Salah returns to help Liverpool beat Brighton and Arsenal needs 2 own-goals to see off Wolves

The first stage of Mohamed Salah’s rehabilitation at Liverpool is complete after the Egypt forward returned to the team for its 2-0 win over Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.

The question now as Salah heads off to the Africa Cup of Nations: Is there a future for him at Anfield when he comes back?

Salah, who let rip last weekend about his current frustrations at Liverpool, entered as a 26th-minute substitute to a big ovation and set up the second of Hugo Ekitike’s goals as the defending champions jumped to sixth place and extended their unbeaten run to five games in all competitions.

“For me, there is no issue to resolve," Liverpool manager Arne Slot said of his star player's current situation at the club.

Arsenal is attempting to take Liverpool's title and opened up a five-point lead by beating last-placed Wolverhampton 2-1 — but only thanks to two own-goals, the second of which came in stoppage time.

On a run of just one win in their previous three games, the leaders looked like dropping more points when Tolu Arokodare equalized for Wolves in the 90th minute, canceling out an own-goal by goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in the 70th.

Then Yerson Mosquera headed into his own net from Bukayo Saka's cross to gift Arsenal the win.

Also Saturday, Chelsea beat Everton 2-0 and was set on its way to victory by Cole Palmer’s first goal in three months.

Salah held talks with Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Friday in an effort to overcome their issues and the result was that Salah was recalled to the matchday squad for the Brighton game. He had been a substitute for the last three Premier League matches before being left at home for the midweek Champions League trip to Inter Milan as a punishment for his explosive comments to reporters last weekend.

“It was an easy decision to put him in the squad," Slot said. “I have said many times before what has been said between us will stay between us.”

Liverpool's fans demonstrated they are willing to excuse Salah for his show of anger and gave him a rapturous welcome when he came on as a substitute for the injured Joe Gomez midway through the first half.

By then, Liverpool was leading 1-0 thanks to Ekitike's rising shot inside the first minute and Salah showed glimpses of his class, especially on the counterattack. It was Salah's corner kick that was headed in by Ekitike for the second goal in the 60th, sparking another round of chants for the Egyptian.

Salah could be away for more than a month if Egypt goes all the way in the Africa Cup.

Wolves' players will count themselves unfortunate to have lost a club-record ninth straight game, which leaves the team on just two points from 16 games.

Wolves are on track to put up the fewest points ever in a Premier League season — the current record is 11, by Derby County in the 2007-08 campaign — and have conceded more own-goals (3) than goals scored (2) in seven matches since the start of November.

“Sometimes you need (luck) and today it went our way,” said Saka, whose two crosses forced the own-goals.

Manchester City is the closest challenger to Arsenal and can reduce the gap back to two points by beating Crystal Palace away on Sunday.

It was a second straight start for Palmer, whose season has been blighted by a groin injury that has restricted him to seven games in all competitions.

There looked to be nothing wrong with Palmer when he ran onto Malo Gusto's pass and slipped a finish inside the near post to give Chelsea the lead in the 21st minute at Stamford Bridge.

However, Palmer said after the game that he wasn't at his best yet because he was “still dealing with an injury.”

“It’s just a matter of not doing too much too soon,” Palmer told the BBC. “Literally, it’s just a day-by-day thing. Hopefully it gets better.”

Gusto added the second goal in the 45th minute for Chelsea, which jumped to fourth place.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca complained after the match about a lack of support at the club “in general” and said the last two days had been his worst time since arriving in the summer of 2024.

Burnley slumped to a seventh straight loss after being turned over 3-2 by Fulham, with a loud chorus of boos greeting the final whistle at Turf Moor.

Harry Wilson set up two goals and scored the other for Fulham, which climbed to 13th place after its first win at Burnley since 1951.

Burnley, which was promoted last season, stayed in next-to-last place and is five points from safety.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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

Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, center, celebrates with teammates after his team scored the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Wolves in London, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Pelham)

Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates after scoring his sides first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Everton in London, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Liverpool fans hold placard depicting Liverpool's Mohamed Salah before the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, left, challenges for the ball with Brighton's Lewis Dunk during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

President Donald Trump said U.S. forces on Friday “obliterated” targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, which is home to the primary terminal that handles the country’s oil exports. The speaker of the Iranian Parliament had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation.

Meanwhile, an American official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle East nearly two weeks into the war with the Islamic Republic.

Iran has continued to launch widespread missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf states, and has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, even as U.S. and Israeli warplanes pummel military and other targets across Iran.

The moves appear to signal the two-week-old war is not nearing an end.

Here is the latest:

An airstrike hit a house in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, early Saturday, killing at least one person, according to a security official and another affiliated with the Iranian-backed armed groups in the country.

The strike in Baghdad’s Karrada district also wounded two people, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the press.

In a statement, the Iraqi military condemned the strike as “a blatant violation of all humanitarian values and a disregard for international conventions.”

The strike happened before a missile attack hit the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad.

—

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra

Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency reported at least 15 explosions with thick smoke rising over Kharg Island, earlier hit by U.S. strikes.

It said the strikes targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower, and an offshore oil company’s helicopter hangar, adding no oil infrastructure was damaged in the attack.

Iran’s joint military command reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked oil and energy facilities in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure were hit.

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters made the threat early Saturday, according to Iran’s state-run television.

He warned that Iran will target “all oil, economic, and energy infrastructures belonging to oil companies across the region that have American shares or cooperate with America” if energy and economic infrastructure in Iran is attacked.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after a strike hit it’s compound in the Iraqi capital.

On Friday, the embassy renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure, and “may continue to target them.”

The sprawling embassy complex, one of the largest U.S. diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones in the past by Iran-aligned militias.

The groups have recently stepped up attacks on bases hosting U.S. and coalition troops.

A drone strike in northern Iraq on Thursday killed a French soldier and wounded several others stationed there as part of an international coalition.

A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, two security officials said.

The projectile landed within the embassy’s boundaries after the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district in central Baghdad that houses Iraqi government institutions and foreign embassies, added the security officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak with the press.

Video obtained by The Associated Press showed smoke billowing from inside the compound.

—

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra

Smoke rises from the U.S. embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Jabar)

Smoke rises from the U.S. embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Jabar)

Family members ride in a damaged car, as they flee the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit an apartment building in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A woman holds up a poster of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during the annual anti-Israeli Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, rally in support of Palestinians in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Members of the Al-Najar family break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Firefighters try to extinguish flames at the site of a direct hit by an Iranian missile strike in Holon, central Israel, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble after a strike in southern Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Sajjad Safari)