{"id":14438,"date":"2014-04-20T21:15:33","date_gmt":"2014-04-20T21:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=14438"},"modified":"2014-04-20T21:16:06","modified_gmt":"2014-04-20T21:16:06","slug":"14438","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=14438","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool edge closer to title win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League after a hard-fought win at Norwich.<\/p>\n

Second-placed Chelsea had lost on Saturday and the Reds capitalised, with Raheem Sterling arrowing in a long-range shot to put them ahead.<\/p>\n

Luis Suarez guided in a second only for Gary Hooper to slot in for Norwich after keeper Simon Mignolet’s error.<\/p>\n

Sterling scored with a deflected shot before a Robert Snodgrass header gave the Canaries hope but the Reds held on.<\/p>\n

It was a frantic finish at a boisterous Carrow Road and the home side almost salvaged a point only for Mignolet to save a Ricky van Wolfswinkel header.<\/p>\n

Liverpool were given a scare by Norwich but managed to secure an 11th successive league win, which confirms their place in next season’s Champions League, ahead of next Sunday’s home game against Chelsea, a visit to Crystal Palace and a meeting with Newcastle at Anfield.<\/p>\n

Chelsea’s surprise defeat at home to Sunderland<\/a> on Saturday had added to the expectancy surrounding the Reds at Carrow Road.<\/p>\n

But following a storming start, they had to determinedly drag themselves over the line to earn a victory which brings closer a first title since 1990.<\/p>\n

Norwich suffered a sixth defeat in eight outings, although they can take heart from a battling display. They are two points above the relegation zone with games at Manchester United and Chelsea to come before they play Arsenal at home.<\/p>\n

The Canaries ultimately paid the price for a disappointing first half, which began with Sterling sidestepping Bradley Johnson and powering a 22-yard shot, which took a slight deflection off defender Michael Turner, past keeper John Ruddy.<\/p>\n

Joe Allen had an angled drive fended away by Ruddy as Liverpool made a typically energetic start, with a second goal not taking long to arrive.<\/p>\n

Sterling turned from scorer to provider as he bent a low right-wing ball into the path of Suarez, who guided a sidefoot home for his 30th league goal of the campaign.<\/p>\n

Norwich rallied and striker Hooper latched on to a Turner knockdown but was denied the chance to get a shot away courtesy of two tigerish Allen tackles.<\/p>\n

A swerving long range Nathan Redmond effort was also palmed away by Mignolet, with Norwich continuing to the apply the pressure after the break.<\/p>\n

The home side received their reward for their efforts when Mignolet mistimed his attempt to punch away Steven Whittaker’s cross and Hooper tapped in from eight yards.<\/p>\n

Suarez could have eased Liverpool’s nerves but sent a shot from just inside the box narrowly wide.<\/p>\n

It was left to Sterling to restore the visiting side’s two-goal advantage, with the Reds forward racing at the Norwich defence before his effort looped in following a deflection off Bradley Johnson.<\/p>\n

The Canaries refused to be disheartened and Snodgrass had a shot palmed around the post, while a Redmond strike was diverted wide off the head of defender Martin Skrtel.<\/p>\n

The home pressure eventually told again when Snodgrass headed in – but despite going close with Van Wolfswinkel’s header, an equaliser eluded them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: BBC<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liverpool opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League after a hard-fought win at Norwich. Second-placed Chelsea had lost on Saturday and the Reds capitalised, with Raheem Sterling arrowing in a long-range shot to put them ahead. Luis Suarez guided in a second only for Gary Hooper to slot in for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":14439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[29,3],"class_list":["post-14438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dr-mahamudu-bawumia","tag-ghana-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}