Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mane both scored as Premier League leaders Liverpool shrugged off their frustrating draw against Everton to thump Crystal Palace 4-0 at Anfield on Wednesday.
Liverpool’s win saw them inch to within two points of winning the league title, their first in 30 years.
The hosts completely dominated the game registering 74 percent possession, 21 shots (seven on goal) and nearly three times as many passes as Palace who failed to have a shot on target or win a corner kick the entire game. Palace’s cause was not helped as Côte d’Ivoire winger Wilfried Zaha was forced off in the 15th minute with a suspected injury.
Liverpool took the lead midway through the first half through Trent Alexander-Arnold who curled in a superb free-kick. Salah then doubled their lead in the 44th minute when he collected Fabinho’s lofted pass and held off Patrick van Aanholt’s challenge to score.
Salah’s strike was his 15th in the Premier League at Anfield this season and his seventh in his last six games.
Fabinho made it 3-0 with a powerful long-range strike 10 minutes into the second half before Salah’s first-time through pass released Mane and the Senegalese forward calmly rolled the ball into the net in the 69th minute for an emphatic win.
Mane’s strike was his ninth in 11 appearances against Crystal Palace, a team that Liverpool has sometimes found difficult to break down.
Liverpool has now scored 100 or more goals in all competitions for a third straight season.
Liverpool tops the table with 86 points from 31 games, 23 points ahead of last season’s champions Manchester City who have played a game less.
Liverpool’s next league fixture will be against City at Etihad Stadium on July 2.
