Liverpool beat Forest, Leicester out of relegation zone

Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah were on target as Liverpool edged Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest 3-2 in a thrilling clash at Anfield on Saturday to climb to seventh in the table.

Jota headed in the opener three minutes into the second half following a corner but Forest drew level when former Liverpool fullback Neco Williams ran on to Morgan Gibbs-White’s pass to send a deflected shot past Alisson.

Jota restored Liverpool’s lead with a sharp finish on the turn in the 55th minute but Liverpool were pegged back again when Virgil Van Dijk’s clearing header fell to an unmarked Gibbs-White, who fired an unstoppable shot into the corner.

Liverpool were back on top three minutes later when Trent Alexander-Arnold picked out Salah with a low free kick and the Egyptian striker held off Remo Freuler before side-footing past Keylor Navas.

Forest came agonisingly close to snatching a point when Taiwo Awoniyi sent an acrobatic effort over the bar and substitute Brennan Johnson hit the crossbar with a delicate chip with Alisson beaten, but Liverpool clung on to take all three points.

Jurgen Klopp’s men moved on to 50 points, one behind sixth-placed Aston Villa, while the defeat saw Forest drop to second-bottom in the table.

Leicester finally snap winless run in comeback win over Wolves
Leicester City came from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 with goals from Kelechi Iheanacho and Timothy Castagne on Saturday to snap a 10-match run without a victory in all competitions and keep their Premier League survival bid alive.

Leicester had claimed one point from their previous nine league games and the long-awaited victory moved Dean Smith’s side out of the drop zone and up to 17th with 28 points — above Everton on goal difference. Wolves are 13th with 34 points.

Leicester were the better team in the opening stages but Wolves scored first against the run of play when Mario Lemina pinched the ball from an unsuspecting Youri Tielemans before finding Matheus Cunha who fired home in the 13th minute.

However, Leicester hit back seven minutes before halftime when Jamie Vardy was brought down in the box by goalkeeper Jose Sa and Iheanacho stepped up to calmly slot the penalty past the Portuguese keeper after sending him the wrong way.

Patson Daka had the opportunity to give Leicester the lead on a counter-attack 10 minutes into the second half but Sa was up to the task to keep him out with a reflex save while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s shot from the rebound went over the bar.

But Leicester’s sustained pressure finally paid off after 75 minutes when full back Victor Kristiansen found space down the left flank and cut the ball back for Castagne, who finished first time to give the home side all three points.

Everton earn draw at Palace but slip into bottom three
Everton ended Crystal Palace’s winning run under returning coach Roy Hodgson as they held out for a 0-0 Premier League draw at Selhurst Park on Saturday, but the Merseyside club have dropped into the relegation zone.

Clear-cut chances were few and far between but Everton’s Alex Iwobi forced an excellent low stop from goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, while Palace’s Eberechi Eze had the ball in the back of the net but was correctly adjudged offside.

Everton finished the game with 10 men when defender Mason Holgate, making his first start since early November, received a second yellow card, though it appeared a harsh decision from referee John Brooks as he won the ball in the tackle.

Everton drop into the bottom three on goal difference behind Leicester City, who won 2-1 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, having amassed 28 points from 32 games. Palace stay in 12th place on 37 points from the same number of matches.

Palace had won all three games since the return of 75-year-old Hodgson to the South London club and dominated the first half, but were unable to punish a sloppy visiting side, whose poor passing left them pinned in their own half.

Everton improved after the break and fit-again striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin almost broke the deadlock when his excellent turn in the box bamboozled two defenders but his shot went narrowly wide of the post.

Brentford bring Villa’s winning run to an end with 1-1 draw
Brentford brought Aston Villa’s run of five straight wins in the Premier League to an end in west London on Saturday, with the visitors securing a late 1-1 draw through Douglas Luiz after Ivan Toney had scored his 20th goal of the season for the Bees.

Toney broke the deadlock in the 65th minute, striking a cross from Bryan Mbeumo straight between the legs of Villa’s substitute keeper Robin Olsen to bag his 20th strike in all competitions.

Villa appeared to be on the brink of defeat until Emiliano Buendia rushed forward and cut the ball back in the 87th minute for Brazilian midfielder Luiz to fire in from close range.

The Bees fans then thought their side had won the match in the 90th minute when second-half substitute Youane Wissa raced down the middle and lashed the ball past Olsen, only for his strike to be ruled out for offside.

Villa’s Ollie Watkins, having scored 11 times in his previous 12 league appearances, had a mostly quiet game until deep into stoppage time when he nearly scored but failed to bring Buendia’s cross under control.

The result leaves Villa sixth in the table on 51 points, one ahead of Liverpool who have a game in hand, while Brentford sit in 10th place on 44 points.