Sadio Mane struck twice in the first half to give Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool their first Premier League win of 2017 and further dent Tottenham Hotspur’s title challenge at Anfield on Saturday night.
Following a period of sustained pressure for the home side, Georginio Wijnaldum slid a pass through to Mane, who ran past Ben Davies and clipped the ball over Hugo Lloris and into the net to make it 1-0 after 16 minutes.
Two minutes later it was 2-0 as Mane followed up and made no mistake after Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino were denied in front of goal.
Spurs looked toothless up front with Harry Kane and Dele Alli largely ineffective and Klopp’s side eased to the three points that took them back up to fifth in the Premier League table.
Elsewhere on Saturday, goals from Juan Mata and Anthony Martial moved Manchester United to within a point of the top four in the league as they comfortably defeated Watford 2-0 at Vicarage Road.
Mata opened the scoring in the 32nd minute as he turned in Martial’s cross, and then the Frenchman got on the scoresheet himself on the hour mark as he slotted home after running on to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s pass.
They are a point adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City, who travel to Bournemouth on Monday.
In the day’s other games, two goals from Manolo Gabbiadini helped give Southampton a 4-0 win at bottom side Sunderland.
An own goal from Jason Denayer and a Shane Long strike in stoppage time capped a miserable day for David Moyes’s men.
Crystal Palace also remain in the relegation zone after a Joe Allen strike was enough for Stoke City to triumph 1-0, while Middlesbrough played out a goalless draw with Everton.
A header from Gareth McAuley in injury time salvaged a point for West Bromwich Albion as they drew 2-2 at West Ham United.
Manuel Lanzini had looked as if he had struck a late winner when he scored in the 86th minute, but Evans nodded home from a corner in the third minute of stoppage time.
Sofiane Feghouli had equalised midway through the second half after Nacer Chadli had given West Brom an early lead.
In the early game, two goals from Alexis Sanchez returned Arsenal to winning ways as they defeated Hull City 2-0.
The Chilean’s first goal had a hint of controversy to it as he appeared to handle the ball across the line from close range in the 34th minute.
But there was no doubt about his second as he scored a penalty in stoppage time after Hull’s Sam Clucas handled Lucas Perez’s goal-bound header on the header.
Clucas was sent off for the offence to cap a miserable day for struggling Hull, as Arsenal bounced back after losing their previous two league games against Watford and Chelsea.
The result lifts Arsenal upto third, above Manchester City in the table, with City in action on Monday at Bournemouth.
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