Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane scored twice each as Liverpool crushed Leeds United 6-0 on Wednesday to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to three points.
City’s surprise home loss to Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend ignited hopes of another exhilarating title race if Liverpool won their game in hand against Leeds, and that never looked in doubt.
After taking a 15th-minute lead through Salah’s penalty, the title chasers were unrelenting, as Joel Matip’s first league goal of the season and another Salah spot kick effectively put the game to bed before the interval.
Salah was again instrumental in the move that led to Mane slotting home the fourth 10 minutes from time, before the Senegalese forward added his second in the 90th minute.
Virgil van Dijk headed home the sixth in stoppage time to send a real message of intent to City. The victory, Liverpool’s ninth in a row in all competitions, moved them on to 60 points from 26 matches, three behind the champions.
A 71st-minute header from Ben Mee gave lowly Burnley a surprise 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor, boosting their survival hopes.
Mee beat Cristian Romero in the air at the back post to head in a free kick and earn the Clarets their third win of the season and their first back-to-back victories in 13 months.
