Liverpool see off Leicester as Anfield cheers Salah return

Liverpool closed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to nine points as Diogo Jota's double earned Jürgen Klopp's side a 2-0 victory over Leicester City on Thursday night.

After City's 2-0 win over Brentford on Wednesday extended their advantage at the top, second-placed Liverpool needed to issue a response. The breakthrough came on 33 minutes when Kasper Schmeichel was forced to save a powerful Van Dijk header from a corner set-piece - Jota was lurking and perfectly placed to slam in the rebound. It was another opportunity for the home fans to take a look at new signing Luis Díaz, making his second appearance in a matter of days. The Colombian was lively throughout his 89 minutes on-field and came close to scoring several times only to be denied by the superb Schmeichel.

Salah strikes the post

Mohamed Salah came off the bench to rapturous applause to make his first appearance since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, with the Egyptian striker curling a sumptuous effort against the upright as Liverpool pressed for a second.

A second goal did not look like it was going to come as chances continued to come and go with Salah, Díaz and Jota all going close; in the end it was the Portuguese forward who was ruthless in the penalty area once again - drilling home the game-clinching goal three minutes from time.

The win moved Liverpool onto 51 points from 23 games, with leaders City having played one game more, while Leicester's poor season continued as they remain languishing down in 12th in the standings. Next up for Liverpool are Burnley, at Turf Moor on Sunday.