(Football news) Liverpool kept their hopes of staying in the Premier League title race alive after a 2-0 victory over Leicester City at Anfield. Diogo Jota converted from close range after a header from Virgil Van Dijk was parried by Kasper Schmeichel in the 34th minute and the 25 year old scored his second goal after receiving a pass from Joel Matip in the 87th minute to seal a victory for the hosts. The result means that Liverpool have reduced the gap to Manchester City to nine points with a game in hand.
Sadio Mane was unavailable for the fixture due to his involvement in the African Cup of Nations while Mohamed Salah was on the bench. However, Diogo Jota did the perfect job in their absence by scoring two vital goals to take his goal tally for the season to 17. Liverpool’s new signing Luis Diaz also made his full debut for the club after signing from Porto in January and displayed an impressive performance. Salah was brought on in the second half and the Egyptian hit the woodwork once and was denied by Schmeichel twice. The win against Leicester means Liverpool have now won their fifth consecutive home game while the Foxes are in 12th place.
Speaking after the match, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said “With the first goal, when you are in a goalscoring moment, then you are there. "That's exactly what's happening for Diogo at the moment. I'm really happy for him and it's really helpful for us. We had a sense that it could happen. Diogo was not a bargain, it was not as if we got him for free.
"But the first thing that was obvious about him was his potential that was there, the work-rate that he puts in – that was the most important thing. If you have that, then there is always space for improvement. He's still a really young lad so you have to make the next steps in the team with us where we create much more chances than, with all due respect, Wolves did. You need a bit of fantasy for that and imagination, but we really thought he would be an outstanding player. He was already there when he came here but he has improved."
Also read: Man City move 12 points clear while Spurs lose to Southampton
At the Molineux Stadium, 10 man Arsenal held on to a one goal lead which helped them progress to fifth place in the Premier League table after clinching three points against the Wolverhampton Wanderers. Gabriel Martinelli received a red card midway through the second half which resulted in enormous pressure for Mikel Arteta’s side who somehow managed to retain their lead. Gabriel dos Santos Magalhães finished from close range after Alexandre Lacazette tangled with Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.
The sending off gave renewed vigor to Bruno Lage’s team who struggled to create chances prior to the red card. Wolves appeared to have managed to get an equalizer immediately when Granit Xhaka put the ball into his own net but the goal was disallowed due to Raul Jiminez’s interference in the build-up from an offside position. Wolves have had a problem with scoring goals all season with only Norwich and Burnley having scored fewer goals prior to the match but both the sides have now caught up. Mikel Arteta will be pleased that the Gunners defended resolutely and managed to withstand everything Wolves threw their way. Arsenal have now kept five clean sheets in seven Premier League matches and have a decent chance of securing Champions League qualification for next season.
