Liverpool’s EPL title charge continues

LIVERPOOL, England (AP):

Liverpool continued their charge towards the English Premier League (EPL) title yesterday with a 2-1 win against Wolverhampton. For Manchester United, it just keeps getting worse after a 1-0 loss at Tottenham.

The fortunes of England’s two most successful teams could hardly be more contrasting.

Victory for Liverpool saw the club restore its seven-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the table and move ever closer to equalling Man United’s record haul of 20 league crowns.

United, meanwhile, lost for the 12th time in the league this season and are 15th in the standings after James Maddison’s first-half strike for Spurs.

It is turning out to be another miserable campaign for the club that dominated English football under former manager Alex Ferguson. That is a distant memory now, with United’s wait to end their title drought set to extend to 12 years this season.

United have not been champions since Ferguson’s final campaign in 2013. Ruben Amorim is the sixth permanent coach since then to be charged with the responsibility of restoring their supremacy, but his early tenure has been fraught with problems.

Clash of clubs in crisis

This was Amorim’s ninth defeat in 21 games in all competitions since taking over in November. He has only overseen four league wins in that time.

Against a Spurs team that is also struggling in the wrong half of the table, Maddison’s goal in the 13th minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was enough to settle this clash of clubs in crisis. Some Tottenham fans are so dismayed by the state of their club that they staged a pre-match protest against Chairman Daniel Levy. But this was the third time their team had beaten United this season.

There could yet be a fourth encounter if both teams continue to advance in the Europa League.

But the Premier League is Amorim’s primary concern right now – even if a relegation fight remains unlikely. Despite being just three places above the drop zone, United are 12 points above the safety line.

That is little to shout about with United eight points off the top half.

Nervous Liverpool

Liverpool had to withstand a fightback from Wolves, which included a brilliant long-range goal from Matheus Cunha.

First-half strikes from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah secured the win for Arne Slot’s team, but an unconvincing performance after the break saw the home team fail to register a single shot on target as Wolves dominated the chances.

“Obviously 2-0 at half-time, we know that can be one of the most dangerous scorelines in football. We had to come out and we had to start well – and we didn’t quite do that,” said Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson. “When they scored, the players got nervous, the crowd got nervous – of course, that’s only natural. But it’s a massive win for us and another game down.”

Diaz bundled the ball over the line from close range in the 15th minute to give Liverpool the lead. And Salah doubled the advantage from the penalty spot in the 37th after Diaz was brought down.

It was the Egypt international’s 28th goal of an outstanding season and extended his current scoring streak to six straight games.

But if the home crowd was expecting a routine victory against 17th-placed Wolves, it was anything but.

Liverpool conceded a goal in stoppage time to draw 2-2 with Everton on Wednesday and were pushed again.

Cunha’s drag-back and curled finish from around 20 metres in the 67th came after a sustained period of pressure from the visitors.