Premier League
LONDON: England striker Daniel Sturridge celebrated his return after a five-month injury layoff when he came off the bench to score as Liverpool beat West Ham United 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Sturridge, who last played on Aug.31, came on in the 68th minute and found the net 12 minutes later to seal the points for Liverpool who climbed above West Ham into seventh spot in the table.
Manchester United avenged their shock 5-3 defeat at Leicester City in September when they crushed Nigel Pearson’s bottom-of-the-table side 3-1 at Old Trafford to maintain their challenge for a top-four finish.
Tottenham Hotspur also kept up their push for a Champions League spot when they won 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion, who inflicted a surprise 1-0 defeat on Spurs at White Hart Lane.
Chelsea lead the table with 52 points, five ahead of Manchester City, who they play at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester United are third on 43, ahead of Southampton on 42, Spurs 40, Arsenal 39 and Liverpool 38.
Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao and an own goal by Wes Morgan before halftime put United in command against Leicester who replied with a consolation from Marcin Wasilewski 10 minutes from the end.
Spurs were 2-0 up in 15 minutes at The Hawthorns thanks to goals from Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane, who added the third with a second-half penalty, his 20th goal of the season.
The only winners among the bottom eight clubs were Sunderland, who beat Burnley 2-0 thanks to goals from Connor Wickham and Jermain Defoe, who scored his first goal for his new club after 34 minutes.
There was no joy for any of the bottom four, with Leicester and Burnley losing along with Queens Park Rangers who went down 3-1 at Stoke City. Hull City lost 3-0 to Newcastle United and Everton won 1-0 at Crystal Palace. (Reuters)