February 24, (THEWILL) – With a 6-0 victory against a poor Leeds United side on Wednesday, Liverpool cut Manchester City’s lead at the English Premier League summit to just three points, once more, opening up what seemed like a one-horse race.
By halftime, the Reds had the game won, thanks to a rare Joel Matip goal sandwiched between two penalties from Mohamed Salah in the first half. Liverpool piled more agony on Marcelo Bielsa’s relegation-threatened team with three more goals after some second-half resistance from Leeds.
The visitors got off to a good start, but their euphoria did not last long. Andy Robertson’s cross struck Stuart Dallas’ outstretched arm in the box after a quarter of an hour, and Mohamed Salah made no mistake from the ensuing penalty.
The Reds began to find space more freely after the deadlock was broken, and they doubled their lead in the 30th minute. The odd scorer was Joel Matip, who burst forward from defence before playing a neat one-two with Salah and netting the ball with a striker’s finish.
Liverpool added a third goal from the penalty spot a few minutes later. Luke Ayling was the perpetrator this time. As he raced through, he brought Sadio Mane down, and Salah beat Illan Meslier in the Leeds goal once more. The game was gone by the time the half-time whistle blew, and the Whites had not managed a single shot on goal.
It was a first half performance that saw Salah once again register 10 plus goals and 10 plus assists in the same season to underscore his incredible importance to the Reds as they chase another title.
Things improved a tad for Leeds in the second half, and this improvement was partially due to Liverpool lowering their intensity ahead of Sunday’s cup final, but the away side also played better football, with Raphinha firing in a dangerous-looking effort that put Alisson into action.
Liverpool, on the other hand, were determined to finish strongly. Jordan Henderson cut out a bad Meslier kick 11 minutes from time, and after offloading to Salah, the England player was pushed into the penalty area by a wonderful pass, where he found an unmarked Mane who tapped home.
Virgil van Dijk added to Leeds’ woes with a thunderous header after Mane pounced on scraps following daring forward movement from Divock Origi to finish off the 6-nil walloping of a hapless Bielsa side.
Up next for Liverpool is a matchup against Chelsea in the EFL Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. On Saturday, Leeds will host Tottenham Hotspur in their next Premier League match at Elland Road.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
