LIVERPOOL: Liverpool demolished Tottenham 5-1 to clinch the Premier League title at an impassioned Anfield on Sunday, sealing a record-equalling 20th English top-flight crown.
Arne Slot’s men stormed back after conceding a surprise early goal to dominate the first half as the decibel level soared among 60,000-plus crowd.
Liverpool, who can no longer be caught by second-placed Arsenal, are now level with bitter rivals Manchester United as the joint-most successful club in English top-flight history.
Slot’s men started on the front foot at an expectant Anfield after a stirring rendition of club anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in the warm spring sunshine.
Mohamed Salah had an early sighter and Cody Gakpo went close with a spectacular overhead kick but Tottenham briefly threatened to become party poopers when Dominic Solanke powered home a header from a James Maddison corner in the 12th minute.
But Liverpool were level just four minutes later when Luis Diaz converted Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross from close range. The offside flag went up but VAR awarded the goal.
The momentum was now all with Liverpool and the home side took the lead in the 24th minute when Alexis Mac Allister thundered the ball home from the 18-yard line past the flying Guglielmo Vicario.
Now the party was well and truly started and Gakpo made it 3-1, slamming a shot into the bottom corner after Spurs failed to clear.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou had made eight changes from the team that lost to Nottingham Forest last week as he prioritizes the semifinals of the Europa League and they now had a mountain to climb.
The Liverpool fans — deprived of celebrating the 2020 Premier League trophy due to COVID-19 restrictions, ran through their full repertoire of songs as their team pushed for a fourth goal in the second half.
Top-scorer Salah scored the goal the crowd craved, collecting Szoboszlai’s pass before cutting in and blasting his shot into the bottom corner.
He celebrated by grabbing a fan’s phone before taking a selfie in front of the Kop.
Deafening cheers of “We’re going to win the league” and “We shall not be moved” rang out.
Liverpool had a fifth when Spurs defender Destiny Udogie poked the ball past his own goalkeeper from close range with about 20 minutes to go as the game turned into a procession.
As the game went into added time the club’s anthem rang out again as scarves were held aloft and the final whistle elicited a thunderous roar.
The win leaves Liverpool on 82 points, 15 clear of nearest challengers Arsenal with just four games remaining.
Tottenham are a miserable 16th in the Premier League table after their 19th defeat of the season, putting Postecoglou under enormous pressure.
Tens of thousands of fans swarmed around Anfield in the build-up to kick-off in anticipation of Liverpool’s coronation, setting off flares as the home team bus arrived.
Flags and scarves saying “Liverpool 20-time Champions” were on sale from stalls outside the ground.
At the start of the campaign, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were favorites to extend their dynastic Premier League reign and make it five titles in a row but their form collapsed.
Arsenal emerged as their closest challengers but they drew too many games, failing to take advantage of the rare Liverpool slip-ups.
It was feared Liverpool’s players would need time to adapt to the methods of Slot, who replaced Jurgen Klopp last June following the German’s departure after nine trophy-filled years at Anfield.
But the former Feyenoord boss has sailed serenely through the season despite relentless speculation over the futures of three of his biggest stars — Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Both Salah and Van Dijk have now signed two-year extensions, though England defender Alexander-Arnold is believed likely to be on the verge of a move to Real Madrid.
Salah poses for celebration selfie with Liverpool fans in Premier League title-winning victory
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Salah poses for celebration selfie with Liverpool fans in Premier League title-winning victory
- Arne Slot’s men stormed back after conceding a surprise early goal
- Top-scorer Salah scored the goal the crowd craved, celebrated by grabbing a fan’s phone before taking a selfie in front of the Kop
Inter thump Como to top Serie A ahead of Liverpool visit
- Strike partnership Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram scored in each half
- “Today we showed how good we are against a really good side in Como,” said Martinez
MILAN: Inter Milan moved top of Serie A on Saturday after hammering high-flying Como 4-0 at the San Siro, ahead of the visit of struggling Liverpool in the Champions League.
Strike partnership Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram scored in each half before Hakan Calhanoglu and Carlos Augusto netted late as Inter eased to a victory which pushed them two points ahead of AC Milan and Napoli who are both yet to play.
Champions Napoli host fierce rivals Juventus on Sunday night while Milan will be favorites to leapfrog back over their local rivals at Torino on Monday.
“Today we showed how good we are against a really good side in Como,” said Martinez.
“We showed just how hungry we are to get as many points as we can... it’s a really good win for us.”
Saturday’s win was the perfect warm-up for Tuesday’s clash with Liverpool, which could be key to whether Cristian Chivu’s team secure direct qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.
A good sign for Chivu was the strong display by Luis Henrique at right wing-back, which has been a trouble position for Inter since Denzel Dumfries’ picked up an ankle injury last month.
It was Henrique who was key to Martinez’s opener in the 11th minute, the Brazilian surging into the area from his own half, cutting back inside and perfectly feeding his captain who netted a league-leading seventh goal of the Serie A campaign.
And in the 59th minute Thuram added to his brace in Inter’s midweek cup thumping of Venezia with his first league goal since returning from a hamstring injury suffered in September.
France forward Thuram poked home from close range after Federico Dimarco’s corner caused chaos for Como, who had started the second half the better team and should have levelled from one of two great chances for Tasos Douvikas and Alex Valle.
Cesc Fabregas’ Como drop down a place to sixth, six points behind Inter after falling to their first defeat since August, which was made emphatic by Calhanoglu firing home his seventh goal of the season in the 81st minute and Carlos Augusto’s fine volley shortly afterwards.
“It’s hard to analyze when you’ve been beaten 4-0. It’s a heavy defeat... but honestly I didn’t see a huge difference between the two teams tonight,” insisted Fabregas.
“A result like today’s helps you develop... A heavy defeat is when you grow the most and when you learn the most.”
- Fiorentina’s crisis continues -
Fiorentina plunged deeper into crisis with a 3-1 defeat at promoted Sassuolo which left them bottom of the division without a single win this season.
Once the home of players like Gabriel Batistuta and Rui Costa and sixth-placed finishers last season, Fiorentina have collected just six points from 14 matches.
And even with the backing of some 4,000 traveling fans the “Viola” were dreadful in Reggio Emilia, collapsing to an eighth league loss of the league campaign after going ahead through Rolando Mandragora’s ninth-minute penalty.
Cristian Volpato levelled for Sassuolo with a deflected strike five minutes later. Tarik Muharemovic gave the hosts a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time when he was given the freedom of the Fiorentina penalty area to head home his first Serie A goal.
From that point Fiorentina showed nothing to suggest a comeback and Ismael Kone sealed the points for Sassuolo in the 65th minute, shortly after Volpato had a screamer ruled out for a soft looking foul on Fabiano Parisi.
That decision incensed eight-placed Sassuolo’s coach Fabio Grosso who was subsequently sent off for dissent.
Grosso’s counterpart Paolo Vanoli, who took charge of Fiorentina a month ago, screamed on the sidelines to no avail as his team stayed six points from safety with just over a third of the season done.
Raffaele Palladino looks to continue his good start as Atalanta coach, a job he took last month after quitting Fiorentina in the summer, at Verona in the day’s late fixture.
