Saturday Premier League wrap: The things you might have missed
FFT's round-up of Saturday's Premier League action, as Manchester United edge past Brighton and Liverpool and Chelsea draw at Anfield.
Liverpool 1 - 1 Chelsea
Mohamed Salah has scored 10 goals in his first 13 Premier League apps for Liverpool, the joint-most by any Liverpool player in their first 13 apps in the competition (level with Daniel Sturridge).
Mohamed Salah's 15th game of the season gave Liverpool the lead at Anfield and looked to have won the game. However - and there will be differences of opinions about this - William's mishit cross fluked Chelsea level (144 seconds after the Brazilian came on) with five minutes left to play. Manchester United won earlier and Manchester City are expected to coast past Huddersfield tomorrow, so was a point which really helped nobody. A game notable for the occasional bursts of skill, but also a whole raft of dreadfully disappointing performances - looking at you two, James Milner and Tiemoue Bakayoko...
Goals:Salah '65 - Willian '85
Crystal Palace 2- 1 Stoke
Darren Fletcher played in his 104th consecutive Premier League match today, the joint-4th longest such run for an outfield player in the competition.
Supporters at Selhurst Park had to wait until ten minutes into the second-half for this to get going: Xherdan Shaqiri finishing well after a fine run. Another terrific goal for a player who doesn't do 'ordinary'. The lead would last mere seconds, though, as Stoke's defenders failed to pick up Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the penalty box, leaving him alone to finish a Yohan Cabaye cross at the back-post. The game looked to be heading for a draw until, deep into stoppage time, Mamadou Sakho reacted quickest after Cabaye hit the post. A second win of the season for Palace and some much needed momentum for Roy Hodgson.
Goals:Loftus-Cheek '56, Sakho '90 - Shaqiri '54
Manchester United 1 -0 Brighton
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Manchester United have gone 39 games in all competitions without defeat at Old Trafford (W28 D11), last losing to Man City in Sept 2016 – 441 days ago
Brighton frustrated Manchester United for a long time and, a Glenn Murray dive aside, were very impressive in the first-half - Mat Ryan making two excellent saves. The home fans certainly didn't seem too impressed with United's formulaic approach to attacking and, at times, Jose Mourinho appeared to be coaching from the Louis van Gaal handbook. When the goal eventually came, it was deeply fortuitous: Ashley Young's shot took a wicked deflection off Lewis Dunk and looped in. Good enough from United without ever being particularly impressive.
Goals:Young '66
Newcastle United 0 - 3 Watford
Will Hughes has scored in back-to-back league games for the first time in his career.
Two goals in six days for Will Hughes, as he opened the scoring at St James' Park, slotting in after Marvin Zeegelaar's cut-back. In first-half stoppage time, Zeegelaar was involved again, this time providing a cross which DeAndre Yedlin charitably shovelled into his own net. It got worse for Newcastle: 15 minutes into the second period, a fine Watford move ended with the Richarlison crossing and Gray finishing - game absolutely over and Newcastle, having been praised so much earlier in the season, are suddenly looking very listless.
Goals: - Hughes '19, Yedlin OG '45, Gray '63
Swansea 0 - 0 Bournemouth
Not the best and not in any danger of featuring high on the Match Of The Day order. Wilfried Bony had a first-half goal ruled out, but - given Swansea's record at home and Bournemouth's understandable reticence away from the Vitality Stadium - the goalless draw seemed likely from early on. Still, a result which breaks Swansea's run of defeats and a welcome point for Paul Clement.
Goals:None
Tottenham 1 -1 West Brom
Harry Kane has been involved in 100 Premier League goals in his 128 games in the competition (87 goals, 13 assists)
The Gary Megson mini-era began with a couple of unexpected selections: Grzegorz Krychowiak dropped to the bench and the Pulis-tastic back-seven became a four. It worked, too, as Salomon Rondon caught Tottenham cold, bursting past Davinson Sanchez and scuffing beyond Hugo Lloris inside four minutes. Megson didn't preach anything revolutionary and West Brom were much as expected - tight at the park, shy in taking goal-kicks and throw-ins - but Spurs struggled badly. Eventually, Mauricio Pochettino's side levelled: Kane feathering in a finish after a fine Dele Alli cross. It was all too late though; West Brom clung on grimly to the end to earn an obdurate point.
Goals: Kane '74 - Rondon '4
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Seb Stafford-Bloor is a football writer at Tifo Football and member of the Football Writers' Association. He was formerly a regularly columnist for the FourFourTwo website, covering all aspects of the game, including tactical analysis, reaction pieces, longer-term trends and critiquing the increasingly shady business of football's financial side and authorities' decision-making.