LIVERPOOL: Liverpool took a huge step toward a first Premier League title in 30 years by beating defending champions Manchester City 3-1 at Anfield on Sunday to open up an eight-point lead at the top of the table.
Two goals in the first 13 minutes from Fabinho and Mohamed Salah gave the European champions a dream start before Sadio Mane’s diving header early in the second half sealed City’s fate.
Bernardo Silva pulled a late goal back but a third defeat in eight league games leaves City down in fourth, nine points behind Liverpool, and with a mountain to climb if they are to claim a third straight league title.
City’s defensive deficiencies have been much publicized without the injured Aymeric Laporte so far this season and they crumbled as Liverpool scored with their first two attacks of the game.
But the visitors were furious with some justification at the move that led to the opening goal when a dangerous foray into the Liverpool box ended with the ball striking Trent Alexander-Arnold on the arm.
Instead of City being awarded a penalty, the hosts broke down the other end and the ball fell to Fabinho on the edge of the area.
The Brazilian is not renowned for his goalscoring, but when invited to shoot by a hesitant City back line five minutes in, he arrowed a strike beyond stand-in goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
The visitors had their chances to get level in between Liverpool’s early blitz as Raheem Sterling headed wide Kevin De Bruyne’s in-swinging free-kick.
But it was Liverpool who were ruthless as a pinpoint cross by Andy Robertson was headed home on the bounce by Salah.
City still went on to enjoy the better of the play in the remainder of the first half, but the damage was already done.
Sergio Aguero was denied his first ever goal at Anfield by a smart save from Alisson Becker before a purposeful burst forward by Angelino saw his deflected shot come back off the post.
Aguero then dragged City’s best chance of a reply before the break wide after great work by De Bruyne.
Any hope of a City comeback was eliminated six minutes into the second half when Jordan Henderson’s teasing cross was met with a diving header by Mane although Bravo could have done better to stop the ball creeping over the line.
Liverpool agonizingly missed out on the title by a solitary point last season as City ended the season on a 14-match winning run to edge a titanic tussle.
Pep Guardiola’s men will need to produce something similarly spectacular to retain the title, but after quickly making up for the disappointment of the title race by wining the Champions League last season, Liverpool look destined to go one better this time round.
Guardiola’s mood was not improved when another VAR check went against his side after Sterling went down in the area under pressure from Mane.
City finally got the goal much of their approach play had threatened when Bernardo Silva swept home Angelino’s cross 12 minutes from time.
Liverpool were then camped inside their own half, but held out for what could prove to be a vital win come May.
Mo Salah scores as Liverpool beat Man City in huge boost to title hopes
Mo Salah scores as Liverpool beat Man City in huge boost to title hopes
- Two goals in the first 13 minutes from Fabinho and Mohamed Salah gave the European champions a dream start
- The 3-1 win opens up an eight-point lead at the top of the table
Italian gymnastics ex-coach stands trial for bullying
ROME: The former coach of Italy’s rhythmic gymnastics team goes on trial Tuesday accused of bullying athletes, fueling questions over the treatment of young athletes as the country hosts the Winter Olympics.
Emanuela Maccarani, a former national team gymnast herself, faces charges of abuse of minors at a court in Monza near Milan, which is hosting part of the Games.
The trial was sparked by explosive claims three years ago by two promising Italian gymnasts, Nina Corradini and double world champion Anna Basta, who claimed they quit the sport while still teenagers as a result of psychological abuse by Maccarani.
Corradini and Basta are civil parties along with two other gymnasts, Beatrice Tornatore and Francesca Mayer, and Change The Game, an Italian association campaigning against emotional, physical and sexual abuse and violence in sports.
Maccarani has denied the charges. Five gymnasts who trained with her submitted statements in her defense at a preliminary hearing in September.
Change The Game founder Daniela Simonetti told AFP the trial throws into “question methods that often cause pain, devastation, and significant consequences for boys and girls in general.”
“This trial is linked to a way of thinking, a way of understanding sport, a way of managing young athletes.
“The expectation is that there will be a real debate around this, whether these methods are right or wrong,” she said.
Episodes of alleged abuse in the discipline have come under growing scrutiny, particularly following a sexual abuse scandal in the late 2010s, which saw former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar convicted of molesting girls.
Vulnerable
The Olympics Committee has given more attention to mental health in recent years in a bid to protect athlete wellbeing.
While the discipline is not featured at the Winter Games, the world’s top gymnasts are preparing for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Coach Maccarani, 59, led Italy to the top of a sport traditionally dominated by countries from the former Soviet bloc.
But during her near three-decade reign at the Italian team’s National Training Center in Desio, not far from Monza, days began with gymnasts being weighed in front of one another.
Often a long way from their families and barely out of childhood, they were vulnerable.
Some took laxatives and weighed themselves obsessively. One world champion reported being berated for eating a pear.
The affair appeared to be over in September 2023 when Maccarani was given a simple warning by the disciplinary tribunal of the country’s gymnastics federation (FGI) and handed back the reins of the national team, nicknamed the “Butterflies.”
But in March last year the FGI, under new president Andrea Facci, sacked Maccarani.
The FGI’s official explanation to AFP at the time of her dismissal was that the organization wanted to “open a new cycle in preparation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.”
Corradini, whose testimony led the Monza prosecutor’s office to open an investigation, told AFP last year she was happy for “the young athletes who will now join the national team and who will surely have a different experience.”
