LONDON: Manchester United succumbed to a first away league defeat for 30 games by losing 4-2 at Leicester as Liverpool stormed to the top of the Premier League with a 5-0 demolition of Watford on Saturday.
Manchester City moved into second with a 2-0 win over Burnley, while Chelsea can move back to the top of the table when they travel to Brentford later in the day.
But the focus will fall on United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after his side failed to win for the third consecutive Premier League game.
United led at the King Power thanks to Mason Greenwood’s spectacular strike, but were quickly pegged back by Youri Tielemans’ dinked finish beyond David de Gea.
A flurry of four goals in the final 12 minutes then condemned Solskjaer’s men to a first defeat on the road since January 2020.
Caglar Soyuncu put Leicester in front before Marcus Rashford equalized on his first appearance of the season after shoulder surgery.
Straight from kick-off, United’s leaky defense was breached once more as Jamie Vardy smashed home and Patson Daka’s first Leicester goal in stoppage time sealed a much-needed win for Brendan Rodgers’ men.
Roberto Firmino scored his first hat-trick since 2018 as Liverpool ran riot at Vicarage Road in Claudio Ranieri’s first match as Watford boss.
But it was Mohamed Salah who again took most of the plaudits for another stunning solo goal to take his tally for the season to 10 in as many games.
“In this moment it is clear that there is no one better than him,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp of the Egyptian.
Salah helped open the floodgates with a defense-splitting pass that teed up Sadio Mane to score his 100th Premier League goal.
Firmino would have been unavailable due to a late return from international duty but for an injury that forced him to withdraw from the Brazil squad.
He tapped home his first goal from James Milner’s cross before half-time and took advantage of another open goal after Ben Foster parried Craig Cathcart’s attempted clearance.
Salah left four Manchester City defenders trailing to score in a thrilling 2-2 draw before the international break and pulled off a similar feat before curling into the far corner.
Firmino then completed the rout in stoppage time.
City did not need to hit top gear to see off Burnley at the Etihad and remain one point behind Liverpool at the top of the table.
Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne were on target either side of half-time for Pep Guardiola’s men.
Wolves produced a miraculous comeback from 2-0 down with 10 minutes remaining to win 3-2 at Aston Villa.
Danny Ings and John McGinn had put the hosts in a commanding position at Villa Park.
But Romain Saiss, Conor Coady and Ruben Neves handed Bruno Lage’s men a dramatic three points.
Southampton got their first league win of the season thanks to Armando Broja’s goal to beat Leeds 1-0.
Norwich remain winless and bottom of the table after a 0-0 draw with Brighton.
Manchester United lose at Leicester, City roll on as five-star Liverpool go top
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Manchester United lose at Leicester, City roll on as five-star Liverpool go top
- Mohamed Salah again took most of the plaudits for another stunning solo goal
Liverpool’s Wirtz will score many more after Wolves winner, says Slot
- Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz in June for a reported fee of £100 million, with a further £16 million in potential bonuses
- The 22-year-old had failed to find the net in more than 20 appearances for Liverpool before scoring the winner in Saturday’s match
Florian Wirtz is beginning to find his feet at Liverpool and will keep getting better, manager Arne Slot said after the German midfielder scored his first goal for the Premier League champions in their 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Liverpool signed Wirtz in June for a reported fee of 100 million pounds ($135 million), with a further 16 million pounds in potential bonuses.
The 22-year-old had failed to find the net in more than 20 appearances for Liverpool before scoring the winner in Saturday’s match, and Slot said his performances had been undervalued due to football’s obsession with statistics.
“I’m quite sure it was a relief for him. This I could see after his reaction after he scored the goal – and the same I saw with his teammates. I think they were really happy for him,” Slot told reporters.
“In football – rightly so, maybe – we mainly get judged on results, and individuals mainly get judged on goals and assists. Sometimes we tend to forget what else there is to do during a game.”
The Dutch manager called on Wirtz to keep going after ending his drought.
“He’s had multiple good games for us but I also feel he gets better and better every single game he is playing for us. He gets fitter and fitter and was getting closer and closer to his first goal,” he added.
“Then it was not a surprise to me that he scored one today, but he would probably be the first one to understand that one goal is not enough.
“He will score many more goals for us than only this one, but I also liked his performance during large parts of the game today. I think he was special in a lot of moments.”
Liverpool, fourth in the standings, next host 16th-placed Leeds United in a league match on January 1.
