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Postecoglou's Spurs held in EPL as Liverpool, City win

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Ange Postecoglou has seen his struggling Tottenham side concede a late equaliser against Wolves. (AP PHOTO)
Camera IconAnge Postecoglou has seen his struggling Tottenham side concede a late equaliser against Wolves. (AP PHOTO) Credit: AAP

Tottenham have failed to ease pressure on their Australian manager Ange Postecoglou after Jorgen Strand Larsen struck in the 87th minute to snatch Wolves a 2-2 Premier League draw in north London.

Spurs were on course for only a second win in seven league outings after goals from Rodrigo Bentancur and Brennan Johnson, either side of Son Heung-min's penalty miss, overturned Hwang Hee-Chan's seventh-minute opener.

Former Socceroos boss Postecoglou's side's defensive vulnerabilities were on display again as Larsen pounced late on to maintain Vitor Pereira's unbeaten start as Wolves boss following wins over Leicester City and Manchester United.

"I'm the person in charge, so of course (the result) it hurts," Postecoglou reflected afterwards.

"When I see how hard they are trying, it hurts even more because you want them to get a reward and I think today they deserved a reward for their efforts."

Liverpool moved eight points clear at the top of the table by thrashing West Ham United 5-0 in Sunday's late game.

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First-half goals from Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah put Arne Slot's Reds in complete control at London Stadium.

Trent Alexander-Arnold fired home a deflected fourth before Diogo Jota completed a comfortable victory which extended the club's unbeaten run to 14 top-flight games.

Egyptian Salah, who has 52 goal contributions in all competitions for the calendar year ? 29 goals and 23 assists ? remained evasive over the speculation about his future beyond the end of this season, when his contract expires.

"The only thing on my mind is I want Liverpool to win the league and I want to be part of that," he said.

"I will do my best for the team to win the trophy. There is a few other teams catching up with us and we need to stay focused and humble and go again."

Liverpool, who have dropped only nine points from 18 games this term, begin the new year by hosting rivals Manchester United next Sunday.

Pep Guardiola celebrated victory in his 500th game in charge of Manchester City as his side secured only a second win in 10 Premier League matches by beating lowly Leicester 2-0.

Savinho's maiden goal in English football set the reigning champions on course for a much-needed success at the King Power Stadium, before delivering an inviting cross for Erling Haaland to head home.

Guardiola's men stayed fifth in the table after ending a five-game winless run with a first top-flight away victory since October 20, while Ruud van Nistelrooy's Foxes remained in the relegation zone.

"Just relief, that is the word to express how all of us feel," Guardiola said.

Nottingham Forest soared to second thanks to a 2-0 success against Everton.

Forest top-scorer Chris Wood lobbed Jordan Pickford in the 15th minute at Goodison Park to claim his 11th goal of the season while Morgan Gibbs-White sealed a fifth consecutive win for Nuno Espirito Santo's side just after the hour mark.

Bottom club Southampton were denied a maiden victory under new manager Ivan Juric after Crystal Palace battled back to win 2-1 at Selhurst Park to see them slip 10 points from safety.

Goals either side of halftime from Trevoh Chalobah and Eberechi Eze turned the contest in Palace's favour following Tyler Dibling's 14th-minute opener.

Elsewhere, Bournemouth snatched a 2-2 draw at Fulham.

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