LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah were on target as Liverpool edged Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest 3-2 in a thrilling clash at Anfield on Saturday to climb to seventh in the table.
Jota headed in the opener three minutes into the second half following a corner but Forest drew level when former Liverpool fullback Neco Williams ran on to Morgan Gibbs-White’s pass to send a deflected shot past Alisson.
Jota restored Liverpool’s lead with a sharp finish on the turn in the 55th minute but Liverpool were pegged back again when Virgil Van Dijk’s clearing header fell to an unmarked Gibbs-White, who fired an unstoppable shot into the corner.
Liverpool were back on top three minutes later when Trent Alexander-Arnold picked out Salah with a low free kick and the Egyptian striker held off Remo Freuler before side-footing past Keylor Navas.
Forest came agonisingly close to snatching a point when Taiwo Awoniyi sent an acrobatic effort over the bar and substitute Brennan Johnson hit the crossbar with a delicate chip with Alisson beaten, but Liverpool clung on to take all three points.
Juergen Klopp’s men moved on to 50 points, one behind sixth-placed Aston Villa, while the defeat saw Forest drop to second-bottom in the table.
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
