Manchester United needed a Craig Dawson own goal to overcome West Ham and strengthen their grip on a Champions League place.
On loan from Watford, Dawson has been outstanding in the Hammers’ push for a top-four slot but settled the contest in the wrong way at the start of the second half as he turned Bruno Fernandes’ corner into his own net under pressure from Scott McTominay at the near post.
Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood also went close in a one-sided contest as West Ham failed to threaten until Said Benrahma’s introduction after an hour.
When the visitors finally pushed forward, Luke Shaw got in the way of Tomas Soucek’s goalbound shot as United kept a fourth successive clean sheet for the first time under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The result kept United in second but with the teams from fourth to seventh all failing to win this weekend, they now have a nine-point advantage over West Ham, who remain fifth, but do have a match in hand.
Egypt and Senegal internationals inspired Jurgen Klopp’s men to the quarter-finals of the European competition
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane scored to help Liverpool secure a 2-0 victory over RB Leipzig in Wednesday’s Champions League game.
The victory at Anfield helped the Reds advance into the quarter-finals of the European competition on a 4-0 aggregate after securing a 2-0 win in the first leg.
Salah has been the standout performer for the Reds this season and against the Red Bulls, he shone to ensure his side progressed in the tournament. Mane was afforded his eighth appearance in the Champions League this season and utilized the opportunity to add to his tally.
RB Leipzig dominated the first half of the game but failed to get the ball into the back of the net, missing a few chances which they paid for in the second half.
After the restart, Liverpool seemed to awake from their slumber as they pressed aggressively for the opener.
Their efforts paid off when Salah broke the deadlock in the 70th minute after receiving a timely assist from Diogo Jota.
The Egypt international, thus, took his goal tally to 25 this season, scoring the most across all competitions among the Premier League stars.
Four minutes later, Mane doubled Liverpool’s lead with a fine effort after benefitting from Divock Origi’s assist.The forward has now bagged 12 goals in the knock-out stage of the elite European competition since he made his
debut and only Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more than him since the 2017-18 season.
Mane has now scored 12 goals and provided five assists across all competitions in the 2020-21 campaign for Liverpool.
Salah was recently rewarded for his impressive goalscoring form, winning Liverpool’s Goal of the Month for February and has now clinched the individual accolade six times on the bounce.
The forward along with Mane will hope to continue their impressive performances in front of goal when the Reds take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in their next league game on March 15.
Erling Braut Haaland scored his 19th and 20th goals in 14 Champions League appearances as Borussia Dortmund drew 2-2 with Sevilla to progress to the quarter-finals 5-4 on aggregate.
The 20-year-old striker opened the scoring on 35 minutes with what was his only touch in the opposition’s box in the first half, Marco Reus’ pull-back finding the Norwegian for an easy tap-in past goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
If Haaland’s 19th Champions League goal was simple, his 20th was a test of nerve in the face of drama.
Early in the second half, he bullied his way past the Sevilla defence to find the net from a tight angle only to have the goal ruled out for a foul. But the video assistant referee awarded a penalty for a shirt-pull by Jules Kounde on Haaland in the build-up.
The Norwegian took the spot-kick himself and saw both his first attempt and his follow-up saved by Bounou.
The spectacle did not end there, however, as VAR determined Bounou had moved too early off his line and the penalty was taken again, with Haaland finally slotting home to give Dortmund a 5-2 advantage in the tie.
Sevilla kept their hopes alive through a Youssef En-Nesyri penalty, before the same man’s powerful header deep in added time made the final moments nervy for the Bundesliga side.
Dortmund have reached the last eight of the Champions League for the first time since the 2016-17 season and will find out their opponents when the draw is made on 19 March.
Paris St-Germain have ruled Neymar out of the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie against Barcelona.
The Brazil forward missed the first leg against his former side, which PSG won 4-1, with a thigh injury.
“Neymar returned to partial training with the squad last week and will continue to work back to fitness individually,” said a PSG statement.
Barcelona will be without defenders Gerard Pique and Ronald Araujo for the match in Paris on Wednesday.
Pique sustained a knee injury in the Copa del Rey semi-final win over Sevilla on 3 March, while Araujo has returned to training after an ankle problem but is not in the squad.
Ex-Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho is still missing for the Spanish side because of a knee injury.
Barcelona, who lost 8-2 to eventual winners Bayern Munich in last season’s one-legged quarter-final, have made it past the last 16 of the Champions League in each of the past 13 seasons.
In 2016-17, they were beaten 4-0 by PSG in the last-16 first leg in Paris, before winning the second leg 6-1 in Spain.
Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman remained optimistic his side could reach the quarter-finals and said: “It is always different to have a result like this.
“Losing 4-1 at home means we have to score goals away from home and it’s more complicated but nothing is impossible.
“We believe in ourselves – we know we are Barca and have to win and will demonstrate this mentality.”
PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino, who took Tottenham to the Champions League final in 2018-19, will also be without on-loan Everton striker Moise Kean as he is self-isolating because of coronavirus.
Neymar helped the French champions reach their first Champions League final last August and has scored 12 goals in 17 competitive fixtures this season.
Midfielder Declan Rice said West Ham is a “special place to be” as they maintained their unlikely push for a place in next season’s Champions League with a deserved victory over Leeds United.
David Moyes’ side climbed to fifth in the Premier League – two points behind Chelsea, who beat Everton 2-0 earlier on Monday – and have a game in hand on their London rivals.
Jesse Lingard sparked West Ham into life at London Stadium when his menacing run into the penalty area drew a foul from Luke Ayling. Lingard, on loan from Manchester United, converted the rebound after his spot-kick was saved by Illan Meslier.
Leeds had found the net twice in a blistering opening spell, but Tyler Roberts’ finish was ruled out for a marginal offside against Helder Costa, and Raphinha ran the ball out of play before crossing to Patrick Bamford.
But they were two goals down before half-time when the unmarked Craig Dawson headed in Aaron Cresswell’s corner.
Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds went close to a response five minutes after the restart when Raphinha’s sensational overhead attempt was tipped over by Lukasz Fabianski, while Bamford blazed over from Raphinha’s cut-back and Dawson cleared off the line as Leeds chased a late lifeline.
Pablo Fornals struck the crossbar for the hosts with a dipping second-half shot, but the Hammers ultimately held firm at the back to see out the three points.
“I’m disappointed with the performance,” England international Rice told Sky Sports. “We won but Leeds caused us a problems. Now we are starting to learn how to win ugly.
“This is the best squad I have been a part of. You look forward to training and seeing the lads and that shows on the pitch. We are fighting for each other. It is real special place to be at the moment. The place has a real buzz about it.
“It is hard to say we are going to be [in the] Champions League – there are so many games left. It will be a real tough test, but look where we are now and it is a massive upgrade. It is in our hands. If we want to believe we can be a European team we need to win the big games”.
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