LONDON – Arsenal came from behind to see off West Ham United 3-1 at home as Harry Kane bounced back from his World Cup heartbreak to earn Tottenham a 2-2 draw at Brentford, Newcastle climbed to second place with a 3-0 win at Leicester on the English Premier League’s return from the World Cup.
Liverpool also made a winning return from the World Cup break as Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic struck in a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.
Salah scored his 125th Premier League goal for Liverpool. The Egyptian ace then assisted Liverpool’s second goal for Virgil van Dijk.
Salah’s assist was his 50th in the EPL for Liverpool. The 30-year-old is now only the second player ever to record at least 50 goals and 50 assists in the Premier League for Liverpool.
Steven Gerrard, who retired as a player in 2016, ended his Liverpool career with 120 goals and 92 assists in 504 EPL games. The win over Villa was Salah’s 195 EPL appearance for Liverpool.
But Jurgen Klopp’s men had to endure some nervy moments in the second half after Ollie Watkins pulled a goal back for Villa before teenager Stefan Bajcetic came off the bench to secure the three points with his first senior goal.
Liverpool struggled to match their standards of recent seasons during the first part of the season, but looked refreshed to inflict Unai Emery’s first league defeat since taking charge of Villa.
Salah is one of a number of Klopp’s key players who was not involved in Qatar and took just five minutes to net his 15th goal of the season, AFP reported.
The Egyptian swept home Andy Roberson’s pass after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s through ball had opened up the Villa defence.
“We have to be the pain in the backside for everyone. We are not in the best position, there is distance between us and other teams, we know that,” Klopp said.
“The first two or three are maybe too far away. If they win all their games we have no chance.
“We have to do our part and it means winning football games. It must be the target, to qualify for the Champions League. We have to go through difficult moments, today we got three points and that’s the best way to get closer.
“As long as we can see them we will fight. We made life a bit uncomfortable for us but the third goal was my favourite. Stefan being that calm and having the necessary luck with the finish was special.
Emery’s men were left to rue a host of big chances to get immediately back on level terms as Liverpool showed no sign of remedying their defensive issues so far this season.
Leon Bailey and Watkins were both guilty of wasteful finishing.
At the other end, Darwin Nunez was even more profligate despite causing chaos with his powerful running in behind the Villa backline.
The Uruguayan headed over Robertson’s inviting cross and then fired straight at Villa’s stand-in goalkeeper Robin Olsen with just the Swede to beat after Ezri Konsa’s error.
Van Dijk was not so forgiving to finally give the visitors a two-goal cushion as the Dutch defender calmly steered home Salah’s pass from a corner.
But Villa refused to accept their fate in a breathless second half.
Watkins had the ball in the net within three minutes of the restart but had just strayed offside before firing into the far corner.
John McGinn also fluffed his lines with just goalkeeper Alisson to beat before the home side got the goal their start to the second half deserved.
Watkins made one of his more difficult chances count with a brilliant header back across goal to halve Villa’s arrears.
Liverpool’s relative lack of strength in depth compared to their competitors for a place in the top four was exposed by Klopp needing to turn to two teenagers off the bench as 17-year-old Ben Doak also made his first Premier League appearance.
But 18-year-old Bajcetic showed a maturity beyond his years with a calm finish after Nunez had been denied once more by Olsen.
In the first Premier League fixture since mid-November, Tottenham were in danger of a damaging defeat after Vitaly Janelt and Ivan Toney put Brentford in command at the Community Stadium.
But Kane netted with a 65th minute header to start the Tottenham recovery in his first game since missing a crucial penalty in England’s World Cup quarter-final defeat against France.
Brentford have not beaten Tottenham since 1948 and their long wait for a victory over the north Londoners goes on after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg curled home with 19 minutes left.
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte praised England captain Kane for his contribution following his World Cup disappointment.
“When he came back he was good. We know the importance of Harry for us, his personality, his character. He’s the best player we have. I’m happy that he scored today,” Conte said.
Tottenham stay fourth in the table, four points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
Newcastle’s charge towards a return to the Champions League was not halted by the break as the Magpies scored twice in the first seven minutes at Leicester.
Chris Wood opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Miguel Almiron played a one-two with Bruno Guimaraes and slotted past Danny Ward for his eighth goal in his last eight league games.
Joelinton headed home from a corner in the 32nd minute as Newcastle made it six successive league victories — their best run in the competition since 2012.
“We can do anything,” said Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on the possibility of a title challenge with his side just four points behind leaders Arsenal.
“The season is still young enough for all possibilities to exist for us. I want the fans to believe we can do anything.”
Arsenal can extend their advantage at the top when they host West Ham later on Monday.
At the other end of the table, Everton suffered a damaging 2-1 defeat against relegation rivals Wolves as Rayan Ait-Nouri struck in final seconds for the visitors at Goodison Park.
Yerry Mina gave Everton a seventh minute lead, but in Julen Lopetegui’s first game in charge, Wolves levelled through Daniel Podence’s volley.
Ait-Nouri poked home from close range after Everton failed to deal with a counter-attack in the fifth minute of stoppage-time.
Everton are now just one point above Wolves in the final relegation place.
“We are in one (relegation battle),” admitted Lampard. “We’ve got to fight.”
Fulham won 3-0 at nine-man Crystal Palace, who had Tyrick Mitchell and James Tomkins sent off.
