Premier League Wrap: Salah strikes again to punish City loss as Klopp reaches 100 wins; Spurs go 2nd

London, December 26: Klopp's 181st game in charge saw Liverpool take an early Boxing Day lead at Anfield, Dejan Lovren smashing in a superb half-volley to set up their eighth straight Premier League win.

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And when Salah stepped up to convert a penalty he won himself immediately after the restart, Rafael Benitez's side were heading to defeat on his Anfield return.

Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabinho added late goals for the rampant hosts and Manchester City's 2-1 loss at Leicester City means the 2017-18 champions fall further behind Klopp's men ahead of their clash at the Etihad Stadium on January 3, with Tottenham moving up to second after thrashing Bournemouth.

Joselu and Shaqiri missed clear chances in an open start at Anfield, with Liverpool taking the lead in the 11th minute.

A diabolical clearing header from Jamaal Lascelles fell straight to Lovren, who smashed a wonderful half-volleyed finish high into the roof of the net.

Martin Dubravka denied Sadio Mane and then made a fine save to keep out a deflected Shaqiri free-kick before the interval.

But Liverpool extended their advantage two minutes after the restart, Salah beating Dubravka from the penalty spot after he was tugged on the arm by Paul Dummett.

And with City dropping points again, Liverpool gave their fans an ideal late Christmas present when Shaqiri tapped in a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross and Fabinho headed in Salah's corner for a close-range fourth.

What's next?

Premier League games keep coming thick and fast with Liverpool hosting Arsenal on Saturday, when Newcastle go to Watford.

1⃣0⃣0⃣wins as manager of the Reds. 👏🔴 pic.twitter.com/QFJioppTSz

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 26, 2018

Spurs go second with free-scoring victory

Tottenham's festive goal glut continued on Boxing Day as they cruised to a 5-0 Premier League win against Bournemouth that sends them above Manchester City into second.

Having given Everton a nightmare before Christmas in a 6-2 victory at Goodison Park on Sunday, three first-half goals laid the foundations for another convincing triumph.

Kyle Walker-Peters seemingly still had some presents to hand out as he provided the assists for Christian Eriksen, Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura to find the net before the break.

Harry Kane and Son then made it five after the break for a victory that lifts Spurs a point clear of floundering City.

Spurs looked lively in the opening stages but it was Bournemouth who had the first clear-cut opportunities to break the deadlock.

Junior Stanislas got in the way of Ryan Fraser as he attempted to head a right-wing cross goalwards, before David Brooks failed to lift the ball over Hugo Lloris after being played in by a perfectly weighted Jefferson Lerma chip.

Lerma was involved when the breakthrough came at the other end in the 16th minute, Eriksen's shot from 20 yards taking a wicked deflection off the Colombian's leg to leave Asmir Begovic beaten.

Spurs' second followed seven minutes later, when Charlie Daniels failed to clear his lines and allowed Walker-Peters to snatch possession, passing inside to Son, who picked his spot and fired low into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

The match looked beyond Bournemouth by the 35th minute, with Lucas sweeping home a Walker-Peters cutback for Spurs' third.

Bournemouth's problems got worse before half-time, with captain Simon Francis stretchered from the field with a serious-looking injury after a challenge on Son, while a Daniels header was kept out by Lloris on the whistle.

A 5⃣⭐️ Boxing Day display! #COYS pic.twitter.com/i6FftA4SIW

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 26, 2018

Spurs were lucky not to concede a penalty when Juan Foyth barged Callum Wilson over in the box early in the second period, before Stanislas was correctly flagged offside having found the net.

The result was put beyond all doubt in the 61st minute, though, when Kane met a delightful Eriksen chip with a hooked volley to beat Begovic, and Son added further gloss after Bournemouth somehow failed to get rid of the ball amid a goalmouth scramble.

Pogba strikes twice in happy homecoming for Solskjaer

Manchester United made it two wins from two under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as they saw off Huddersfield Town 3-1 on Wednesday.

Goals in each half from Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba sealed a happy return to Old Trafford for Solskjaer, who received a rapturous reception before kick-off.

The victory, which followed a 5-1 thrashing of Cardiff City in their first match since Jose Mourinho's departure, means the Red Devils are back to within five points of the top four having played a game more than Arsenal and Chelsea.

Huddersfield, who got a goal back late on through Mathias Jorgensen, are bottom of the Premier League table and five points from safety.

United should have been behind in the first 10 minutes, Terence Kongolo slicing a shot over the crossbar from barely five yards out after a long throw was flicked on by Alex Pritchard.

The visitors kept United at bay until 28 minutes in, when Matic tapped in after Victor Lindelof's header was blocked on the line.

That's a wrap on the perfect late Christmas present from #MUFC! 🎁 #MUNHUD pic.twitter.com/B0D0haFNW6

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 26, 2018

Diego Dalot shot wide from a Marcus Rashford cross and Huddersfield threatened to punish that miss with a good start to the second half, in which Laurent Depoitre was denied acrobatically by David de Gea.

That save proved pivotal as, three minutes later, United doubled their lead. Juan Mata danced his way into the penalty area and found Ander Herrera, who teed up Pogba to sweep home first time.

Pogba added gloss to the scoreline and a super personal display with 12 minutes to go, collecting Jesse Lingard's pass and bending a sublime low strike past Jonas Lossl from 25 yards out, making Jorgensen's late tap-in mere consolation.

Ragged 10-man champions lose more ground

Manchester City dropped to third in the Premier League as Leicester City made it back-to-back defeats for Pep Guardiola's men - Ricardo Pereira's spectacular 81st-minute strike securing a 2-1 triumph.

The reigning champions have lost three of their past four top-flight outings and lie seven points behind Liverpool, whose closest challengers are now Tottenham - six points back of the leaders.

As in their weekend defeat to Crystal Palace, Manchester City took a first-half lead but were quickly pegged back – Bernardo Silva's goal cancelled out by Marc Albrighton, who also equalised when the sides met in the EFL Cup quarter-finals last week.

A 1-1 draw on that occasion ended with a victory for Manchester City on penalties but Leicester prevailed this time, with hero Pereira on the receiving end of a rash challenge that saw Fabian Delph sent off in the closing minutes.

Such a turnaround appeared unlikely when Aymeric Laporte fizzed a 14th-minute pass into Sergio Aguero's feet and the Argentina striker played in Silva for a neat finish.

The lead lasted only five minutes, though, as referee Mike Dean waved away claims for a foul against Danilo and Leicester made the most of an undermanned defence – Jamie Vardy crossing for Albrighton to head in at the far post.

Aguero almost restored the visitors' advantage following excellent work from Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane but they needed a trio of saves from Ederson to deny Vardy, James Maddison and Hamza Choudhury before half-time.