London: Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane fired Liverpool into second place in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory against Newcastle, while Tottenham cemented their top four berth as Son Heung-Min inspired a 2-0 win over Huddersfield yesterday.
Salah struck in the 40th minute at Anfield to maintain his superb form in his first season with Liverpool following his move from Roma.
The Egypt winger took Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s pass and shot low under Martin Dubravka for his 32nd goal of the season and his eighth in his last seven appearances.
Liverpool took complete control 10 minutes after half-time when Roberto Firmino drove at the heart of the Newcastle defence, playing in Senegal winger Mane, who claimed his 14th goal of the season with a clinical finish.
A fourth win in their last five league games took Jurgen Klopp’s side one point above Manchester United, who drop to third but can regain second spot with a win at Crystal Palace tomorrow.
Leaders Manchester City sit 15 points clear of Liverpool and host Chelsea today.
Newcastle are two points above the bottom three after their first defeat in five matches.
At Wembley, Son put Tottenham ahead in the 27th minute with his 14th goal of the season as Dele Alli’s pass sliced open the Huddersfield defence and the South Korea forward raced clear to finish emphatically.
Son struck again in the 54th minute, timing his run perfectly to meet Harry Kane’s cross with a bullet header past Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.
Fourth-placed Tottenham’s third successive league win lifted them five points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League via a top-four finish.
Swansea climbed out of the relegation zone and pushed West Ham deeper into trouble with a 4-1 win at the Liberty Stadium.
South Korea midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng drove a 20-yarder past West Ham goalkeeper Adrian in the eighth minute for only his second goal of the season.
Oxygen
West Ham defender Winston Reid was given oxygen before being stretchered off after a nasty looking fall.
Carlos Carvalhal’s team took advantage to double their lead in the 32nd minute as Mike van der Hoorn was left unmarked to head home from close range.
Jordan Ayew slammed in a 63rd-minute penalty, awarded for a foul on his brother Andre Ayew, as Swansea moved three points clear of the bottom three.
Troy Deeney pushed West Bromwich Albion closer to relegation as the Watford striker’s late goal sealed a 1-0 win at Vicarage Road.
Southampton, sitting one point above the relegation zone, have only one win in their last 16 games after being held to a drab 0-0 draw by second-bottom Stoke at St Mary’s.
Riyad Mahrez rescued Leicester with a last-gasp free-kick equaliser in their 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, who had taken the lead through Josh King’s penalty.
Burnley ended an 11-match winless run in the Premier League as Chris Wood’s 80th minute header sealed a 2-1 victory over Everton.