Liverpool stretch lead as Man City, Chelsea stumble

Liverpool extended ir lead at top of Premier League to 11 points with a nervy 2-1 win over Brighton as Manchester City slipped up once more in a draw at Newcastle on Saturday. Chelsea missed chance to go level on points with second-placed City as Frank Lampard's men suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat by West Ham, while Tottenham's winning run under Jose Mourinho continued as Dele Alli scored twice in a 3-2 win over Bournemouth. Virgil van Dijk is hoping to beat Lionel Messi to Ballon d'Or on Monday and showed he can score goals as well as stop m with two towering headers from Trent Alexander-Arld set-piece deliveries to put Liverpool 2-0 up inside 25 minutes. However, goalkeeper Alisson Becker was sent off 14 minutes from time for handling outside his area and Brighton reduced deficit from resulting free-kick through captain Lewis Dunk. But 10 men held out for ar vital three points to edge closer to a first league title in 30 years. While Liverpool have made a habit of winning games when t at ir best, t for first time this season, City let points slip away to furr dent ir title chances after a 2-2 draw.

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City twice blow lead

Twice Pep Guardiola's men led at St James' Park through Raheem Sterling and a brilliant Kevin De Bruyne strike eight minutes from time. But Newcastle responded quickly on both occasions as Jetro Willems cancelled out Sterling's strike before Jonjo Shelvey swept home a well-worked free-kick two minutes from time. "We do same work we have done over last few seasons. We tried to score more goals but it did t happen," said Guardiola, whose side failed to capitalise on nearly 80 percent of possession.

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City's slip-up gave Chelsea chance to go level on points with champions and Leicester, who host Everton on Sunday. However, Blues failed to replicate ir fine form over past two months as West Ham won for first time in nine games to ease pressure on Manuel Pellegrini. Aaron Cresswell scored only goal three minutes into second half with a tidy finish as he cut inside onto his weaker right foot.

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But it was Hammers who were more likely to add to scoring as second period wore on with Kepa Arrizabalaga keeping m at bay with a string of saves, while Michail Antonio had a goal ruled out after a VAR review for handball. Tottenham are up to fifth and within six points of Chelsea in battle for a top-four finish as in-form Alli preserved Jose Mourinho's perfect start. scoreline should have been far more convincing for Mourinho's men, who led 3-0 with 17 minutes left as Alli's fine form continued with a goal eir side of half-time before Moussa Sissoko scored for first time in over two years. But Tottenham have conceded twice in all three of Mourinho's matches in charge and were left hanging on as Harry Wilson scored a double for visitors. Crystal Palace secured ir first win in six games to move into top half as Wilfried Zaha and Jeffrey Schlupp were on target in a 2-0 win at Burnley. 

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