Premier League leaders Liverpool failed to take full advantage of Manchester City’s slip-up at Newcastle United as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Leicester City on Wednesday.
Juergen Klopp’s side extended their lead over City to five points but after their rivals suffered a 2-1 loss on Tuesday, Liverpool will be disappointed not to have pulled seven points clear.
Liverpool got off to the perfect start with Sadio Mane firing them ahead in the third minute, cutting in from the left and beating Kasper Schmeichel with a trademark strike into the far corner.
Klopp’s side were never able to find their full speed and rhythm and a solid Leicester drew level on the stroke of halftime when a Liverpool clearance was headed deep into the area by Ben Chilwell and found England defender Harry Maguire who slotted home.
Roberto Firmino went close to a winner in the 75th minute with a well-struck effort but Schmeichel saved well to frustrate the Brazilian.
Liverpool, who have not won the title since 1990, move to 61 points with City on 56 points and Tottenham two points further back.
BOURNEMOUTH 4 CHELSEA 0
Chelsea collapsed to a humiliating 4-0 defeat at Bournemouth to put a dent in their top-four hopes on Wednesday — all the goals coming in the second half.
The visitors controlled the first half but were picked off after the break with Joshua King on target twice for Eddie Howe’s mid-table side, with David Brooks and Charlie Daniels completing the rout.
For all their possession the closest Chelsea came to scoring in the opening period was Mateo Kovacic’s header which was touched onto the bar by Bournemouth keeper Artur Boruc.
Bournemouth were a threat on the break with Brooks and Junior Stanislas were both denied by Spanish keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Chelsea fell behind two minutes after the break when Brooks’s astute reverse pass released King to fire high past Arrizabalaga and things went from bad to worse as King’s pass over the top left released Brooks who stepped inside David Luiz’s half-hearted tackle and fired home.
Stanislas set up King for his second after a flowing move and Daniels rubbed salt in Chelsea’s wounds, his stoppage-time goal meaning they drop below Arsenal into fifth on goals scored.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 WATFORD 1
Tottenham Hotspur forwards Son Heung-min and Fernando Llorente scored late goals to secure a barely deserved 2-1 win over Watford in the Premier League at a half-empty Wembley Stadium on Wednesday.
Spurs had struggled to shine on a freezing night after going out of the League Cup and FA Cup last week but Son provided a ray of sunshine when he blasted home 10 minutes from time and Llorente got the winner with a trademark header in the 87th.
The win moves Tottenham within two points of second-placed Manchester City and seven ahead of London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea in the battle for a top-four finish.
Watford took the lead when Craig Cathcart got his head to the ball in a crowded penalty area from a corner and bundled it home via a deflection off Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris stranded inside the six-yard box.
Spurs should have been level seven minutes after the break when Llorente managed to put the ball over the bar and spurned another chance in the 64th when he headed wide. Danny Rose and Harry Winks also went close for the hosts.
Just as the home fans were losing faith South Korean Son, who has just returned from the Asian Cup, fired the equaliser and Spaniard Llorente made amends for his earlier misses by heading the winner to delight the fans who braved the cold.
SOUTHAMPTON 1 CRYSTAL PALACE 1
Southampton and Crystal Palace were left hovering above the Premier League’s relegation zone after they fought out a 1-1 draw in a drab encounter on Wednesday.
The result left both sides on 23 points from 24 matches, level with Burnley and four ahead of 18th-placed Cardiff City, after the home team’s James Ward-Prowse cancelled out Wilfried Zaha’s opener for Palace.
The lively Zaha fired the visitors ahead with a stinging low shot from inside the penalty area in the 41st minute, beating Southampton keeper Alex McCarthy at the near post after good work by Andros Townsend.
Ward-Prowse equalised out of the blue in the 77th with a superb first-time finish from 10 metres after Matt Targett squared the ball back to the midfielder from the right flank.
The visitors paid the price for a poor finish by Mamadou Sakho several minutes earlier when his feeble close-range shot was cleared off the line by Jan Bednarek and the Palace defender then spurned another chance shortly after the equaliser.
Zaha was sent off in the dying minutes when he received two yellow cards in quick succession, both for dissent as he clashed with Ward-Prowse and then sarcastically applauded referee Andre Marriner.