Liverpool took a THREE GOAL lead against Tottenham, who were having to reminisce about their split at Newcastle United.
Liverpool went THREE goalless games in the first 15 minutes as Spurs faced another crushing defeat after their burst at St. James' Park last Sunday.
Curtis Jones opened the scoring in the third minute after Trent Alexander-Arnold picked him up with a superb pass.
Luis Diaz, starting for the first time since October, doubled his team's advantage two minutes later.
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Cody Gakpo tectonic. The Colombian winger made an excellent shot with his right foot to make it 2-0. Mohamed Salah added a third goal after taking the penalty in the 15th minute.
When Liverpool took a 3 to 0 lead, the cameras at Anfield turned around, showing the visiting Spurs fans leaving the pitch.
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Erik ten Hag, Manchester United, April 2023
Erik ten Hag has admitted his belief that Manchester United are "in complete control" of finishing in a Champions League place because it is "in our hands".
United have had a good performance in the Premier League in recent weeks. Indeed, they have not lost in the league in the last 5 matches.
In fact, they won all but one of them, the draw with Tottenham of the week.
A win over Aston Villa is by no means certain at the moment. Villans have been in excellent form under Unai Emery, climbing to sixth in the Premier League.
As a result, United face a difficult task to maintain their form. They have done well to keep Villa at bay, as they have scored 14 goals in their last seven games before today.
United broke the deadlock in the 39th minute - Bruno Fernandes made a deflected shot and converted it into the net past Emi Martinez.
The Red Devils had a couple of chances to take the lead but were unsuccessful. In the end, it didn't matter as Villa failed to respond in their opening goal and United took all three points with a 1-0 scoreline.
Ten Hag thinks Champions League is 'in our hands'
Speaking to the BBC after the game, United manager Ten Hag detailed the quality of his side's performance.
“Three points is good but I think it was an impressive performance by Manchester United. We had great possession, good possession and good pressure,” he said.
"In the second half you wanted to go 2-0 up, but we didn't, so it's always going to be a tough finish."
The manager singled out some of his players for specific praise. “[Victor Lindelof] played brilliantly. He's completely in control of the area around [Ollie] Watkins," added Ten Hag.
“Bruno [Fernandes] had another great game. The plan was for him to play from the right to do the runs behind and he did very well. I think our plan worked very well.
Ten Hag can now be online to complete another objective in the first request. Indeed, his team has already seen Champions League qualification and he thinks defeat is up to him.
"We're in complete control [in the race for the top four], it's all up to us and it's in our hands," he said.
That will be another major milestone for the manager. He won a trophy on his first try, when United won the League Cup earlier this season - ending a title wait that began in 2016/17.
United failed to qualify for the Champions League this season, having competed in the competition two previous seasons. Ten Hag will be able to inspire his team to the finish line helping them return to Europe's elite league.
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