Liverpool sink Man City, Man Utd crush Everton

It was a day of sharp contrasts for the teams of Manchester and the two from Merseyside in the English Premier League on Sunday.

Arne Slot’s amazing start to his managerial post at Liverpool continues to rocket after the Reds beat Man City 2-0 at Anfield.

Earlier Mancheter United’s new coach Ruben Amorim saw his side hammer Everton 4-0 for his first league win.

Liverpool overawed arch-rivals Manchester City with goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah to take a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League and extend their opponents' slump to seven games without a win.

The result was City's first four-game losing streak in the Premier League since 2008 and pushed Pep Guardiola's struggling side down to an unfamiliar fifth in the table, 11 points behind their greatest rivals of recent years.

Buoyed by a midweek Champions League win over Real Madrid, Liverpool came out flying and could have wrapped the game up by halftime with a hatful of chances, including two thundering Virgil van Dijk headers, one of which hit the woodwork.

The first goal came in the 12th minute after a long pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold to Salah on the right wing. His low cross eluded Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega for Gakpo to nudge the ball in at the back post.

Salah scored Liverpool's second with a 78th-minute penalty, after his striker partner Luis Diaz was brought down by Ortega in the box, sending the Anfield crowd into delirium.

Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee bagged two goals apiece as Manchester United thumped Everton in new manager Amorim’s first Premier League match at Old Trafford.

United’s biggest victory margin in a league game since a 5-1 win over Leeds United in 2021 lifted them three spots to ninth in the table after 13 games.

Rashford put United ahead in the 34th minute when he darted in to fire home Bruno Fernandes’s corner with a sidefooted volley that sailed in off the outstretched foot of Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite.

“It is a nice result,” Rashford told Sky Sports. “It is important with a new coach and a new way of playing, when we are still learning. We have to back up this performance and win in midweek [on Wednesday at Arsenal].

“We all, as individuals, want to get back to our best and then push to improve so even in the bad moments you are doing the right thing,” he said.

The goal ignited Amorim’s side, who dominated the rest of the match, and Zirkzee doubled the lead in the 41st minute when Amad Diallo intercepted Jordan Pickford’s goal kick and the Dutch forward fired home Fernandes’s cross from close range.

Rashford, who has netted three goals in three games since Amorim took charge, completed his brace 20 seconds after halftime when he ran on to a through ball from Amad who caused Everton problems all afternoon.

The Ivory Coast forward stripped the ball off James Tarkowski in the 64th minute and drove forward before feeding Zirkzee to slot in his second.

Delighted United fans sang Amorim’s name all afternoon. The Portuguese, who barely cracked a smile throughout the game, is unbeaten in three matches since taking charge, including a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town and a 3-2 Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt.

They are unbeaten in the seven games across all competitions since Erik ten Hag was sacked on October 28.

“The connection is going to build and grow the more we get used to him,” said Rashford who had not scored two goals in a league game since February, 2023.

“He’s [Amorim’s] come in in a busy period and hopefully the connection keeps building and growing. He’s come in with a great attitude and it’s passed onto the players.”

Meanwhile, expertly taken goals by Nicolas Jackson, captain Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer earned Chelsea a 3-0 home win over Aston Villa, lifting them to joint second in the table.

Senegal striker Jackson neatly sidefooted a Marc Cucurella cross from the left, knocking it in off the post in the seventh minute. Chelsea took advantage of questionable defending in the 36th minute when Fernandez was fed by Palmer before steadying himself and firing home between Matty Cash and Ezri Konsa.

Palmer outdid both his teammates, however, lofting an exquisite left-foot shot into the top corner of substitute goalkeeper Robin Olsen’s net in the 83rd minute.

Fulham captain Tom Cairney came off the bench to rescue a point before being sent off in a 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur after Brennan Johnson’s volley gave the hosts the lead.

Spurs took the lead against the run of play in the 54th minute through Johnson, his third goal in four games, before Cairney’s curling effort in the 67th minute pulled Fulham level.

Reuters