Salah fires Liverpool third, Palace escape bottom three

Four-goal Mohamed Salah set a Liverpool record as they moved to third in the Premier League by thrashing Watford Saturday, while at the other end of the table Crystal Palace's win edged them out of the relegation zone. The spotlight was on the basement battle in a slimline Premier League programme, owing to the FA Cup quarter-finals, but the superb Salah took centre stage with a magnificent display in Liverpool's 5-0 romp in the later kickoff. He had begun the day level on 24 goals with Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot but ended it four clear. And his 36 goals in all competition is a new record for a Liverpool player in a debut season - eclipsing the 33 scored by Fernando Torres in 2007-08.

Mohamed Salah has scored 28 #PL goals this season, only one African player has netted more in a single campaign (Didier Drogba 29 in 2009-10) pic.twitter.com/VgkfA837F7

— Premier League (@premierleague) March 18, 2018

The Egyptian needed only four minutes to give Liverpool the lead, proving too fleet-footed for Watford's defence, to fire past Watford goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. He tapped in Andy Robertson's cross shortly before halftime and soon after the interval he picked out Roberto Firmino who finished with a cheeky back-flick. Salah completed his first Liverpool hat-trick in the 77th minute, wriggling this way and that before prodding a shot past Karnezis, and he was not finished as he slammed home from close range in the 85th minute to become the first Liverpool player since Luis Suarez in 2013 to score four goals in a league game. A seven-match run without a win had dropped Palace back into the bottom three but they climbed out of it with an impressive 2-0 victory at Huddersfield Town, who are still in trouble.

?? @22mosalah is the first Egyptian player to score a #PL hat-trick pic.twitter.com/P9ZcyLRDuj

— Premier League (@premierleague) March 18, 2018

James Tomkins put Palace ahead in the 23rd minute and skipper Luka Milivojevic's 68th-minute penalty secured the win on a snowy day across the country. Palace rose to 16th with 30 points from 31 games, ahead of Southampton (28) and West Ham United (30), neither of whom played and both of whom now have a game in hand. Bottom club West Bromwich Albion appear doomed after they lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth, having led through Jay Rodriguez's 49th-minute opener. Jordon Ibe and Junior Stanislas earned Bournemouth the points as they took a huge stride towards securing a fourth successive top-flight season. They edged up to 11th in the table, eight points above Southampton, who now occupy the last relegation spot.

? Mo Salah Goals Scored This Season: 36 ⚽️ ? Eden Hazard Goals Scored Last TWO Seasons: 32 ⚽️ ?☕️ pic.twitter.com/Q53K4hraWY

— SPORF (@Sporf) March 17, 2018

West Brom are 10 points from the safety zone, having lost seven matches in a row. Second-bottom Stoke City's relegation fear grew as they went down 2-1 at home to Everton after having Charlie Adam sent off in the first half for a foul on Wayne Rooney. Two goals by Cenk Tosun gave ninth-placed Everton rare away cheer, ending a run of five successive defeats on the road and moving them to the safety of 40 points. Stoke, who have 27 points, had equalised through Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's close-range finish but ultimately paid the price for their numerical disadvantage.

The magic of @22mosalah fires @LFC up to third while @CPFC climb out of the bottom three...

Here's how the #PL table looks at the end of Matchweek 31 pic.twitter.com/YE5XUWeV8O— Premier League (@premierleague) March 17, 2018

RESULTSBournemouth 2 (Ibe 79, Stanislas 89) West Brom 1 (Rodriguez 49)Huddersfield 0 Palace 2 (Tomkins 23, Milivojevic 68-P)Stoke 1 (Choupo-Moting 77) Everton 2 (Tosun 69, 84)Liverpool 5 (Salah 4, 43, 77, 85, Firmino 49) Watford 0