LONDON — Steven Gerrard scored two penalties as Liverpool went back to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win at West Ham United to complete a Merseyside win-double over London clubs Sunday. Earlier, Everton crushed a woeful Arsenal side 3-0 at Goodison Park to boost its chances of a top four finish and a possible place in next season's Champions League for the first time in nine seasons. The two vital games had a big bearing on the top of the table with Liverpool top with 74 points from 33 matches, two ahead of Chelsea which has also played 33. Manchester City, which plays Liverpool next week, has 70 points and two matches in hand, followed by Arsenal on 64 from 33 and Everton 63 from 32. Liverpool continued where Everton left off by chalking up its ninth successive league win after Gerrard put it ahead in the 44th minute with his first penalty after James Tomkins handled a Luis Suarez cross at close-range. West Ham equalized a minute later with a controversial goal from Guy Demel after former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll appeared to foul Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet in the build-up. The ball dropped to Demel who swept it in. Referee Anthony Taylor had a long discussion with his assistant before allowing the goal to stand, but there was also controversy surrounding Liverpool's next goal. Taylor ruled that West Ham keeper Adrian brought down Jon Flanagan although TV replays showed the goalkeeper got a hand to the ball first. Gerrard, who also scored two penalties against Manchester United last month, made no mistake with his second spot kick, blasting the ball past Adrian into the corner of the net. West Ham remain in 11th place. Everton's sixth successive Premier League win meant that although they stayed in fifth place, one behind Arsenal, it is only a point behind the Gunners with a match in hand in the tight race for fourth spot. Goals from Steven Naismith, who followed up a rebound off the legs of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to score after 14 minutes, a superb solo effort from Romelu Lukaku after 34 and a third after 62 when a Kevin Mirallas shot went in off Arsenal's former Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta for an own goal, sent Arsenal crashing to another heavy defeat on Merseyside two months after they lost 5-1 at Liverpool. In a late match Saturday, Chelsea recorded a 3-0 win over shot-shy Stoke City at Stamford Bridge. Goals were scored by Mohamed Salah, Frank Lampard and Willian. Roma advances Roma moved within five points of Serie A leader Juventus as Mattia Destro scored his first-ever hat trick in a 3-1 win at Cagliari Sunday. Destro reinforced his case for a place in Italy's World Cup squad as well as bolstering Roma's title hopes ahead of Juventus' home match against relegation-threatened Livorno on Monday. Fiorentina maintained its charge to a Europa League spot with a 2-1 win over Udinese, while Torino reignited its European hopes as Ciro Immobile moved back to the top of the goalscoring table with the winner in a 2-1 victory at Catania. Torino is three points behind Lazio, which eased to a 2-0 win over Sampdoria, and one behind Atalanta, which fell to a 2-0 loss at home to lowly Sassuolo. Inter Milan twice threw away the lead given to it by Mauro Icardi's superb goals and then missed the first penalty in an incident-packed 2-2 draw with Bologna in Serie A Saturday. Bale strikes Gareth Bale deputized ably for the injured Cristiano Ronaldo with a wonder strike from 35 yards as Real Madrid kept up the pressure on Atletico Madrid and Barcelona with a 4-0 win away to Real Sociedad Saturday. Atletico stays top, three points clear of Real, as it won over Villarreal 1-0, whilst Barca remains in second after overcoming Real Betis 3-1 thanks to two goals from Lionel Messi. — Agencies
