Liverpool was left to regret two huge missed chances by Mohamed Salah as Everton held out for a 0-0 draw in the Merseyside derby Sunday. Jurgen Klopp's men now trail champion Manchester City by a point at the top of the Premier League with nine games remaining. Salah was denied by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and a last-ditch challenge by Michael Keane either side of half-time as Liverpool dropped points for the fourth time in six league games. Fabinho was also guilty of wasting a big opportunity 21 minutes from time as Lucas Digne cleared when the Brazilian took an age to control Virgil van Dijk's knockdown. Everton remains without a win in the Merseyside derby stretching back to 2010, but may have done enough to stop its local rivals from winning the title for the first time in 29 years. Salah has now scored just once in his past six matches and wasted by a distance the best chance for either side from the sort of situation he finished with ease in a 44-goal debut season at Anfield last year. Pickford was at fault for Liverpool's 96th minute winner when the sides last met in December, but the England No. 1 went some way to making amends by standing tall to block as Salah bore down on goal before Seamus Coleman threw himself in the way of a follow-up attempt from Jordan Henderson. That was a rare glimpse of goal in a first-half which generated plenty of excitement and atmosphere but little in the way of goalmouth incident. Everton has endured a disappointing season after spending big in the summer to back Marco Silva and their lack of quality on the ball showed despite their commitment and desire to close Liverpool down. The hosts at least opened the second-half with slightly more urgency, Dominic Calvert-Lewin rising to meet an early Lucas Digne corner, with a header that was saved comfortably by Alisson Becker. At the other end, Salah spurned another chance when the ball broke his way off Kurt Zouma, but the Egyptian took a heavy touch and allowed Keane to make a stunning recovery tackle. Klopp had seen enough by just after the hour mark and brought on James Milner and Roberto Firmino, recovered from his recent ankle injury, in a bid to turn one point into three. The Brazilian almost made an instant impact, marauding forward with Salah, but his cross proved a little long for Sadio Mane who could only head back across goal harmlessly. Van Dijk was again peerless in his defensive duties and nearly set up the winner had Fabinho been sharper to fire home the Dutchman's knock down. Roared on by an increasingly vocal home crowd, Everton also created some late chances with a cross from substitute Richarlison coming within inches of finding the sliding Bernard. However, for the third time in Liverpool's last four matches the game ended scoreless to hand City the initiative in the title race. Earlier, first-half goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Jorginho earned Chelsea a 2-1 win over struggling Fulham in an entertaining southwest London derby Sunday but they had to work hard for the points. On-loan Argentine striker Higuain volleyed home Chelsea's first after a perfectly-timed run on to a 21st-minute cross by Cesar Azpilicueta overlapping with Willian down the right. Yet barely six minutes later Craven Cottage erupted when Calum Chambers drifted unmarked to the back post and scored from a Ryan Babel cross following a corner. Fulham's players rushed to celebrate with new interim coach Scott Parker. It was Parker's first game in charge following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri, a former Chelsea boss, after less than four months in charge. The jubilation was short-lived. Brazilian Jorginho put Chelsea back in front in the 31st, thumping in a cut-back ball by Eden Hazard from outside the area. Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga was back in goal after being dropped in midweek over his refusal to be substituted during last Sunday's League Cup final. He had to deal with a swirling wind off the Thames river and make a series of sharp saves from Aleksandar Mitrovic, Tom Cairney, Ryan Sessegnon and Joe Bryan. Fulham was on top for significant periods of the second half and had a goal disallowed for offside but the result kept them 19th, 10 points from the safety zone while Chelsea stayed sixth but moved to within a point of fifth-placed Arsenal. In another early match, Watford's Andre Gray scored a stoppage-time winner as Leicester City began life under new boss Brendan Rodgers in underwhelming fashion, suffering a 2-1 defeat at his former club. Watford clinched victory in the second minute of added time as Troy Deeney latched on to a poor goalkick by Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel and fed substitute Gray who held his nerve to score. Watford had taken the lead through Deeney in the fifth minute as the striker got his body across Wes Morgan and rose well to head home Gerard Deulofeu's whipped ball from a free kick for his first goal in 10 matches at Vicarage Road. Leicester responded after the break as Jamie Vardy ran onto a fine through ball from midfielder Youri Tielemens and dinked his finish over Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster for his 10th league goal of the season. Despite conceding early, Leicester looked lively as the first half wore on but was unable to convert its good build-up play into clear chances, as Watford comfortably maintained its defensive discipline. Watford began the second half on the front foot as Deulofeu combined well with Roberto Pereyra to tee up Abdoulaye Doucoure whose curling shot from distance was swatted away by Schmeichel. Vardy, who endured a heavy collision with Foster earlier in the match, was substituted minutes after scoring as he appeared to suffer a delayed reaction to the knock. — Agencies
