Mohamed Salah scored his 10th goal of the season as he and Darwin Nunez earned Liverpool a hard-fought 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Reds took the lead in front of a raucous home crowd when Nunez fired past Emiliano Martinez in a rapid counter-attack from a Villa corner in the 20th minute. The Uruguayan international should have made it 2-0 from an almost identical breakaway, but the forward could only fire over the bar.
However, Unai Emery's side were not there to make up the numbers, as Amadou Onana and Diego Carlos brought out two excellent reaction stops from Caoimhin Kelleher before the break.
Morgan Rogers wasted a gilt-edged chance to level the game seconds after the interval but failed to find the target. The game's tempo dropped in the second half as both teams tried to gain some control in an otherwise frantic contest.
Just when the Villans threatened to pull level, Liverpool's arch-poacher Salah raced clear to tuck home six minutes from time to seal all three points. They are now five clear of City after their shock loss to Brighton.
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