Salah fires Liverpool to victory, Chelsea close gap at top

Mohamed Salah took his goal tally to 23 in all competitions with a second-half double to help Liverpool come from behind to beat Leicester City 2-1 at Anfield in the Premier League Saturday. Chelsea had no such struggles at home to Stoke City, with Mark Hughes’ men thrashed 5-0 at Stamford Bridge, as the league’s most porous defence couldn’t cope with their rampant host. Chelsea climbed to second, above Manchester United, after Jose Mourinho's men were held to their third successive draw following a 0-0 stalemate against Southampton at Old Trafford in Saturday's late kickoff. Romelu Lukaku was carried off on a stretcher in the first half and United looked toothless in attack in the Belgium international's absence, mustering just three shots on target.A win for neighbour Manchester City at Crystal Palace Sunday will see Pep Guardiola's men move 16 points clear at the top of the standing and 17 ahead of United. One of the performances of the day came at Vicarage Road where Swansea City netted two late goals to come from behind to beat Watford and climb off the bottom of the table, as Carlos Carvalhal’s tenure got off to a winning start. However, the spotlight once again was on Liverpool striker Salah, who continues to look unstoppable in front of goal. Jamie Vardy once again scored against a “big six” side after being picked out by Riyad Mahrez in the first half at Anfield, and Leicester held on until Salah took centre stage.Two neat second-half finishes took the Egypt international to 17 for the season, one behind Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, with the goals sealing the victory that sees Liverpool move to 12 unbeaten in the league – their best run under Juergen Klopp – and opens up a four-point gap over Spurs in fifth. Four points ahead of Liverpool, Chelsea were out of sight after 23 minutes against Stoke with goals from Antonio Rudiger, Danny Drinkwater and Pedro putting the champions in command. Willian’s second-half penalty and a Davide Zappacosta goal put the seal on a fourth win in five league games for Antonio Conte’s men. There was plenty of movement down at the bottom of the table, with Swansea no longer propping up the division after goals from Jordan Ayew and Luciano Narsingh in the final four minutes of the match cancelled out Andre Carrillo’s opener for Watford to seal a first win for Carvalhal.Bournemouth were also big movers, as two goals from Ryan Fraser ensured Eddie Howe’s men climbed out of the bottom three and up to 13th after a 2-1 victory over Everton, with Sam Allardyce tasting defeat for the first time as Everton manager. Newcastle missed their chance to climb clear of the relegation zone after being held to a 0-0 draw by Brighton at St James’ Park, while Huddersfield and Burnley also played out a stalemate at the John Smith’s Stadium.RESULTSChelsea 5 (Rudiger 3, Drinkwater 9, Pedro 23, Willian 73-P, Zappacosta 88) Stoke 0Liverpool 2 (Salah 52, 76) Leicester 1 (Vardy 3)Bournemouth 2 (Fraser 33, 89) Everton 1 (Gueye 57)Huddersfield 0 Burnley 0Newcastle 0 Brighton 0Watford 1 (Carrillo 11) Swansea 2 (Ayew 86, Narsingh 90)Man Utd 0 Southampton 0

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