London (AFP)
Liverpool provisionally took control of the Premier League with authority on Saturday by going to crush Watford (5-0), for the 8th day, while Manchester City got rid of Burnley (2-0) and United fell at Leicester (4-2).
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Return of the infernal triplet of the Reds
With a hat-trick from Roberto Firmino, a goal and an assist for Mohamed Salah, as well as a goal from Sadio Mané Liverpool spoiled the debut of Claudio Ranieri on the Watford bench by going to crush the Hornets (5-0).
The Reds seize first place with 18 points, one point ahead of City and two in front of Chelsea who go to Brentford at the end of the afternoon (6.30 p.m. French time, GMT + 2).
For Watford (15th with 7 points), who sacked Xisco Munoz at the start of the break to replace him with Ranieri, the psychological shock will wait.
Mohamed Salah was again decisive, giving Sadio Mané his 100th Premier League goal (1-0, 9th), without a single penalty, a performance only achieved by Emile Heskey and Les Ferdinand before him.
Salah then performed a solo act in the opposing area, wiping out three defenders with a rake before scoring with a ball rolled up from the right (4-0, 54 ').
Firmino was the other hero of the match with a hat-trick for his 2nd start of the season: he doubled the goal of six meters (2-0, 37th) then took back a ball released by Ben Foster (3-0, 52nd ) and closed the mark in added time (5-0, 90 + 1).
Despite the absence of Alisson and Fabinho, who left directly for Spain after their selection with Brazil, Liverpool will challenge Atlético Madrid in full confidence on Tuesday in the Champions League, before a trip to Old Trafford next Sunday.
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Minimum fare for Manchester City
With a success not brilliant but easy against Burnley (2-0), City remains in the race of contenders for the title.
Pep Guardiola's men did not drag things out, scoring from the first quarter of an hour: Bernardo Silva was the quickest to resume a strike from Phil Foden repelled by Nick Pope (1-0, 12th).
Manchester City Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Burnley at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north-west England on October 16, 2021. Oli SCARFF AFP
Faced with an opponent to whom they had scored 30 goals in the previous eight confrontations, in all competitions, the Citizens had to wait until 20 minutes from the end of the match to make the hole through Kevin de Bruyne (2-0, 70th).
This success will at least have the merit of placing City in the best possible conditions before the trip to Bruges in C1 on Tuesday.
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Manchester United gloomy in Leicester
Despite the returns of Harry Maguire, holder, and Marcus Rashford, scorer off the bench, Manchester United logically gave in against Leicester (4-2) after a crazy match.
The Red Devils remain at 14 points and their 5th place is threatened by several clubs before the end of the day.
Raphaël Varane's injury prompted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to start Maguire, absent for three weeks due to injury
The England international was at fault on the equalizer by being very slow on a pass from David de Gea.
Kelechi Iheanacho grabbed the ball and served Youri Tielemans who then sent the ball into the opposite skylight, with a curled and lobed strike (1-1, 31st).
Mason Greenwood had yet placed his family on the right track with a missile in the skylight of Kasper Schmeichel (1-0, 19th) and Rashford signed his return with a very nice goal also (2-2, 82nd) which would have could save a point.
But the Foxes, who had missed their start to the season, took advantage of the break to perk up, scoring by Caglar Söyüncü (2-1, 78th), Jamie Vardy (3-2, 83rd) and Patson Daka (90th + 1) to move up to 11th row with 11 stitches.
Manchester United's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo (r.) And England's Red Devils defender Harry Maguire (l) warm up before the Premier League match between Leicester City and Manchester United at King Power Stadium in Leicester, in the center of England, October 16, 2021. Paul ELLIS AFP
Suffice to say that the pressure will be enormous on Soslkjaer for the reception of Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday, while the peak performances of Cristiano Ronaldo question.
© 2021 AFP