EPL: Liverpool close gap on City; Chelsea thrash Burnley

Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.

Liverpool rode their luck in a 1-0 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday to turn up the heat on leaders Manchester City, who face a derby showdown on Sunday.

Sadio Mane's 12th league goal of the season, tucked away midway through the first half, proved just about enough to secure the win as Liverpool narrowed City's lead at the top to three points with both teams having 11 games left to play.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, asked if he would be taking a close interest in City's game with fourth-placed Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, said: "Of course we are interested in it, but we have no influence on it.

"We have to win the games we play. Those we do not play in we have no hand in it. We don't think about it or talk about it, we just try to win our games."

Earlier, Chelsea put aside their ownership issues to solidify their grip on third place with a 4-0 win at Burnley.

Leeds United slipped further into trouble with a 1-0 loss at Leicester City under new manager Jesse Marsch, but Newcastle United's resurgence continued with a 2-1 home win against Brighton & Hove Albion to move further away from trouble.

Ryan Fraser and Fabian Schar scored in the space of two minutes for Eddie Howe's Newcastle side who then dug deep to extend their unbeaten run to eight games after Lewis Dunk pulled one back for Brighton in the 55th minute.

Brentford dealt a hammer blow to bottom side Norwich City's hopes of escaping the drop zone and eased their own fears as Ivan Toney scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory at Carrow Road.

Aston Villa's Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho scored one goal and made another as they thrashed visiting Southampton 4-0, while Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha created the opener and netted a penalty in a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Liverpool's seventh successive league victory and 12th in all competitions was hard-earned.

Mane poked in Trent Alexander-Arnold's volleyed cross after 27 minutes and the hosts had plenty of chances to give themselves some breathing space.

But West Ham, who remain fifth, squandered gild-edged chances as Pablo Fornals messed up an attempted lob after being played through, Manuel Lanzini sliced over the bar and Michail Antonio failed to convert a clear chance.

"In the end it was open, we needed a bit of luck, but you cannot win as many games in a row as we have without a bit of luck, you can't do this by only winning when you are flying," Klopp said.

Newcastle United withstood waves of attacks in an anxious second half to beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 to claim three precious points.

Newcastle took an early lead with a move started and finished by Ryan Fraser. The winger initiated a counter-attack by releasing Jacob Murphy, whose effort came off the post and Fraser was on hand to fire the ball into the bottom corner.

Brighton had barely taken a breath when Fraser created another chance two minutes later from a free kick, delivering a cross into the box for Fabian Schar to rise above the defence and direct his header past keeper Robert Sanchez.

Newcastle threatened on the counter and Brighton also had chances in the first half. But it was the visitors who drew first blood after the restart when an unmarked Lewis Dunk beat goalkeeper Martin Dubravka in the air to head home from a corner kick.

The goal picked Brighton up and their pressure in the second half was relentless as Newcastle clung on to their slender lead.

But Eddie Howe's men stuck it out to claim victory and move seven points clear of the relegation zone. They now sit five points and one place behind Brighton who are 13th in the table.

Brentford dealt a hammer blow to Norwich City's hopes of escaping relegation from the Premier League as Ivan Toney scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory at Carrow Road.

Toney put the visitors ahead from close range before halftime from Christian Eriksen's corner and then converted two second-half penalties as Brentford emerged from a slump in form.

Norwich had a goal by Milot Rashica ruled out for offside and Teemu Pukki did score a consolation effort in stoppage time but it was too little, too late.

Brentford's first league win in nine games eased their own relegation fears but Norwich's outlook is bleak after a desperately disappointing result in a match they would have earmarked as an opportunity to boost their escape bid.

A fourth successive defeat left Dean Smith's side bottom with 17 points from 27 games, five points from the safety zone.

Brentford, who had lost seven of their last eight games to fall into the relegation mix, are in 15th place with 27 points, six points better off than third-from-bottom Burnley.

Wilfried Zaha created the opener and then netted a penalty as Crystal Palace's excellent first half display saw them claim a deserved 2-0 away victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Zaha set up striker Jean-Philippe Mateta for the first goal on 19 minutes and then dispatched an excellent penalty to double the advantage as the visitors dominated the first half, before having to weather a rally from the home side after the break.

It is a third successive defeat for Wolves, who remain in eighth place on 40 points from 27 games but are seeing their chances of European football next season diminish by the week. Palace climb to 10th with 33 points from 28 matches.

Palace hit the front as Zaha broke free on the right, and his low cross from the byline was met at the near post by Mateta. The striker’s initial effort was blocked, but he reacted quickest to the loose ball to score.

Max Kilman’s blatant foul on Jeffrey Schlupp then handed the visitors a penalty, and Zaha made no mistake from the spot.

Wolves, who next host Watford on Thursday, improved in the second period but could not find a way back into the game. Palace don’t play again until they host Manchester City on March 14.