Liverpool need Nunez’s injury-time brace to beat Brentford. football news
At Brentford, Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez scored twice in injury time, extending the Reds’ lead to seven points.
Darwin Nunez scored twice in stoppage time as Liverpool beat Brentford 2-0 on Saturday to consolidate their place at the top of the Premier League.
Second-placed Arsenal will look to restore the four-point gap on Liverpool by beating Aston Villa later on.
Núñez was jeered by Brentford fans after going on as a substitute in the 65th minute, but the Uruguayan striker responded by converting Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross on goal in the first minute of extra time.
Núñez scored the counterattack two minutes later to seal a first win in three league games for Liverpool, who drew with Manchester United and Nottingham Forest after losing to Tottenham in the first leg of the English League Cup semi-final.
Liverpool still lost only one league game all season, at home against Forest in September. The Reds had 37 shots against Brentford and scored the last two.
Justin Kluivert scored his second hat-trick of the season in the league to put Bournemouth ahead 4-1 at Newcastle, whose nine-match winning streak in all competitions ended in emphatic fashion.
The Dutch midfielder scored in the sixth, 44th and second-half stoppage time at St James’ Park. Milos Kerkez scored the fourth goal in the sixth minute of extra time. Bruno Guimaraes equalized for fourth-placed Newcastle.
Kluivert, whose father is former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert, also scored three goals against Wolverhampton in November. In that match, all of Kluivert’s goals were penalties, but he scored from open play every time against Newcastle.
Six of Newcastle’s nine consecutive wins have come in the league, helping propel the Saudi-controlled team into the top four for a return to the Champions League.
Newcastle striker Alexander Isaac failed to score, having previously scored in eight consecutive league games. This left him three games shy of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy’s record for the longest scoring run in Premier League history.
Bournemouth dominated Newcastle despite battling a long injury list. The south coast side extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches and moved up to sixth place, level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea. A fifth-place finish could guarantee a place in the Champions League next season for the first time. “Why not dream big?” Kluivert posed. “We never know where we might end up.”
Next-to-last Leicester lost their seventh consecutive game 2–0 to Fulham in the league, increasing pressure on recently appointed manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Van Nistelrooy has won only one of his nine league games – the first against West Ham on 3 December. Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore scored for Fulham.
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored twice from the penalty spot as Crystal Palace won 2–0 over West Ham.
