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Established 1961 Sport SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2019 Huge comeback lifts Internationals Australia take huge lead against Harden scores 54 as Rockets 25with Presidents Cup on knife-edge 26 New Zealand in first Test 27 breeze past Magic, 130-107 Salah stretches Liverpool lead to 10 Leicester stumble, Chelsea poor run continues LIVERPOOL: Liverpool’s Senegalese striker Sadio Mane (C) heads the ball into goal and scores a goal, disallowed by VAR, during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Watford at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England yesterday. — AFP LONDON: Liverpool tightened their grip on the quality in the finishing. to just five points ahead of that meeting had they Frank Lampard’s men have now lost four of their Premier League title race thanks to two Mohamed Salah struck twice as he rounded off a rapid beaten Norwich and Manchester City next weekend. last five Premier League games and had only them- Salah goals in a 2-0 win over Watford to extend their Liverpool counter-attack from a Watford corner eight However, a club record run of eight straight Premier selves to blame as they had 18 shots on goal without lead at the top to 10 points as second-placed minutes before half-time. The Egyptian then settled League wins for Brendan Rodgers’s men came finding a way past Aaron Ramsdale. Leicester were held 1-1 at home by Norwich. the home crowd’s nerves a minute from time when he unstuck against the Canaries. Bournemouth had lost five on the spin, but got their Chelsea were also shocked 1-0 at home to cheekily flicked home Divock Origi’s mishit shot. Teemu Pukki broke clear and finished calmly for reward for staying in the game when Dan Gosling skil- Bournemouth to see their lead over the chasing pack “In December and January especially, you need to his ninth goal of the season to put the visitors in fully flicked a loose ball over Kepa Arrizabalaga five in fourth further cut, while Sheffield United moved into show resilience - that’s the most important thing and front. Leicester levelled before the break when minutes from time and VAR overturned a wrongly- fifth with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa. we showed that,” said coach Jurgen Klopp, whose side Jamie Vardy’s header from James Maddison’s corner raised offside flag against the midfielder. At Anfield, Liverpool kept their first clean sheet at are seven games into a 15-match stretch across five was turned into his own net by Norwich goalkeeper Sheffield United for now are the Blues’ closest home this season but only thanks to Watford’s waste- competitions in 50 days. Tim Krul. challengers as they moved ahead of United and fulness in front of goal as the Hornets showed why “We had to fight, that’s what we did and that’s why But the home side could not make their dominance Tottenham into fifth as John Fleck scored twice in the they are the lowest scoring side in the league. we won.” Leicester will be Liverpool’s next opponents of the second half count to drop points at home for second half to inflict a 2-0 defeat on Aston Villa, while Abdoulaye Doucoure and Ismaila Sarr both failed in the Premier League on Boxing Day after the only the second time this season. Chelsea’s hold on the Jack Grealish missed a late penalty for the visitors. to make a proper connection with the goal gaping in European champions’ quest to win the Club World fourth Champions League place could be down to as Burnley were also victors, 1-0 over Newcastle the first half and the 40-point difference between the Cup in Qatar later this week. little as two points should Manchester United beat thanks to Chris Wood’s close-range finish in a game of sides in the table was shown only in the difference of The Foxes had the chance to cut the gap at the top Everton today as their poor run continued. few chances at Turf Moor. — AFP Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund continued their Coutinho scores superb recent form, winning 4-0 away at Mainz to move two points behind Gladbach. Marco Reus scored hat-trick as Bayern his first away goal of the season with a stunning volley from the edge of the box, before Jadon Sancho, Thorgan Hazard and Nico Schulz all scored in the sec- rout Werder Bremen ond half. Sancho has now scored in six games in a row for Dortmund, while Schulz’s goal was his first in Dortmund BERLIN: Philippe Coutinho scored a hat-trick as colours. In Berlin, Hertha registered their first win under Bayern Munich signalled their return to form with a 6-1 former German national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, thrashing of Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga yester- winning 1-0 over a disappointing Freiburg. A goal from day. The Barcelona loanee was everywhere for Munich Vladimir Darida in the 53rd minute was enough to see at the Allianz Arena, chalking up two assists in addition Berlin claim the three points. to his three goals as Bayern pulled to within four points Struggling Cologne picked up a vital three points at of leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach. home against nine-man Bayer Leverkusen to take them After Bremen’s Milot Rashica opened the scoring in off the bottom of the table. Leverkusen lost Aleksandar the 24th minute for the visitors, it appeared it could be Dragovic and Leon Bailey to red cards in a 15-minute another long afternoon for the champions, who had lost period in the second half and were unable to hold on as their previous two games in the Bundesliga. Cologne won 2-0. Two goals in three minutes at the end of the first half Union Berlin’s recent run of victories came to an end however turned the game on its head, with Coutinho following a 1-1 draw against lowly Paderborn. Union, and Robert Lewandowski both scoring to fire Bayern who had won four of their last five before travelling to into a 2-1 lead. Bayern ran riot after the break, adding Paderborn, started well, scoring through Marcus four more goals - including two more for Coutinho, one Ingvartsen in the seventh minute, before Paderborn more for Lewandowski and a goal for Thomas Mueller. equalised via Kai Proger in the 33rd. Coutinho’s second, a brilliant chip over keeper Jiri RB Leipzig have the chance to go top in a late game MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s German midfielder Serge Gnabry (R) and Bremen’s Swedish defender Ludwig Pavlenka, came right out of the Brazilian trickster’s top when they take on Fortuna Duesseldorf. Gladbach are Augustinsson (L) vie for the ball during the German first division Bundesliga football match Bayern Munich v drawer. in action away to Wolfsburg today. — AFP Werder Bremen in Munich yesterday. —.