Liverpool’s hopes of an unbeaten season have been dashed by a double from Ismaila Sarr and a strike from Troy Deeney gave Watford a superb victory over the league leaders.
The Reds were on a 44-game unbeaten streak and the elected champions were aiming to match Manchester City’s 19-game winning streak – only to be on the wrong end of a humiliating 3-0.
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Watford amazed Liverpool to end hopes of undefeated season
Jurgen Klopp’s men still 22 points clear at the top of the Premier League and need only four wins to seal their first high-level title in 30 years, while the result moves Watford out of the relegation.
It was a busy Saturday at the bottom of the table after Norwich’s 1-0 surprise victory over Leicester on Friday evening, when most of the relegation-scoring teams had points.
Marcos Alonso scored twice to save a 2-2 draw for Chelsea at Bournemouth to keep the Blues in control of their fate in the top four.
The Spaniard put the Blues in the lead, but they were in danger of being overtaken by Manchester United tomorrow when Jefferson Lerma and Josh King reversed the trend with two goals.
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Alonso saved Chelsea at Vitality
However, the left-back saved the day with a late strike and almost got his hat-trick in stoppage time.
Chelsea can thank many of its rivals for qualifying for the Champions League who lost points the same weekend.
They finished Saturday four points ahead of Manchester United, who failed to close the gap to three points during their visit to Everton on Sunday afternoon.
The signing of January, Bruno Fernandes, scored again for the Red Devils to cancel the first opening of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, thanks to a huge error by David de Gea.
Then there was a late drama at Goodison Park when Calvert-Lewin had a winner out of injury time after a VAR exam while Gylfi Sigurdsson, lying on the ground, was judged to block De’s line of sight Gea from an offside position.
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti’s angry protests after the final whistle earned him a post-match expulsion from referee Chris Kavanagh.
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Ancelotti faced the officials after the match
The other game on Sunday was a 3-2 victory for the Wolves at Spurs, which allowed Nuno to tie with Man United, just three behind Chelsea.
Twice the wolves came back from behind to win, Matt Doherty canceling Steven Bergwijn’s first game, then Diogo Jota shooting the level after Serge Aurier’s strike allowed Tottenham to take 2-1 ahead.
Raul Jimenez seized the winning goal at 17 minutes of time to obtain a result which leaves the Spurs at FIVE points behind the final qualification place of the Champions League.
Returning to Saturday, West Ham took advantage of the Cherries draw and ended their eight-game winless streak with a well-deserved 3-1 victory over Southampton at the London Stadium.
Jarrod Bowen caught his first Hammers goal in his first start before Michael Obafemi equalized for the visitors.
But Sébastien Haller and Michail Antonio struck to move David Moyes’ side out of the relegation zone and equalize on points with Bournemouth.
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West Ham got the victory they desperately needed
Earlier in the day, a goal from Jordan Ayew gave Crystal Palace the bragging rights of its fierce rivals Brighton as the Eagles won a narrow 1-0 Amex victory.
Meanwhile, Newcastle and Burnley drew 0-0 at St James’s Park.
Liverpool’s hopes of an unbeaten season have been dashed by a double from Ismaila Sarr and a strike from Troy Deeney gave Watford a superb victory over the league leaders.
The Reds were on a 44-game unbeaten streak and the elected champions were aiming to match Manchester City’s 19-game winning streak – only to be on the wrong end of a humiliating 3-0.
Sarr, who made his first start since returning from a hamstring injury, stole the show with two goals in six minutes before putting the third in for Captain Deeney – who intimidated a missing Liverpool defense Joe Gomez by injury precaution.
Premier League results
Saturday
Brighton 0-1 Crystal Palace
Bournemouth 2-2 Chelsea
Newcastle 0-0 Burnley
West Ham 3-1 Southampton
Watford 3-0 Liverpool
Sunday
Everton 1-1 Manchester United
Tottenham 2-3 Wolves