SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2020 16 Liverpool move 22 points clear 100 from the last possible 102. • Chelsea salvage Rudiger to the rescue point at Leicester Chelsea stretched their advan- tage over Manchester United, AFP | London Wolves and Tottenham to seven KNOW WHAT points, but offered further hope iverpool surged a mas - to the chasing pack in the battle sive 22 points clear at the for a Champions League place. Ltop of the Premier League Frank Lampard’s men have A 24th victory in 25 with a 4-0 win over Southamp- now won just four of their last league matches this ton as Leicester and Chelsea 13 league games and the Blues’ consolidated their place in the boss’s frustration at not being season and ninth clean top four in a thrilling 2-2 draw able to add to his forward op- sheet in 10 games un- at the King Power. tions in the January transfer derlined how Liverpool Mohamed Salah scored twice window was exacerbated as the have turned the title as the champions-elect equalled visitors needed two goals from race into a procession a Premier League record with a centre-back Antonio Rudiger 20th straight home win at An- just to claim a point. Chelsea in third. field. “Not many people gave us the “We should have won having Southampton believed they top four slot and I understand gone 2-1 up. We gifted them two should have had a penalty early why, and it’s probably the same goals really, which we’re disap- in the second half when Dan- now,” said Lampard. “We’ve pointed with,” said Rodgers. ny Ings went down in the box come to Leicester, who every- Sheffield United are now against his old club, but no spot- one’s raving about, quite rightly, Chelsea’s closest challengers as kick was given and Liverpool and we’ve got a point.” Chris Wilder’s men moved into Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring the fourth goal went straight up the other end All the goals came in the sec- fifth with a 1-0 win at Crystal to take the lead through Alex ond half as Rudiger nodded Palace thanks to a calamitous at the London Stadium, but the two set-pieces in first half stop- reaching the League Cup final Oxlade-Chamberlain. Chelsea in front before two own goal from Eagles’ goalkeep- Seagulls fought back through page time to allow Yerry Mina’s in midweek were short-lived as Jordan Henderson doubled goals in 10 minutes from Harvey er Vicente Guaita. Pascal Gross and Glenn Murray double to bring Carlo Ancelotti’s 10-man Bournemouth held on the European champions lead Barnes and Ben Chilwell turned At the bottom of the table, for a point that keeps them two men level. for a 2-1 win that lifted them up with a smart finish on the hour the game around for Leicester. West Ham and Watford blew points above the drop zone. Everton then went down to to 16th. mark. A brilliant leap from Rudiger two-goal leads to slip into the Watford failed to even get a 10 men when Fabian Delph was Norwich are now seven points Salah then produced two cool 19 minutes from time denied relegation zone. point after going 2-0 up on Ever- sent-off but still snatched all adrift of safety at the bottom of finishes in the final 20 minutes the Foxes all three points, but A double for Robert Snodgrass ton through Adam Masina and three points through Theo Wal- the table as they again paid for as Jurgen Klopp’s men took their Brendan Rodgers’s men main- after Issa Diop’s opener put Roberto Pereyra. cott. not taking their chances in a 0-0 tally of points to a remarkable tain an eight-point lead over West Ham 3-1 up on Brighton But they switched off from Aston Villa’s celebrations at draw at Newcastle. Haaland takes tally to Zidane inspires Real Madrid seven in three games with to derby victory over Atletico another Dortmund double AFP | Madrid inedine Zidane’s double Zsubstitution at half-time transformed the Madrid derby yesterday as Real Madrid edged past Atletico 1-0 to move six points clear at the top of La Liga. Karim Benzema scored the winner at the Santiago Berna- beu after Zidane’s decisive in- tervention turned a contest that Atletico had dominated into an- other comfortable Real Madrid Dortmund’s Norwegian forward Erling Braut Haaland (R) shoots the baall victory. Vinicius Junior, one of the AFP | Berlin record run on 18 minutes when substitutes, was a key to the he was presented with a sim- goal. rling Braut Haaland made ple tap-in from a Julian Brandt Second-place Barcelona can Eit seven goals in three cross. cut the gap back to three points games for Borussia Dort - The hosts were dominat- by beating Levante at home on mund after scoring a double ing as Haaland won a penal- Sunday but Atletico now trail in yesterday’s 5-0 Bundesli- ty, which captain Marco Reus the leaders by 13 points. ga thrashing of Union Berlin converted mid-way through While Diego Simeone’s side while Bayern Munich went top the second half. were excellent in the first half, of the table. Central midfielder Axel they were yet again blunt in The 19-year-old Haaland, Witsel made it 4-0 on 70 min- front of goal and then failed to Karim Benzema of Real Madrid celebrates after scoring who had netted five times utes, firing home after San- respond when their opponents Sime Vrsaljko came in a right- a recognition of Atletico’s su- in his first two appearances cho’s brilliant pass took out found a different gear. back. January signing Yannick periority as he reverted to the since signing from Salzburg, two defenders and set up his This is Atletico’s fifth game Carrasco was named on the more familiar 4-3-3 with Modric scored either side of half-time Belgian team-mate.Haaland without a win. The worry is that bench, after rejoining from Da- deeper in midfield. at Signal Iduna Park after be- completed the rout when a on this form, they should wor- 129 lian Yifang the day before. The balance shifted immedi- ing handed his first Dortmund Brandt back-heel fell into his ry not about the title race but games have been won Simeone’s side were signif- ately. Real dominated the start start by coach Lucien Favre. path and he drilled his shot about missing out on Champi- by Zinedine Zidane as a icantly better in the first half of the second half. Haaland’s tally is the most by past the despairing Gikiewicz. ons League qualification. coach. He moved ahead of and should have taken one of a In the 56th minute, Vinicius any Bundesliga player in their In Mainz, goals by Robert It is a far cry from pre-season Mourinho (128) and now handful of decent chances as Vi- cut in from the left and slipped first three league matches. Lewandowski, Thomas Mu- when Atletico thrashed Real 7-3 only Del Bosque (133) and tolo hit Thibaut Courtois, Saul in the overlapping Ferland Dortmund moved to third in eller and Thiago Alcantara Miguel Muñoz (357) sit and many were tipping them as ahead of him Niguez flashed wide and Angel Mendy, whose cross to the back the table, three points behind sealed Bayern’s away win to serious challengers. Correa poked past the post after post gave Benzema a simple fin- leaders Bayern Munich, who go two points clear. Zidane was under pressure going through one-on-one, even ish. beat Mainz 3-1. Bayern wasted no time tak- then, but his team are on a re- since November, on the brink of if he probably would have been Atletico had been weakened Previous leaders RB Leipzig ing the lead despite the sodden lentless run, now 21 games un- a return, perhaps on Thursday called offside. shortly before when Alvaro Mo- can regain top spot if they later conditions as the Bundesliga’s beaten, the latest due in large in the Copa del Rey quarter-fi- Real Madrid’s cluster of cen- rata, perhaps the best player on beat fourth-placed Borussia top scorer Lewandowski net- part to his changes. nals against Real Sociedad. tral midfielders looked unsure the pitch in the first 45 minutes, Moenchengladbach at home. ted his 22nd league goal after The decision to ditch a fail- Gareth Bale’s absence was of their 4-3-2-1 shape. Fede went off with an injury. He was In Dortmund, 19-year-old just eight minutes to herald a ing system and revert to 4-3-3, not related to fitness. The Valverde looked particular- replaced by Thomas Lemar, England winger Jadon Sancho powerful first-half by the de- with Vinicuis Junior and Lucas Welshman was left out of the ly uncomfortable as he spent whom Simeone expected to became the first teenager to fending champions. Vazquez coming on for Isco and squad despite training for most much of the first half as a right be sold in the January transfer score 25 goals in the Bunde- Mueller hit their second on Toni Kroos, was both brave and of the week after an ankle winger. Luka Modric was vir- window. sliga when he started the rout 14 minutes, finishing a move effective. injury. tually anonymous in his more Real retreated a little, perhaps with a looping shot past Union he started after Lewandowski Real’s form is impressive and Atletico were without the in- advanced role.