NEW DELHI: Liverpool’s Premier League title aspirations were dealt a severe blow as they suffered a 2-0 loss to their Merseyside rivals Everton, while Manchester United spared Erik ten Hag’s blushes with a hard-fought 4-2 victory over bottom-placed Sheffield United on Wednesday.Everton took the lead in the 27th minute through Jarrad Branthwaite, who prodded the ball past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker via the post following a poorly cleared free-kick. Despite Mohamed Salah’s efforts, Liverpool failed to equalize, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin sealed the win for Everton with a header in the 58th minute.
“Arsenal and Manchester City must have a very bad moment. I don’t know. I can only apologise for today to the people. We should have done better but we didn’t,” Klopp said when asked if Liverpool can win the title.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United found themselves trailing twice to Sheffield United before Bruno Fernandes came to the rescue in the second half.
Jayden Bogle and Ben Brereton Diaz scored for the visitors, while Harry Maguire equalized for United before half-time. Fernandes levelled the score from the penalty spot and then put United ahead with a long-range strike in the 81st minute. Rasmus Hojlund added a fourth goal to secure the much-needed victory for Ten Hag’s side.
Referee Stuart Attwell found himself at the centre of controversy once again, disallowing a Wolves goal in their 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Molineux.
Attwell ruled that Matheus Cunha had fouled Justin Kluivert off the ball in the build-up to Hwang Hee-chan’s equalizer. The referee also showed a straight red card to Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez for a foul on Matt Doherty.
In other action, Jean-Philippe Mateta continued his impressive home scoring streak, netting for the fifth consecutive match at Selhurst Park to lead Crystal Palace to a 2-0 victory over Newcastle, denting the Magpies’ hopes of qualifying for European competition.
(Inputs from AFP)