Agencies_Gaza Post
Liverpool beat Watford 2-0 on Saturday to keep the pressure on Manchester City in the Premier League title race, thanks to Diogo Jota’s 20th goal of the season in all competitions and Fabinho’s late penalty.
In the 22nd minute at Anfield, Jota sprinted across the face of the six-yard box and glanced in a header from Joe Gomez’s right-wing cross.
When Juraj Kucka bundled Jota over during a corner, he got the penalty for the second goal as well.
Fabinho, a second-half substitution, slotted away the penalty kick in the 89th minute after Mohamed Salah, the customary penalty taker, had already been taken out.
Liverpool won for the 10th time in the league, returning from the international break one point behind City in what appears to be a two-team shootout for the title.
Later Saturday, City travels to Burnley to face the Clarets.
Liverpool was lethargic at times and handed up wonderful chances in both halves to third-to-last Watford, with its players having only recently returned from key international fixtures all across the world.
The first came only seconds before Jota’s goal when Alisson denied Kucka after the midfielder had been played clean through.
Liverpool quickly moved the ball forward, and Gomez, who started ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, curled in a precise cross for Jota, who beat goalkeeper Ben Foster to score.
Watford’s other major chance came when the score was 1-0, but Joao Pedro squandered it by dragging a shot wide after the visitors got behind Liverpool’s defense again.
It was Liverpool’s first match of a busy April, which includes a league fixture against City next weekend.
This is sandwiched between two Champions League quarterfinal meetings versus Benfica.
Liverpool has eight league games left to win, and if they win all of them, they will win their 20th league title.
