The red-hot New York Islanders scored three first-period goals en route to a 6-1 rout of the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday that extended their season-high winning streak to six games.
Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist in the victory, which moved New York into a tie with the Detroit Red Wings for the Eastern Conference's final wild card spot. Both teams have 72 points with the Islanders holding a game in hand.
New York built a 3-0 lead despite producing only six shots on goal in the first period. Casey Cizikas' one-timer off a SImon Holmstrom feed opened the scoring 5:11 in, and Kyle Palmieri beat Anaheim netminder Lukas Dostal on a breakaway just 2:17 later before Nelson's power-play goal extended the margin with 5:32 left in the period.
Alex Killorn scored just 24 seconds into the second to get the Ducks on the board, but the Islanders struck three more times in the third to put the game out of reach.
Horvat extended his goal streak to three games only 34 seconds into the period before Pierre Engvall and Cal Clutterbuck each found the back of the net later on.
New York also received 22 saves from Semyon Varlamov, while Dostal stopped just 13 of 19 shots in the Ducks' second straight loss.
McDavid, Pickard help Oilers extend Penguins' slump
Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists to back a sharp 41-save effort from Calvin Pickard as the Edmonton Oilers extended the Pittsburgh Penguins' struggles by cruising to a 4-0 win.
Darnell Nurse added a pair of third-period goals in support of Pickard's spotless performance, though the goaltender did spend the final 1:16 of the second period on the bench after a collision with the Penguins' Bryan Rust.
Pickard returned to make 16 saves in the third to help deal Pittsburgh its sixth loss in regulation in its last seven games and end Edmonton's two-game losing streak.
McDavid provided all the offence necessary when he scored off a Pittsburgh giveaway in its own end just 68 seconds after the opening face-off. The reigning NHL MVP then helped set up Mattias Ekholm's goal 8:53 into the first period that extended the margin to 2-0.
Nurse registered his seventh and eighth goals of the season just over five minutes apart, with the last coming with 4:02 left to play.
Tristan Jarry finished with 38 saves for the Penguins, who have been outscored by a 15-1 margin while losing their last three contests.
Wild top Predators in overtime after pulling goaltender
A gutsy call from Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes led to Matt Boldy's goal with 1:10 left in overtime and a 4-3 victory over the still-surging Nashville Predators.
Hynes had goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury skate to the bench for an extra attacker with time winding down in overtime, a move that paid off when Boldy one-timed a pass from Mats Zuccarello past Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros to end the contest.
Boldy had two assists in regulation, while Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist to help move the Wild to 3-0-1 over their last four games.
Nashville had a two-game winning streak snapped, but still managed to pick up at least one point for a 12th consecutive outing when Ryan O'Reilly scored on a power play with 2:02 left in regulation to tie the game at 3-3.
The Predators are 10-0-2 over their point streak and have climbed into the Western Conference's first wild card spot with the run.
After Minnesota's Jonas Brodin and Nashville's Mark Jankowski traded first-period goals, Luke Evangelista put the Predators ahead 3:36 into the second before Kaprizov tied it with a power-play score late in the period.
The Wild grabbed a 3-2 edge when Ryan Hartman scored on a breakaway following a Nashville turnover with 7:32 left in the third period.
Andy Farrell dismissed suggestions retaining the Guinness Six Nations title could now feel like an anti-climax after Ireland’s hyped quest for back-to-back Grand Slams was crushed.
The reigning champions looked well placed to make history by delivering consecutive tournament clean sweeps before suffering Saturday’s last-gasp loss to title rivals England at Twickenham.
Avoiding defeat to Scotland in the final round will almost certainly ensure Ireland keep hold of their crown, while even a loss would still leave Steve Borthwick’s side requiring a bonus-point win in France to snatch glory.
Head coach Farrell, who feels it would be “unjust” for his team to still be in Grand Slam contention following England’s best display under Borthwick, is keen to put things in perspective moving towards what should be another memorable St Patrick’s weekend in Dublin.
He said: “Anti-climax? How many times have we won the Six Nations?
“Everyone would love to be in our position. We’ve got to make sure we’re loving that challenge as well.
“I’ve absolutely no doubt that they (Ireland supporters) 100 per cent will be on song. Paddy’s weekend again, with the chance of winning a Six Nations.
“It could have been a little bit better but Grand Slams are unbelievably hard to come by. Six Nations are hard enough, as everyone would vouch for.”
No team has won successive Grand Slams in the Six Nations era, with France the last side to achieve the feat in the 1998 Five Nations.
Ireland were seconds away from remaining on course to snap that statistic thanks to two James Lowe tries and four Jack Crowley penalties.
But Marcus Smith’s dramatic added-time drop goal earned England a deserved 23-22 victory to keep alive the title race, raising question marks over Ireland’s game management in the final minutes.
“I thought we could have kicked longer and out,” said Farrell.
“There’s one we kicked long and not out; the other one was out and a little bit short. But those are small bits that matter in the end.
“At the end of the day, I might sound stupid saying this but I thought it would have been unjust for England not to win the game. I thought they played really well.”
Jurgen Klopp was adamant Liverpool should have been awarded a stoppage-time penalty in a dramatic end to his title-chasing side’s 1-1 draw with champions Manchester City.
An absorbing top-of-the-table Premier League contest at Anfield was halted for a late VAR check after City’s Jeremy Doku caught Alexis Mac Allister in the chest with his boot but nothing was given.
The Reds had already been given one penalty early in the second half, with Mac Allister converting to cancel out John Stones’ 23rd-minute opener.
Liverpool manager Klopp told Sky Sports: “This situation, on all positions on the pitch, is 100 per cent a foul and it’s a yellow card.
“He hit the ball but he can only hit the ball because his foot was right there. If the ball is not there, he kills him.
“It’s as easy as that. It’s a penalty for all football people on the planet. If you don’t think it is one then maybe you’re not a football person.”
Klopp was nevertheless happy with his side’s performance against a strong City team.
Whilst City twice hit the woodwork in the second half Liverpool, who have been hampered by a lengthy injury list in recent weeks, had spells of dominance and several chances to win the game themselves.
The result left Arsenal leading the table on goal difference only from Liverpool, with City just a point further back with 10 games remaining.
Klopp said: “We would have loved to use one of the massive chances we created.
“Yes, we are lucky when (Jeremy) Doku hit the post but we played an exceptional football game.
“For us, besides the result, the most important information is that we are right there. We go the distance.
“For us it is probably a little bit like, how did we get through all that and that we are still there? It is crazy with all these games and the squad situation we have.
“Today I saw the best 53 minutes we had against Manchester City. It was exceptional how we played.”
City boss Pep Guardiola admitted his side had survived an onslaught in the second period.
He said: “We spoke at half-time that in this stadium, if you have to defend something, you have to play and play and play.
“We gave away the penalty and, sooner or later, with this stadium, you have 15 or 20 minutes and it looks like a tsunami coming for everybody who has the ball.
“It is not easy but we never stopped trying to play. They had their chances, we had our chances and at the end of the game it (draw) is what happened.”
Guardiola, whose side are chasing a fourth successive Premier League crown and a sixth in seven years, is pleased to be involved in the thick of another title race.
He said: “Still there are 10 games to go, 30 points to play for, one point difference.
“The important thing is still we are there, after where we came from in previous seasons still we are there.
“Except one year when Liverpool won it with a lot of points, we were always there.”
Bayer Leverkusen regained their 10-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga by beating 10-man Wolfsburg 2-0 at BayArena.
Nathan Tella headed Xabi Alonso’s side into a first-half lead, nine minutes after Wolfsburg defender Moritz Jenz had been sent off for his second yellow card, and Florian Wirtz ensured maximum points with a late second.
Leverkusen extended their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga this season to 25 matches and notched their sixth straight league win to stay well in front of Bayern Munich, who thrashed Mainz 8-1 on Saturday.
Eintracht Frankfurt consolidated in sixth place after hitting back to win 3-1 at home against nine-man Hoffenheim.
United States defender John Brooks headed Hoffenheim into an early lead, but was shown a straight red card for his challenge on Omar Marmoush before Frankfurt equalised through on-loan Leeds centre-back Robin Koch.
Second-half goals from Dina Ebimbe and Mario Gotze put Frankfurt in control and Hoffenheim were then reduced to nine men when Ozan Kabak received his second yellow card.
Freiburg followed up their midweek Europa League win against West Ham with their first Bundesliga victory in seven matches, triumphing 2-1 at Bochum.
Real Madrid opened up a seven-point gap at the top of LaLiga after beating Celta Vigo 4-0 at the Bernabeu Stadium.
Vinicius Junior’s close-range finish gave Real a half-time lead and own goals from goalkeeper Vicente Guaita and Carlos Dominguez put Carlo Ancelotti’s side, without the suspended Jude Bellingham, in full control.
Turkey midfielder Arda Guler stepped off the bench to score his first goal for the club in stoppage time as Los Blancos extended their unbeaten league run to 22 matches.
Athletic Bilbao closed the gap on fourth-placed Atletico Madrid to two points after Gorka Guruzeta and Saul Coco’s own goal secured them a 2-0 win at Las Palmas.
Real Betis lost 3-2 at home to Villarreal with both sides ending the game with 10 men after Chimy Avila and Alberto Moreno were shown their second yellow cards after clashing in the second half.
Alexander Sorloth fired the winner for Villarreal three minutes before Avila and Moreno were sent off in the 70th minute.
Guido Rodriguez and Willian Jose twice put Betis ahead, with Alex Baena and a Sokratis Papastathopoulos
own goal levelling in each half.
Andoni Gorosabel’s first goal for Alaves clinched them a 1-0 home win against Rayo Vallecano and lifted them 10 points clear of the drop zone.
AC Milan leapfrogged Juventus into second place in Serie A as Christian Pulisic’s solitary first-half goal sealed a 1-0 home win against Empoli.
Milan moved one point above Juve, who were held 2-2 at home by Atalanta.
Goals after the break from Juve pair Andrea Cambiaso and Arkadiusz Milik cancelled out Teun Koopmeiners’ opener for Atalanta, but the Netherlands midfielder struck again to earn the visitors a point.
Diego Llorente fired in a stoppage-time equaliser for Roma in a 2-2 draw at Fiorentina to lift Daniele De Rossi’s side up to fifth in the table.
Michael Folorunsho’s deflected shot sealed Verona a 1-0 win at Lecce and lifted his side out of the bottom three up to 13th in a congested bottom half of the table.
Verona striker Thomas Henry was shown a straight red card in stoppage time for violent conduct after clashing with Lecce defender Marin Pongracic.
In Ligue 1, Paris St Germain were held to a third successive domestic draw, 2-2 at home against Reims, as Kylian Mbappe started on the bench.
Mbappe, who is rumoured to have agreed to a deal to join Real Madrid in the summer and was withdrawn at half-time in last week’s 0-0 draw at Monaco, was a 73rd-minute substitute, but had few chances.
Marshall Munetsi gave Reims a shock early lead and, after Yunis Abdelhamid’s own goal and Goncalo Ramos had put PSG ahead, Oumar Diakite levelled for the visitors before the interval.
Monaco sit third, 11 points behind PSG, after Eliesse Ben Seghir’s second-half goal secured them a 1-0 win at Strasbourg.
Canada forward Jonathan David scored two late goals to earn Lille a 2-2 draw at Rennes and lift his side into the top four.
Lille trailed 2-0 at the interval through goals from Ludovic Blas and Arnaud Kalimuendo, but David struck in the 84th minute and then in stoppage time to salvage them a point.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit goals in either half as Marseille won 2-0 at home against Nantes.
Le Havre edged two points clear of the drop zone with a 1-0 home win against Toulouse and Metz boosted their survival hopes by beating fellow strugglers Clermont by the same score.
Mauricio Pochettino has insisted he will never quit Chelsea and hit out at “completely unfair” criticism of his young team.
The 52-year-old Argentinian has seen his side unfavourably compared to Blues teams of the past since taking over in July, with the London club having won five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues during the last two decades.
Pochettino’s team are 11th in the table ahead of Monday’s meeting at home to Newcastle, however, with a second consecutive season without European competition appearing almost certain.
Supporters have turned on the head coach and his players in recent weeks, including last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Brentford when the team surrendered a first-half lead and dodged defeat only with a late equaliser.
Monday’s game will be their first in the league in front of their own fans since being booed off at the end of a 4-2 defeat to Wolves early in February, and there was also criticism after they failed to beat a depleted Liverpool team in the Carabao Cup final two weeks ago.
Chelsea have the youngest squad in the league since co-owner Todd Boehly embarked on a mission to clear out the club’s more established players in favour of expensive but less experienced recruits, and Pochettino feels some of the analysis has been out of order.
“I feel young,” he said. “I don’t feel 52. It’s true that (the players) are young, but we like to help them. We like to talk, to train, to support. We are supporting them.
“The fans don’t know. The players are so young, playing at Wembley in a final. Maybe they didn’t sleep the night before. Sometimes, to analyse with different parameters and the way that you assess is completely unfair.
“Today it is a different Chelsea. If you are going to judge us, comparing the past of Chelsea, for sure no-one is going to win. No-one is going to succeed. No-one is going to be nice with you.
“The fans are not going to love any more another coach at Chelsea. If you compare with the past, when you are in a different project, people need to understand. I’ve tried to explain. I talk, I move my mouth, but you don’t hear.
“I knew it was going to be tough. I knew we were going to need time and belief. The project is about young players, building a new team.”
Asked if he would consider walking away, he replied: “No. Why? Never.”
The situation is in marked contrast to Pochettino’s previous role as head coach at Paris St Germain, where he worked with an established squad assembled by owners who prioritised signing experienced players ready to compete for the biggest honours.
“We love challenge,” Pochettino said. “We came from a different project at Paris St Germain.
“Here the challenge is massive. We accepted to come here knowing that it’s never easy. The pressure and the feeling that you are Chelsea and you need to win.
“But we are so excited to be here and support this project.”
Kieran Trippier has backed young pretender Tino Livramento to establish himself as England’s right-back as he attempts to fend off his advances for both club and country.
Livramento, a £32million summer signing from Southampton, is likely to replace Trippier in Newcastle’s starting line-up for Monday night’s Premier League trip to Chelsea as the 33-year-old faces a spell on the sidelines with a minor calf injury.
However Trippier, who has been the standard-bearer for much of what the Magpies have achieved in the last two years, knows the 21-year-old is gunning for his places in both the Newcastle team and the England squad.
He said: “Tino, for such a young guy, is unbelievable. I’ve had loads of talks with Tino, firstly to try to help him. I know he’s my position, but I don’t want to be selfish.
“He’ll be unbelievable for Newcastle in the future and an England right-back as well. That’s how highly I rate him.”
That is a view shared by Magpies head coach Eddie Howe, who has been hugely impressed by Livramento’s performances to date at left-back, right-back and in midfield, a process which continued last weekend when he scored a superb solo goal in a 3-0 victory over Wolves after replacing the injured Trippier.
Asked if the youngster’s challenge had to be to oust the former Burnley, Tottenham and Atletico Madrid man on both the domestic and international stages, Howe said: “Of course. If you ask Tino, that will be his aim and if you ask me, I’d want every player to feel the same way.
“If you’re not in the team, your aim and ambition should be to try to get into the team, to try to prove you’re better than the team-mate that you’re competing against.
“If you have that in your squad, I think you’ve got a healthy squad, you’ve got a good balance between being a good team-mate and fighting for your place.
“Tino has shown all those qualities this year. He has been learning and developing behind the scenes, he’s been no doubt picking things up off Kieran and I’ve enjoyed seeing them both battle against each other.”
Trippier will miss the trip to Chelsea and the FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City which follows it, as well as England’s friendly double-header against Brazil and Belgium as a result of the injury which has robbed him of the opportunity to atone for the error which cost his side a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
Asked what had been going through his head as he uncharacteristically allowed Mykhailo Mudryk to score a late equaliser 12 days after he had gifted Everton two goals, he said: “Do you know what? I don’t actually know.
“It was a strange one, really. I was just making a mistake and then making another mistake. I haven’t got any excuses, really.
“It’s just you make a mistake and you want to try even better and then because you’re trying so hard, you make another mistake, and it’s not me.”
Luke Littler hit a nine-darter as he won his first European title on his debut with an 8-7 victory over Rob Cross in a thrilling final at the Belgian Open in Wieze.
Littler’s victory over former world champion Cross included six maximums compared to his opponent’s five in a see-saw battle.
Cross averaged 108 for the match and Littler 104, but it was the 17-year-old who collected the £30,000 winner’s prize.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield have agreed to a three-year contract that could be worth up to $115million for the former No. 1 overall draft pick.
The deal includes $50million in guaranteed money and is $100million in total, with Mayfield able to earn $5million in incentives per season.
Mayfield took over for the retired Tom Brady last season and led Tampa Bay (9-8) to the NFC South title.
The Buccaneers then upset the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs before losing to the Detroit Lions in the Divisional Round.
Mayfield, the first overall pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2018, started all 17 regular-season games last season and set career highs in passing yards (4,044) and passing touchdowns (28).
He threw for 686 yards and six touchdowns in Tampa Bay’s two postseason contests.
In 89 career regular-season games with Cleveland, the Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay, Mayfield has passed for 20,332 yards with 130 touchdowns and 74 interceptions.
He owns a 40-46 record as a starter.
Ben Earl was at the forefront of England’s seismic victory over Ireland after predicting to Steve Borthwick the impact he intended to have at Twickenham.
Earl has followed up his outstanding World Cup with an equally impressive Guinness Six Nations that has been rewarded with man-of-the-match awards against Wales and Andy Farrell’s champions.
The Saracens number eight was magnificent in Saturday’s 23-22 upset to continue his surge towards world-class status, bossing Ireland’s back row and barging over for a vital 60th-minute try as one of numerous powerful carries.
In a sign of his growing confidence, Earl told his head coach hours before the game how he expected his 29th cap to unfold.
“I sat with Ben on Saturday morning. He talked and showed me what he wanted to do against Ireland. And he pretty much did exactly what he said to me. That is down to him delivering that,” Borthwick said.
“It is phenomenal the thought process he is going through and how ambitious he is as a player to get better.
“Ben played his first 15 games off the bench. Even in last year’s Six Nations he played a run of games and then he was out.
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“I think he feels backed. I get the impression he feels he is growing as a player and he wants to keep getting better.”
By defying expectations to topple the defending champions, England revived their title ambitions heading into the final weekend even if Ireland remain firmly in the driving seat.
A courageous gameplan that placed an emphasis on attack was well executed with the try count won 3-2, providing redemption after an error-strewn defeat by Scotland a fortnight ago.
Had England not imploded at Murrayfield, they could have been challenging for the Grand Slam themselves but Borthwick has been careful not to rebuke his young team.
“Post the Scotland game, there was evidence that the weight of the shirt was on the players,” he said.
“I believe we need to create a supportive environment. Everybody involved with English rugby is under incredible scrutiny. That’s just the way it is.
“There’s incredible expectation and I’d rather be involved in a team where there is expectation upon it than not.
“But with that I want to make sure that young players are coming into a supportive environment. I want to see their point of difference on the grass.
“Mistakes are going to happen and we are understanding of that, but we don’t want to repeat mistakes. We have got to learn fast.
“The team went through a difficult experience at Murrayfield, reviewed it properly and then addressed it on the training field.
“The players weren’t perfect against Ireland, they made mistakes, but at Murrayfield I thought we made a mistake and then went into ourselves, played a little bit small.
“Against Ireland they made errors and got into the next battle. If there is anything I can encourage the players to do, it is go into the next battle.”
Leverkusen restored their 10-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table with a 2-0 home victory over 10-man Wolfsburg.
Moritz Jenz was sent off after receiving a second yellow in the 28th minute at BayArena before Nathan Tella nodded the hosts into a first-half lead.
Wolfsburg did well to defend despite being a man down for the majority of the match, but were under pressure throughout a second half in which it always felt like a second goal for the hosts would come.
They left it late, but Florian Wirtz netted in the 86th minute to ensure Leverkusen extended their unbeaten run to 36 matches across all competitions.
There were a handful of early opportunities for both sides, but it was the hosts who dominated possession and nearly took the lead after 22 minutes when Granit Xhaka played in Wirtz, who rattled the base of the post with his attempt.
Cedric Zesiger came close for Wolfsburg soon after, forcing Lukas Hradecky to tip the volleyed effort over the crossbar.
The visitors were down to 10 men when Jenz, booked earlier for a shirt pull on Wirtz, was sent off in the 28th minute for treading on the foot of Patrik Schick.
Leverkusen opened the scoring nine minutes later following some fine work by Alex Grimaldo, whose pinpoint delivery allowed Tella to nod home from point blank range.
The hosts piled on more pressure and were unrelenting after the break, when Wolfsburg boss Niko Kovac rang two early changes as his side tried to make Leverkusen’s life difficult with some solid defending and the occasional promising venture into the hosts’ final third.
Koen Casteels did well to deny substitute Jonas Hoffman from extending Leverkusen’s lead shortly after his 76th-minute introduction, but could not stop Wirtz from settling the game four minutes from full-time.
A lovely long ball from Exequiel Palacios put Wirtz in a perfect position to finish with the inside of his foot at the near post and seal victory.
Real Madrid moved seven points clear at the top of LaLiga after beating Celta Vigo 4-0 at the Bernabeu Stadium.
Vinicius Junior’s close-range finish gave Real a half-time lead and own goals from goalkeeper Vicente Guaita and Carlos Dominguez put Carlo Ancelotti’s side, without the suspended Jude Bellingham, in full control.
Turkey midfielder Arda Guler stepped off the bench to score his first goal for the club in stoppage time as Los Blancos extended their unbeaten league run to 22 matches.
Second-placed Girona had closed the gap to four points on Saturday by beating Osasuna 2-0 at home, but once Vinicius Junior opened the scoring in the 21st minute following a corner, Real dominated the match.
Eduardo Camavinga went close on three occasions to extending Real’s lead and Rodrygo forced Guaita into a reflex save before the break.
Celta had been limited to blocked shots from Manu Sanchez and Luca de la Torre, but they threatened through Jorgen Strand Larsen’s effort early in the second period.
Guaita saved again from Brahim Diaz and Federico Valverde flashed a shot wide before the Celta keeper denied both Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior.
Real were rewarded for their pressure with a second goal in the 79th minute when Antonio Rudiger’s header struck the crossbar and deflected in off Guaita.
Celta substitute Dominguez turned the ball past his own keeper in the closing stages and in the fourth minute of added time Guler, a late replacement for Vinicius Junior, steered home the fourth goal.
The Turkey international burst on to Dani Ceballos’ through-ball, knocked the ball around Guaita and buried his shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the six-yard box.
Real returned to winning ways after being held by Valencia and RB Leipzig in their previous two matches to stretch their advantage over Girona and open up an eight-point lead over third-placed Barcelona.
Pep Guardiola felt Manchester City had survived a “tsunami” after the champions’ crunch Premier League title clash at Liverpool on Sunday ended 1-1.
John Stones gave City a 23rd-minute lead in an absorbing contest at Anfield but the Reds hit back with an Alexis Mac Allister penalty early in the second half.
Both sides had opportunities to win the game but Liverpool had spells of dominance and Guardiola was relieved to come through them.
The result leaves the title race thrillingly poised, with Arsenal leading on goal difference from Liverpool and with City just one point behind with 10 games remaining.
City manager Guardiola said: “We spoke at half-time that in this stadium, if you have to defend something, you have to play and play and play.
“We gave away the penalty and, sooner or later, with this stadium, you have 15 or 20 minutes and it looks like a tsunami coming for everybody who has the ball.
“It is not easy but we never stopped trying to play. They had their chances, we had our chances and at the end of the game it (draw) is what happened.”
Guardiola, whose side are chasing a fourth successive Premier League crown and a sixth in seven years, is pleased to be involved in the thick of another title race.
He said: “Still there are 10 games to go, 30 points to play for, one point difference.
“The important thing is still we are there, after where we came from in previous seasons still we are there. Except one year when Liverpool won it with a lot of points, we were always there.”
The ball twice hit the Liverpool goal frame in the second half as Jeremy Doku struck a post and the ball also thumped off the bar after rebounding off Phil Foden, but the hosts felt they should have had another penalty late on.
Doku appeared to catch Mac Allister high in the chest in stoppage time but referee Michael Oliver gave nothing and VAR did not overturn the decision.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had no doubt it should have been a spot-kick but did not want to make a fuss of it.
He said: “Yes (it was a penalty) but whatever I think now will not change that. I think everyone in this room thinks, if he whistles a penalty, it is not a scandal.
“He hits him on the chest. Yes, he touches the ball before but does that make any difference on any position of the pitch if your leg is that high?
“Why would the guy in the VAR studio think that’s not clear and obvious? What must you have for lunch if you think that’s not clear and obvious?
“But I’m not angry. I really don’t care. I’m already over it.”
Klopp was pleased with the performance of his side, given their lengthy injury list, and is determined to battle on.
The German, who is stepping down at the end of the season, said: “We would have loved to use one of the massive chances we created.
“Yes, we are lucky when Doku hit the post but we played an exceptional football game.
“For us, besides the result, the most important information is that we are right there. We go the distance.
“For us it is probably a little bit like, how did we get through all that and that we are still there? It is crazy with all these games and the squad situation we have.
“Today I saw the best 53 minutes we had against Manchester City. It was exceptional how we played.”
Juventus missed the chance to climb to second in Serie A after Teun Koopmeiners scored twice to earn Atalanta a 2-2 draw at the Allianz Stadium.
Koopmeiners’ ferocious strike following a set-piece put his side 1-0 up at the break.
Juventus turned the game around and thought they would go on to earn all three points thanks to goals from Andrea Cambiaso and Arkadiusz Milik, but Koopmeiners levelled.
Juventus had the first chance of the game when Fabio Miretti was brought down by Ederson outside the area but Federico Chiesa’s free-kick was over the crossbar just five minutes in.
The home side had a glorious opportunity to open the scoring 10 minutes later when Chiesa’s corner found Miretti in the six-yard box, but he saw his header saved by Marco Carnesecchi.
Juve were knocking on the door and had another shot on target midway through the first period when Samuel Iling-Junior’s pass found Chiesa inside the box yet he could only direct his effort at Carnesecchi.
Against the run of play, Atalanta broke the deadlock 10 minutes before the break from a free-kick when Bremer brought down Gianluca Scamacca outside the area.
From the resulting free-kick, Mario Pasalic played a short pass out to Koopmeiners who smashed into the top corner and beyond Wojciech Szczesny.
Former West Ham striker Scamacca could have doubled Atalanta’s lead when he collected the ball outside the box and aimed into the bottom corner but Szczesny palmed away from goal.
Juventus were level in the 65th minute through a wonderfully worked goal.
Juve were beginning to make their passes work and some neat play down the left allowed Weston McKennie to carry the ball and he slipped through to Cambiaso who poked under the legs of Carnesecchi.
The hosts now had the bit between their teeth following the goal and had another chance but Cambiaso’s audacious effort continued to rise above the bar.
Juve struck again in the 70th minute and McKennie was at the centre of it all when he chested a cross into the path of Milik, who blasted home in style.
But Atalanta equalised five minutes later through Koopmeiners, who latched onto Berat Djimsiti’s through ball and slotted under Szczesny’s legs.
Juventus could have snatched a winner in stoppage time when Chiesa’s cross found Moise Kean unmarked inside the area, only for the striker to head off target.
Warren Gatland insists Wales will embrace the challenge of a wooden spoon decider against Italy after France inflicted a fourth successive defeat on them in the 2024 Guinness Six Nations.
France powered their way to a five-try 45-24 victory in Cardiff on Sunday as Wales were unable to stem a Les Bleus tide in a one-sided second half.
Wales have not finished bottom of the championship since losing all five games in 2003, but that is the prospect facing Gatland’s young side ahead of Saturday’s showdown against the Azzurri at Principality Stadium.
“It’s massive for us,” said head coach Gatland. “You’ve got to embrace it and not run away from the challenge. I’ve never done that.
“You can’t go into your shell and hide away. There’s going to be a lot of external pressure and expectation, and international rugby is always about that.
“We’ve got to front up, work hard next week and go and give a performance at home.”
Fifth-placed Italy have seven points to Wales’ three in the championship standings after beating Scotland 31-29 in Rome on Saturday.
It was Italy’s first Six Nations victory since winning in Cardiff two years ago, while Wales have lost 11 of their last 12 matches in the competition.
“Physically, they’re in pretty good shape in terms of competing at this level,” said Gatland after Wales had suffered a sixth straight defeat to France.
“It’s going to be a challenge for us and massive for them because they’ll be thinking that they can finish in their best possible position in the Six Nations with a good performance.
“For us, we definitely don’t want to finish at the bottom.”
Rio Dyer, Tomos Williams and Joe Roberts scored tries to give Wales a 24-20 lead at the start of the second half.
But Wales eventually wilted and shipping a record points total to France in Cardiff, with Gatland saying: “There were lots of parts of that game that were reasonably good.
“We were pretty happy with the first half. We targeted to play through phases and when we got over five or six phases, we were creating space and holes, and causing them problems.
“But we didn’t help ourselves with some easy turnovers and errors that we made that allowed them to wrestle back some momentum in the game.
“We were in front, we did look dangerous and created some opportunities and space.
“We’ve got to keep doing that and make sure we manage the game a little bit better in terms of those big moments.
“Unfortunately, we probably capitulated a little bit in the last 15 minutes.”
France conclude their Six Nations campaign against England in Lyon on Saturday and skipper Gregory Alldritt believes Les Bleus are in fine fettle heading into that contest.
Alldritt said: “For us it’s always a big game against England. We know that our big always expect a big crunch.
“We are going to a big recovery at the start of the week because it is a short week and then we are going to attack this game.
“England are showing some really good rugby at the moment, really tough defence as well, so it’s going to be a big challenge for the forwards.
“We hope to finish with a big performance and a win.”
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