Liverpool continued its charge toward the Premier League title on Sunday with a 2-1 win against Wolverhampton. For Manchester United, it just keeps getting worse after a 1-0 loss at Tottenham.
The fortunes of England’s two most successful teams could hardly be more contrasting.
Victory for Liverpool saw the club restore its seven-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the table and move ever closer to equaling Man United’s record haul of 20 league crowns.
United, meanwhile, lost for the 12th time in the league this season and is 15th in the standings after James Maddison’s first-half strike for Spurs.
It is turning out to be another miserable campaign for the club that dominated English soccer under former manager Alex Ferguson. That is a distant memory now, with United’s wait to end its title drought set to extend to 12 years this season.
United has not been champion since Ferguson’s final campaign in 2013. Ruben Amorim is the sixth permanent coach since then to be charged with the responsibility of restoring its supremacy, but his early tenure has been fraught with problems.
“I am not worried. I understand our fans, what the media think about it. I hate to lose, that feeling is the worst,” Amorim said. “I am here to help my players. I understand my situation, my job, I am confident on my work and I just want to win games. The place in the table is my worry, I am not worried about me.”
Clash of clubs in crisis
This was Amorim’s ninth defeat in 21 games in all competitions since taking over in November. He has only overseen four league wins in that time.
He already claimed in January that this could be the worst United team in the club’s storied history and there is little sign of improvement.
Against a Spurs team that is also struggling in the wrong half of the table, Maddison’s goal in the 13th minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was enough to settle this clash of clubs in crisis. Some Tottenham fans are so dismayed by the state of their club that they staged a pre-match protest against chairman Daniel Levy. But this was the third time their team had beaten United this season.
There could yet be a fourth encounter if both teams continue to advance in the Europa League.
But the Premier League is Amorim’s primary concern right now — even if a relegation fight remains unlikely. Despite being just three places above the drop zone, United is 12 points above the safety line.
That is little to shout about with United eight points off the top half.
Nervous Liverpool
Liverpool had to withstand a fightback from Wolves, which included a brilliant long-range goal from Matheus Cunha.
First-half strikes from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah secured the win for Arne Slot’s team, but an unconvincing performance after the break saw the home team fail to register a single shot on target as Wolves dominated the chances.
“Obviously 2-0 at halftime, we know that can be one of the most dangerous results in football. We had to come out and we had to start well – and we didn’t quite do that,” said Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson. “When they scored, everyone gets nervous. The players get nervous, the crowd get nervous – of course that’s only natural. But it’s a massive win for us and another game down.”
Diaz bundled the ball over the line from close range in the 15th minute to give Liverpool the lead. And Salah doubled the advantage from the penalty spot in the 37th after Diaz was brought down.
It was the Egypt international’s 28th goal of an outstanding season and extended his current scoring streak to six straight games.
But if the home crowd was expecting a routine victory against 17th-placed Wolves, it was anything but.
Liverpool conceded a goal in stoppage time to draw 2-2 with Everton on Wednesday and was pushed again.
Cunha’s drag-back and curled finish from around 20 yards (meters) in the 67th came after a sustained period of pressure from the visitors.
Before that Marshall Munetsi was denied when through on goal — it took a crucial block in front of goal from Jarell Quansah to prevent him from converting late on.
“In a season where you want to achieve something, you need to have wins like this as well,” Slot said.
Injury crisis
United named eight teenagers on the bench who had never played a senior game for the club following an injury crisis at Old Trafford.
Amad Diallo is likely to miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury and Lisandro Martinez has already been ruled out with cruciate ligament damage
Amorim was also without Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer through injury or illness at Spurs.
It meant the United coach waited until the first minute of time added on to make a substitution — replacing Casemiro for debutant Chido Obi.
Fans protest
Tottenham fans protested outside the stadium before kickoff, calling for chairman Daniel Levy and owner ENIC to go.
Giant banners read “Profits before glory” and “We want our club back” as supporters let their feelings be known.
The protest was organized by a fans’ group called “Change for Tottenham”.
Tottenham’s last trophy was the English League Cup in 2008.
___
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
