Premier League Wrap: Salah draws rare blank as relegation looms for Potters

London, April 28: Liverpool passed time between Champions League semi-final assignments with a 0-0 draw against Stoke City that nudged their opponents closer to relegation from the Premier League. Mohamed Salah spurned a glorious early chance to net his 44th goal of the season and Danny Ings saw a goal ruled out for offside before half-time.

Nevertheless, for all Jurgen Klopp's pre-match insistence upon the importance of their weekend engagement, it was a fitful showing from Liverpool, who will look to press home a 5-2 advantage over Roma in the Italian capital on Wednesday.

Stoke boss Paul Lambert continued his proud record of having never lost at Anfield in six visits and the well-drilled away team never looked likely to endure the sort of ordeal on the road that has seen them concede seven at Manchester City and five apiece to Tottenham and Chelsea this season.

Nevertheless, anything over than victories over fellow strugglers Crystal Palace and Swansea is unlikely to save Stoke, who almost found an 88th-minute winner heavily against the run of play through captain Ryan Shawcross. At this stage, even that might not be enough.

Anfield waited for the net to bulge in the fifth minute, but the only sight more surprising than Erik Pieters darting out of his defensive line to give Salah the freedom of Stoke's half was the PFA Players' Player of the Year dinking a routine finish wide.

Joe Gomez, one of five alterations to the XI that thumped Roma, made a shaky start and in the 20th minute his aimless lunge on Moritz Bauer allowed the Austria international to cross for Mame Biram Diouf to head wide at the far post.

Gomez was playing at right-back as Trent Alexander-Arnold pushed into midfield to fill the void left by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's knee ligament injury and the latter youngster should have done better when he prodded Salah's pass at Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland.

There were chances at both ends as ex-Liverpool man Peter Crouch just failed to get on the end of Xherdan Shaqiri's low centre, while Georginio Wijnaldum rippled the side-netting and Salah did likewise from a 34th-minute free-kick.

Ings thought he had given Liverpool the lead four minutes before half-time but strayed offside before rifling Wijnaldum's return pass into the roof of the net.

A groin injury to centre-back Bruno Martins Indi came as a major blow to Stoke and Lambert's decision to send on winger Ramadan Sobhi underlined the Potters being in a situation where a 12th draw of the campaign would be of little use.

Stoke's Egypt international enjoyed a couple of forays, drawing a brave block from Gomez, but the visitors had faded as an attacking force.

Liverpool's hoarding of possession was the main factor that made a home breakthrough more likely in a half that ambled past the midway point as Alberto Moreno drove wide from 25 yards.

There was late drama as Pieters fortuitously survived a penalty shout for handball before Shawcross, a Stoke mainstay since their promotion a decade ago, came agonisingly close to smuggling home the winning goal his club badly needed.

Two-goal Tadic sparks life into Saints' survival bid

Dusan Tadic scored a potentially priceless brace as Southampton moved to within one point of safety with a crucial 2-1 win over out-of-form Bournemouth at St Mary's on Saturday.

The Serbia international made the visitors pay for a pair of defensive errors either side of half-time to snap an eight-game winless run in the Premier League, in the process securing a vital first home victory since November.

They are now within touching distance of 17th-placed Swansea City, who face a difficult home clash with Chelsea - the team that knocked Saints out of the FA Cup semi-finals - later on Saturday.

Zaha dazzles as Eagles edge towards safety

A Wilfried Zaha-inspired Crystal Palace all but confirmed their Premier League survival with a comfortable 5-0 win over Leicester City at Selhurst Park.

The Ivory Coast international was once again in imperious form to move the Eagles six points above the relegation zone and within touching distance of safety.

The 25-year-old has endured a difficult week after being booked for diving during last weekend's 0-0 draw with Watford, but will make headlines now for the right reasons after a dazzling display.

In a first half that was played at breakneck speed, Zaha kept his cool to emphatically finish a flowing team move after 17 minutes.

He was denied a second by Ben Hamer soon after, but turned provider for James McArthur in the 38th minute as Roy Hodgson's side scored the second their dominance deserved.

Marc Albrighton took drastic action to prevent Zaha netting a third shortly after the restart, hauling him down when clean through on goal, resulting in a red card on a miserable afternoon for Claude Puel's side.

Leicester, who are without a win in four games, fell apart in the closing stages, allowing Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Patrick van Aanholt to add gloss to the scoreline, before a rare Christian Benteke goal completed the thrashing from the penalty spot.

Tosun and Gueye down Terriers

Huddersfield Town were sucked right back into the Premier League relegation battle after they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at home to Everton.

Cenk Tosun's first-half goal put Everton on course for a second successive victory and Idrissa Gueye scored in the second half to wrap up a win that extends their unbeaten streak to four games.

Fortunately for Sam Allardyce's men, Huddersfield struggled to cope with the pressure of needing three points to all but secure their place in the division next season, defending nervously and failing to capitalise on the few clear-cut chances they created.

Tosun's goal arrived courtesy of an incisive run from the tireless Theo Walcott, but the Turkey forward still had plenty of work to do to score and his finish showed class under pressure, while Gueye had an easier task and scored with aplomb.

The defeat leaves Huddersfield just three points above the drop zone after Southampton's crucial win against Bournemouth.

Phillips keeps Baggies hopes alive

West Brom kept their slim survival hopes alive as Matt Phillips scored only his second Premier League goal of the season to secure a 1-0 victory at Newcastle United.

The Baggies knew only three points on Saturday would be enough to save them from their 10th relegation from the top-flight and caretaker boss Darren Moore got exactly what he wanted, keeping his unbeaten run in charge of the Baggies intact.

Jake Livermore combined superbly with Phillips for the game's only goal, the former floating a pass across the defence that allowed the Scotland international to smash a fine finish past on-loan home goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Newcastle had chances to equalise, Kenedy hitting the post and Ben Foster's heroics preventing Dwight Gayle from heading home in the dying moments of the first half.

Source: OPTA