Liverpool bounced back from two consecutive defeats to remain on course for a first league title in 29 years, but was made to wait before breaking down an obdurate Brighton thanks to Mohamed Salah’s 50th-minute penalty in a 1-0 win on Saturday.
Victory re-established Jurgen Klopp’s side’s seven-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table, which was reduced to four when the champion inflicted Liverpool’s only Premier League defeat of the campaign to breathe new life into the title race nine days ago.
Liverpool was far from its fluent best on England’s south coast, but ground out a vital win to settle any nerves caused by that defeat thanks to a 13th clean sheet in 22 league games this season.
Declan Rice’s first West Ham goal secured a 1-0 win over Arsenal in a capital city derby clash at the London Stadium. The victory in Saturday’s early kick-off saw the Hammers move up to eighth in the Premier League table, on 31 points.
“I can’t put it into the words,” an elated Rice told Sky Sports. “The lads are always on at me to take the shot on more.”
The results: Premier League: West Ham 1 (Rice 48) bt Arsenal 0; Brighton 0 lost to Liverpool 1 (Salah 50-pen); Burnley 2 (Bryan 20-og, Cook 23-og) bt Fulham 1 (Schurrle 2); Cardiff 0 drew with Huddersfield 0; Crystal Palace 1 (Cathcart 38-og) lost to Watford 2 (Cathcart 67, Cleverley 74); Leicester 1 (Ndidi 58) lost to Southampton 2 (Ward-Prowse 11-pen, Long 45).
La Liga: Leganes 1 (En-Nesyri 73) bt Huesca 0.
On Friday: Rayo Vallecano 4 (Tomas 4, 37, 77, Correia 90+1) bt Celta Vigo 2 (Araujo 13, Gomez 18-pen).
