Salah fires title-chasing Liverpool to 2-1 win against Brighton, top of the standings

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool to a comeback 2-1 win against Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday and provisionally moved the Merseyside team to the top of the standings.

Salah struck in the 65th minute at Anfield to keep Liverpool's title challenge on track after Danny Welbeck had stunned the home crowd with an early goal.

Luis Diaz evened the score before halftime and Salah secured all three points for Jurgen Klopp's team with his 22nd goal of the season in all competitions.

With Manchester City and Arsenal playing each other on Sunday, this was a chance for Liverpool to take advantage of at least one of its title rivals dropping points.

But that looked in doubt when Welbeck lashed a shot into the top corner from just inside the box after two minutes.

In a half full of chances at either end, it was Liverpool who found the next goal when Diaz prodded past Bart Verbruggen from close range.

The winner came after Alexis Mac Allister fed Salah inside the box and Egypt international controled the ball before slotting home with a side-foot finish.

Liverpool provisionally moved three points clear of second place Arsenal at the top of the standings and four ahead of City in third.

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Liverpool's Luis Diaz, right, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Brighton's goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, left, fails to save the goal from Liverpool's Luis Diaz, right, during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Brighton's Jakub Moder, left, challenges for the ball with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, centre, during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Brighton's Carlos Baleba, left, challenges for the ball with Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp, left, reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah in action during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Four straight losses. The team’s worst run of results for 20 years. Two clean sheets since the end of October.

Those looking at Tottenham to provide a late twist in the Premier League title race are, given the current evidence, going to be disappointed.

Manchester City’s May 14 trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, for its next-to-last game of the season, appeared to many the last possible stumbling block for the champions in their bid to reel in Arsenal and secure an unprecedented fourth straight title.

After all, not only have Spurs plenty to play for — they're still just about fighting for Champions League qualification — but they haven’t lost, or even conceded a goal, against City in their four league meetings at Tottenham’s new stadium since it opened in 2019.

Arsenal, though, is surely losing hope of a favor from its north London neighbor.

Similarly, Tottenham fans might be starting to lose hope that Ange Postecoglou is the man to bring a winning culture to the club without a trophy since 2008.

It all started so well for the first-ever Australian to coach in the Premier League.

Tottenham was top of the league in early November, unbeaten and playing the kind of attacking football its supporters always crave. No manager had ever taken 26 points from his first 10 games in the Premier League before Postecoglou came along with a high defensive line and an aggressive, front-foot style.

Postecoglou, it seemed, was the perfect antidote to Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, pragmatic and defense-first coaches whose spells in charge of Tottenham promised so much but ended so sourly.

Fast-forward six months and it feels like the season cannot end soon enough for Spurs, who are limping to the finish line, and Postecoglou, who is beginning to understand the size of the task he took on almost a year ago.

“We need change. Change has to happen,” Postecoglou said ahead of Tottenham’s 4-2 loss at Liverpool on Sunday. It was a fourth defeat in a row, something that hasn’t happened since those grim final days of Jacques Santini at Spurs in late 2004.

Over the past month there has been a 4-0 loss at Newcastle, a 3-2 home loss to Arsenal when Tottenham was three goals behind at halftime, a 2-0 loss at Chelsea and then the defeat at Anfield that saw a lethargic-looking Spurs fall 4-0 down after 59 minutes.

And this is the team Arsenal hopes can halt the City juggernaut next week?

Tottenham should still seal fifth place, and qualification for the Europa League, because either side of the visit of City are matches against Burnley and already-relegated Sheffield United — the bottom two teams in the league.

Spurs are seven points behind fourth-place Aston Villa and four ahead of sixth-place Newcastle.

It raises the question of whether the first season under Postecoglou has been a success.

Spurs fans likely would have taken a fifth-place finish after seeing England captain and record scorer Harry Kane leave for Bayern Munich last August. With Hugo Lloris and Eric Dier also departing during the season, a huge amount of experience was lost and it's in these tough final weeks of the season where that lack of senior leaders in the squad has been exposed.

It also seems that, as a whole, the fan base is still behind Postecoglou and his refreshing outlook, even if his insistence on sticking to his attacking principles can come across as naive as it is bold.

“I believe what I believe down to my core. I’ll stand on the highest ground, die a noble death, believing in what I believe,” he said.

“Maybe the Premier League is a step too far. Who knows? Maybe, maybe — but I will still be on that hill, wounded, my dying breath saying, ‘I believe, I do believe.’”

Whether Postecoglou will bring more balance to his managerial philosophy next year remains to be seen.

For the moment, Arsenal will just be praying that Tottenham — the team it wants to see lose any normal week of the season — can pull off an improbable victory over City to change the course of the title race ahead of the final round on May 19.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Tottenham's Brennan Johnson applauds supporters at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou applauds to fans at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Tottenham's Pedro Porro splashes water on his face during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou gestures as he leaves the pitch at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Tottenham's Richarlison reacts in disappointment at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)