Premier League: Salah stunner sends Liverpool top, Sterling double secures City win
CGTN
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Jurgen Klopp hailed "fantastic" Mohamed Salah as the key to Liverpool's title dreams as they powered back to the top of the Premier League thanks to the Egypt star's stunning strike in a 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.
Klopp's side had surrendered pole position a few hours earlier when Manchester City won 3-1 at Crystal Palace, piling pressure on the Reds to respond as the title race heats up.
But Liverpool rose to the challenge as Sadio Mane's opener five minutes after the break and a blistering long-range drive from Salah two minutes later moved them two points clear of second-placed City on a raucous afternoon at Anfield.
"It was a fantastic goal from Mohamed, I had the best view," Klopp said after Salah's first goal from outside the area in the league since January 2018.
"What a finish, what a shot. But the whole move around it. Wow, brilliant.
"I'm so proud of the team, it was a fantastic performance. I'm so thankful I can be a part of this. It's overwhelming at times."
City have five games left compared to just four for Liverpool, leaving the destiny of the title in the hands of the champions.
But there is a growing feeling at Anfield that this will be the season Liverpool finally end their 29-year wait to be crowned kings of English football.
With City having difficult league fixtures looming against Tottenham and Manchester United, Klopp's men are convinced they can hold onto pole position.
Their run-in is undoubtedly less daunting than City's, with Cardiff, Huddersfield and Newcastle on the schedule before a potential title party against Wolves at Anfield.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates in front of the Kop with a flurry of punches after the final whistle. /VCG Photo

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates in front of the Kop with a flurry of punches after the final whistle. /VCG Photo

"The first question in the meeting today was 'what is the City score?' You cannot avoid knowing about it," Klopp said of a gripping title battle.
"We expect them to win all their games so we just need to get as many points as possible.
"If we're champions then great, but if not we are still a really good football team."
For fourth-placed Chelsea, the loss was a blow to their bid for Champions League football next season and they will drop to fifth if Arsenal win at Watford on Monday.
Claiming that Liverpool's first goal should have been ruled out for a foul on Emerson, Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri grumbled: "In my opinion, there was a foul. I think the level in Premier League is the best in the world but not for the referees.
"We stayed in the match for 50 minutes. It's not easy of course but we have to fight to the end (for the top four)."
On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster that killed 96 Liverpool fans and in the week that club legend Tommy Smith passed away, there was even more emotion at Anfield than usual.
After a minute's silence featuring mosaics reading "30 years" and "96" held up by fans around the ground, Liverpool's focus was trained on avenging one of the more painful defeats in the club's recent history.

City beat Crystal Palace

Raheem Sterling scores twice as Man City beat Crystal Palace 3-1 and maintain their Premier League title challenge. /VCG Photo

Raheem Sterling scores twice as Man City beat Crystal Palace 3-1 and maintain their Premier League title challenge. /VCG Photo

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling struck twice to beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park in the Premier League on Sunday.
The English champions had earlier moved a point ahead of Liverpool before Liverpool regained the lead after beating Chelsea at Anfield 2-0 on Sunday.
Sterling had already missed a glorious chance before opening the scoring on 15 minutes as City rarely looked troubled despite having failed to beat Palace on their two previous meetings.
Another cool Sterling finish looked to have ended the game as a contest 27 minutes from time.
However, Pep Guardiola's men had to see out a nervous finale to ramp up the pressure on Liverpool when Luka Milivojevic's free-kick gave Palace hope of a dramatic comeback.
Instead, City broke to seal the three points on the counter-attack when the outstanding Kevin de Bruyne teed up Gabriel Jesus to make it 3-1.
The trip to south London kicked off a massive week for City with Tottenham to visit the Etihad twice in the next six days for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final and a vital Premier League clash with implications for both the title and top four race.
City must overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit against Spurs to progress to the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday. Yet, Guardiola's starting line-up seemed stronger than the one he named in defeat to Mauricio Pochettino's men in midweek.
Captain Vincent Kompany, Benjamin Mendy, De Bruyne and Leroy Sane returned among four changes and City quickly settled into total control of the game.
Source(s): AFP