LIVERPOOL: Liverpool continued their relentless march towards a first Premier League title in 30 years, but Jurgen Klopp’s men needed the benefit of two VAR reviews to see off Wolves 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday.
Sadio Mane scored the only goal three minutes before halftime as the Senegalese’s strike was allowed to stand after initially being ruled out for handball against Adam Lallana. Moments later Wolves had an equalizer scored by Pedro Neto disallowed by VAR for the tightest of offside decisions.
An 18th win in 19 Premier League games this season re-established Liverpool’s 13-point lead at the top of the table and they have a game in hand over closest challengers Leicester.
Earlier, Chelsea scored twice in four minutes to come from behind and beat Arsenal 2-1, ruining Mikel Arteta’s first home match in charge of the north London club.
Wolves were angered even before kickoff with the scheduling that meant they traveled to the European champions just 45 hours after a thrilling 3-2 win over Manchester City.
Nuno Espirito Santo responded by making four changes with all three goalscorers from Friday — Raul Jimenez, Adama Traore and Matt Doherty — starting on the bench.
Liverpool made just one alteration from the side that thrashed Leicester 4-0 in a top-of-the-table clash on Boxing Day to open up a seemingly unassailable lead in the title race.
An extra day’s rest for the hosts showed in the early stages as Mohamed Salah, Georginio Wijnaldum, Mane and Roberto Firmino all came close.
(Agencies)
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