Mohamed Salah scored in his 10th consecutive game and Naby Keita starred as Liverpool ran riot at Old Trafford to inflict a heavy defeat on rivals Manchester United.
The most damning aspect for Manchester United is that they had no way of repelling opponents with slicker tactics, a smarter manager and a clearer identity. Ole Gunnar Solskjær had nowhere to hide after being shown up by Brendan Rodgers.
This was a reminder there are few more uplifting sights than a Pep Guardiola team playing at the point of maximum expression in a big game.
Same manager, similar players, same result. The familiar pattern played out again. Tottenham had a lead and Tottenham lost the lead and the result is that the gap to the top four is now six points.
It was no exaggeration to describe it as a siege. Chelsea had led through Ben Chilwell’s lovely finish on the stroke of half-time but it was Brentford who asked all the questions – with increasing urgency – as a pulsating game entered its closing stages.
It was the hottest ticket in town for some time and Cristiano Ronaldo was never going to disappoint. It is rare that one individual transcends a match but that is how it was at Old Trafford from the moment Manchester United’s returning icon first stepped out to warm up, sparking roars that could be heard half a mile from the ground.
Chelsea were a goal ahead when Thiago Silva was given his marching orders, which saw their lead unravel as goals from Mattheus Pereira, Callum Robinson and Mbaye Diagne sealed West Brom's comeback.
Inspired by Tottenham playing host to Anthony Joshua’s world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night, Nuno Espírito Santo had used boxing parlance to illustrate what he wanted to see from his team.
Talk about a timely reminder. With the Champions League final fast approaching Ferran Torres jogged Pep Guardiola’s memory by scoring a fabulous hat-trick comprised of three different varieties of volley.
The disparity has been difficult to explain. Harry Kane’s numbers have been phenomenal for Tottenham this season: he is the joint top scorer in the Premier League and the outright leader in assists.
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