 "Premier League: Liverpool secure hard-fought win over Chelsea; Manchester City edge Wolves")
Liverpool are looking more and more like Manchester City’s main title rival after beating resurgent Chelsea 2-1 on Sunday to stay top of the Premier League table.
After City needed an injury-time header from John Stones to beat last-place Wolves 2-1 in the early kickoff, Liverpool answered with a composed performance at Anfield to hand Chelsea their first league loss since the opening round.
Having seen third-placed Arsenal lose at Bournemouth on Saturday to raise questions about the Gunners’ title hopes, Liverpool and City took full advantage to build a small gap atop the standings. Arne Slot’s team lead on 21 points from eight games, one ahead of City and four above Arsenal.
Arne Slot’s biggest win so far
It was Slot’s most significant win at Anfield so far and prevented Chelsea from moving into third place, with the visitors remaining sixth instead.
“Many other games were hard but this might have been the hardest maybe, because of the amount of quality players they (Chelsea) have and the structure they have,” Slot said. “We had to fight really hard to get this one over the line.”
Curtis Jones orchestrated the win for Liverpool, earning a penalty for Mohamed Salah’s first-half opener and then scoring himself to restore the host’s lead in the 51st minute, shortly after Nicolas Jackson had equalized for Chelsea.
A goal and celebration @Curtisjr_10 won't forget 👶❤️ pic.twitter.com/tGaAdtXMsE
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 20, 2024
Jones also thought he had earned a second penalty in first-half injury time, but it was overturned after a VAR review judged that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got the ball before bundling over the Liverpool player.
But he capped a stellar performance by beating the offside trap to get on the end of a ball into the box from Salah and slot in the winner.
“As soon as Mo had the ball I made the run, but it bounced so I had to have a touch, and then thankfully it went in,” Jones said.
Liverpool were the last team other than City to win the title, in 2019-20, and pushed Pep Guardiola’s team to the very end several times under Jurgen Klopp before finishing just fifth two years ago and a distant third last season.
In Slot’s first season in charge, though, the Reds are looking like credible challengers again and have now won 10 of 11 games in all competitions.
Manchester City leave it late against Wolves
And City are looking far from unbeatable, needing another last-gasp goal from Stones to avoid a third league draw in four games against a Wolves team that only has one point so far.
They also needed a VAR intervention for the goal to stand, as referee Chris Kavanagh was called to the sideline monitor to review whether Bernardo Silva was interfering with goalkeeper Jose Sa from an offside position.
“We are not used to winning games at the end,” said Guardiola, whose team have won four straight league titles by regularly overwhelming most opponents. “It is a good flavour for us.”
It also extended City’s unbeaten streak to a club-record 31 league games, beating a mark Guardiola’s team had set in 2018.
Will Pep Guardiola and @ManCity break Arsenal's unbeaten record? 🛡️ pic.twitter.com/tP2ix0vIhu
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 20, 2024
With prolific striker Erling Haaland held scoreless for a third straight league game, City’s defenders provided the goals instead after Jorgen Strand Larsen had given the hosts a surprising early lead in the seventh minute.
Josko Gvardiol curled in a superb right-foot shot from outside the area to equalize in the 33rd minute but Wolves then repelled wave after wave of City attacks before the late intervention from Stones, who also netted a last-gasp equalizer against Arsenal in the eighth minute of injury time last month.
“These moments don’t come often for us,” Stones said. “We’ve come up with a few over the years and today was one of them.”
 "After meeting with European leaders, Trump warns Russia of 'severe consequences' if it resists peace deal")
 "'There's hope something is moving': Merz says Trump 'largely shares' Europe's position ahead of Alaska talks")
 "PSG vs Tottenham Live Updates, UEFA Super Cup: Who will conquer the first European trophy of new season?")
 "What happened during Trump's call with Zelenskyy and European leaders?")
 "After meeting with European leaders, Trump warns Russia of 'severe consequences' if it resists peace deal")
 "'There's hope something is moving': Merz says Trump 'largely shares' Europe's position ahead of Alaska talks")
 "PSG vs Tottenham Live Updates, UEFA Super Cup: Who will conquer the first European trophy of new season?")
 "What happened during Trump's call with Zelenskyy and European leaders?")
