Liverpool's Diogo Jota scores their fifth goal against Leeds United during their Premier League match at Elland Road in Leeds. LEEDS, England-- Liverpool banished their away day blues as Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah grabbed two goals each in an emphatic 6-1 victory at lowly Leeds United on Monday, a record home Premier League loss at Elland Road for the Yorkshire club. Jota was on the scoresheet for the first time in over a year while Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez were also on target as Liverpool recorded a second away win in 2023. They move to 47 points from 30 games, nine behind Newcastle United in the fourth Champions League qualification position. Leeds had chances in the first half but just as in their5-1 home loss to Crystal Palace in their previous match, they were far too open defensively. Javi Gracia's side remain two points above the relegation zone after 31 games. Leeds winger Luis Sinisterra made it 2-1 soon after the interval before Liverpool netted four more. "It was a special second half, we played really well," Jota told Sky Sports. "We kept possession and tried to find ourselves in good positions. We scored some great goals. "It has been a hard season for me and the team so it is a relief for me to score. I always want to be involved, I got an assist too in the first half, but I would like to score more." Salah now has nine goals in six league matches against Leeds, a joint Liverpool record with Gordon Hodgson, and has moved to 26 for the season in all competitions after two clinical finishes, with his first being set up by Jota. There was some controversy over Liverpool’s first goal from Gakpo in the 35th minute as Leeds claimed a handball from Trent Alexander-Arnold in the build-up but as the fullback was not the scorer the Video Assistant Referee did not intervene. Liverpool Swagger It is a first win in six games in all competitions for Liverpool, whose Champions League qualification hopes look a long-shot, but there was some swagger back in the performance that has been missing away from Anfield this season. Liverpool’s fourth away win of the season came as they led 2-0 at halftime. They battled to create chances in the opening half-hour but once Gakpo put them in front they began to cut Leeds open at will. Salah fed Alexander-Arnold down the right and although the ball struck the wing-back's arm, he was allowed to continue and provided a tap-in for Gakpo at the back post. Jota robbed Weston McKennie and led a counter-attack that saw Salah score the second before a mistake from Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate allowed Sinisterra to pull a goal back for the home side early in the second period. Leeds might have hoped that would be a turning point but they could not contain the visitors in the second half. Jota restored Liverpool's two-goal advantage when he ran on to a superb pass from Curtis Jones and swept the ball past goalkeeper Illan Meslier, later adding a second with a scuffed shot from the edge of the box. Salah and Nunez also scored to compound the misery at a rapidly emptying Elland Road. "Obviously we knew it would be a tough game. We started with a clear plan and tried to get them on the counter," Leeds defender Robin Koch said. "Then we conceded two goals and it's an extremely difficult game against a team like Liverpool. "It's hard for us but we need to put this game aside. We have three massive games coming up (against Fulham, Leicester City and Bournemouth)." Liverpool's Diogo Jota scores their fifth goal against Leeds United during their Premier League match at Elland Road in Leeds. Joy for Diogo Jota as Liverpool thump Leeds 6-1 at Elland Road LEEDS, England-- Liverpool banished their away day blues as Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah grabbed two goals each in an emphatic 6-1 victory at lowly Leeds United on Monday, a record home Premier League loss at Elland Road for the Yorkshire club. Jota was on the scoresheet for the first time in over a year while Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez were also on target as Liverpool recorded a second away win in 2023. They move to 47 points from 30 games, nine behind Newcastle United in the fourth Champions League qualification position. Leeds had chances in the first half but just as in their5-1 home loss to Crystal Palace in their previous match, they were far too open defensively. Javi Gracia's side remain two points above the relegation zone after 31 games. Leeds winger Luis Sinisterra made it 2-1 soon after the interval before Liverpool netted four more. "It was a special second half, we played really well," Jota told Sky Sports. "We kept possession and tried to find ourselves in good positions. We scored some great goals. "It has been a hard season for me and the team so it is a relief for me to score. I always want to be involved, I got an assist too in the first half, but I would like to score more." Salah now has nine goals in six league matches against Leeds, a joint Liverpool record with Gordon Hodgson, and has moved to 26 for the season in all competitions after two clinical finishes, with his first being set up by Jota. There was some controversy over Liverpool’s first goal from Gakpo in the 35th minute as Leeds claimed a handball from Trent Alexander-Arnold in the build-up but as the fullback was not the scorer the Video Assistant Referee did not intervene. Liverpool Swagger It is a first win in six games in all competitions for Liverpool, whose Champions League qualification hopes look a long-shot, but there was some swagger back in the performance that has been missing away from Anfield this season. Liverpool’s fourth away win of the season came as they led 2-0 at halftime. They battled to create chances in the opening half-hour but once Gakpo put them in front they began to cut Leeds open at will. Salah fed Alexander-Arnold down the right and although the ball struck the wing-back's arm, he was allowed to continue and provided a tap-in for Gakpo at the back post. Jota robbed Weston McKennie and led a counter-attack that saw Salah score the second before a mistake from Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate allowed Sinisterra to pull a goal back for the home side early in the second period. Leeds might have hoped that would be a turning point but they could not contain the visitors in the second half. Jota restored Liverpool's two-goal advantage when he ran on to a superb pass from Curtis Jones and swept the ball past goalkeeper Illan Meslier, later adding a second with a scuffed shot from the edge of the box. Salah and Nunez also scored to compound the misery at a rapidly emptying Elland Road. "Obviously we knew it would be a tough game. We started with a clear plan and tried to get them on the counter," Leeds defender Robin Koch said. "Then we conceded two goals and it's an extremely difficult game against a team like Liverpool. "It's hard for us but we need to put this game aside. We have three massive games coming up (against Fulham, Leicester City and Bournemouth)." 

 ROTTERDAM--Mats Wieffer scored the winner to earn hosts Feyenoord Rotterdam a 1-0 home victory over AS Roma in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, after he had given away a first-half penalty. Wieffer struck a bouncing half volley from outside the box in the 53rd minute to give the Dutch league leaders a narrow advantage to take into the return leg in the Italian capital.

MEMPHIS --Rui Hachimura came off the bench to score a team-high 29 points, LeBron James and Anthony Davis both posted double-doubles and the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers scored a Game 1 road win over the No. 2 seed Memphis Grizzlies 128-112 on Sunday. Hachimura erupted to shoot 11-of-14, including 5-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc. All five of his made 3-point attempts came in the second half to spark Los Angeles to a 1-0 series lead. Hachimura was one of four Lakers to score at least 21 points, joined by Austin Reaves with 23, Davis with 22 and James with 21. Davis also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, seven blocked shots and three steals. James secured 11 rebounds, blocked three shots and made two steals. D'Angelo Russell chipped in another 19 points and seven assists in the win. Los Angeles used two big runs in the fourth quarter to take command, the latter a game-ending 15-0 outburst after Memphis All-Star Ja Morant went to the locker room with a hand injury. The Lakers pulled ahead previously with a 10-0 run, a stretch that lasted 3:10 and proved significant for more than just Los Angeles' spurt. Amid the run, Morant attacked the rim but Anthony Davis stepped just in front of the charge circle to draw an offensive foul. Morant came down awkwardly and had to leave for the locker room in a scene not unlike Davis' own exit from the Lakers lineup just before halftime. While Davis returned after intermission from the apparent arm injury, Memphis played the final 5:48 without Morant, who finished with 18 points. The Grizzlies initially responded with an 11-5 run after Morant's exit that cut a seven-point deficit down to one, 113-112. Jaren Jackson Jr. capped the modest Memphis run with a 3-pointer, the last of his game-high 31 points -- and the last points the Grizzlies scored all game. Memphis closed on a 3:11 drought, during which Los Angeles got seven straight points from Reaves. Before his own mini-run, Reaves also set up Hachimura for the last of Hachimura's 3-pointers with a behind-the-back pass for an assist.

MADRID-- A tap-in by Karim Benzema and a powerful strike by substitute Marco Asensio earned European champions Real Madrid a 2-0 win over 10-man Chelsea in their Champions League quarter-final, first leg in the Spanish capital on Wednesday. Benzema, the scourge of Chelsea at the same stage of the competition last season, converted from point blank range in the 21st minute when Kepa Arrizabalaga saved from Vinicius Junior but could only touch the ball in the direction of the Frenchman. It was Benzema's 90th Champions League goal with the last 11 all coming against English clubs. Chelsea - under caretaker coach Frank Lampard after a dismal season so far - went close to scoring in the first half but Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling were thwarted by Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois playing against his former club. The Londoners' chances of getting back into the game suffered a major setback in the 59th minute when Ben Chilwell was shown a straight red card for bringing down Rodrygo with a tug of the Brazilian's shirt when he was bearing down on goal. Asensio had been on the field for just three minutes when he was fed by Vinicius on the edge of the box and the Spain international drilled in a low shot that went through the legs of Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana and beyond Kepa's dive. The win at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium puts the 14-time European champions in the driver's seat ahead of the second leg at Stamford Bridge on April 18. Benzema, who scored a hat-trick in London last year before getting another in Madrid in a 5-4 aggregate thriller, could have effectively seen off Chelsea in added time at the end of the second half when he headed over with the goal at his mercy after Kepa could only punch the ball as far as him. Chelsea substitute Mason Mount then came close to a crucial goal for the Blues when he turned and shot in the penalty area but former team mate Antonio Rudiger, also on off the bench, raced in to block. In the end, the Londoners failed to scored for a fourth match in a row - three of them in the Premier League - their longest barren run since 1993. Lampard - Chelsea's top goalscorer who returned to Stamford Bridge for a second spell as coach until the end of the season after Graham Potter was fired this month - embraced Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, himself an ex-Chelsea manager, at the final whistle. "They're a very good team but we have to believe," Lampard told BT Sport, referring to next week's return leg in London.