s penalty miss.
Erling Haaland’s 78th-minute penalty took Manchester City to within two points of league leaders Arsenal as Pep Guardiola’s side won 1-0 away to Crystal Palace.
A close game was decided after Ilkay Gundogan was felled by a clumsy Michael Olise challenge in the Palace penalty area, and Haaland made no mistake from the penalty spot.
Chelsea’s recovery continued at the expense of Leicester City, who slipped to their fourth consecutive defeat. Ben Chilwell’s volley put Chelsea 1-0 up against his former club, with Patson Daka equalizing in the 39th minute before Kai Havertz put Chelsea back ahead deep into first-half injury time.
Leicester had chances in the second half, but Mateo Kovacic killed the game off with a 78th-minute volley.
Harry Kane scored twice and Son Heung-min also got on the scoresheet, as Tottenham recovered from a bad week in which they were knocked out of the Champions League with a 3-1 win at home to Nottingham Forest.
Joe Worrall netted an 81st-minute consolation for Forest, while the win strengthens Spurs’ grip on fourth place.
Leeds United came back from a goal down twice to take a 2-2 draw at home to Brighton. Alexis Mac Allister and a Jack Harrison own goal twice put Brighton ahead, but they were pegged back by Patrick Bamford and Harrison, who netted 17 minutes after his own goal. Leeds remains second from the bottom.
Dwight McNeil scored in the first minute and Everton held on for a vital 1-0 win at home to Brentford, continuing their improvement under Sean Dyche. After ending the visitors’ unbeaten run which stretched back to October last year, Everton move up to 15th.
IANS
