LONDON: Darwin Nunez struck twice in stoppage time to earn Liverpool a 2-0 win at Brentford and open up a seven-point Premier League lead on Saturday after Bournemouth ran riot in a 4-1 win at Newcastle.
The Reds looked set to drop points for the third consecutive league game until the much-maligned Uruguayan doubled his tally of Premier League goals for the season in the dying seconds in west London.
Nunez swept home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross before smashing in a second for a vital twist in the title race.
Instead of cutting the gap, Arsenal are now under pressure to keep pace when they host Aston Villa in the 1730GMT kick-off.
Liverpool had been wasteful in front of goal in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest in midweek and Arne Slot’s men nearly let another two points slip away.
Dominik Szoboszlai smashed a shot off the bar and Cody Gakpo failed to hit the target with a glorious chance to open the scoring before half-time.
On a rare quiet day for Mohamed Salah, Slot was forced to turn to Nunez to make an impact off the bench and he duly delivered.
The 25-year-old had not scored in the league since November but was in the right place to finish after a neat one-two between Harvey Elliott and Alexander-Arnold.
Substitute Elliott was the creator for the second, feeding Nunez to cut inside and fire past Mark Flekken.
Bournemouth snapped Newcastle’s winning streak in stunning fashion as Justin Kluivert’s hat-trick fired the Cherries up to sixth.
The Magpies were looking to set a club record with a 10th consecutive victory in all competitions but were thoroughly outplayed by the visitors, who are themselves now on an 11-game unbeaten streak.
Kluivert, son of former Newcastle striker Patrick Kluivert, scored a hat-trick of penalties earlier this season at Wolves.
This time all three of his crisp finishes came from open play as Bournemouth were rampant at St. James’ Park.
Milos Kerkez added a fourth in stoppage time as Andoni Iraola’s men closed to within one point of fourth-placed Newcastle.
Bournemouth have never qualified for European competition before and Kluivert said that is the goal for an ambitious squad.
“Why not dream big and let’s see where we can end up,” said the Dutch international.
Leicester have lost seven consecutive Premier League games as a 2-0 home defeat to Fulham edged Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men closer to a return to the Championship.
Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore were on target for the visitors, who move up to ninth.
Crystal Palace are up to 12th after a third win in four games thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s double in a 2-0 win at 10-man West Ham.
Mateta opened the scoring early in the second half before Konstantinos Mavropanos’ red card gave the Hammers a mountain to climb.
The Frenchman then sealed the points from the penalty spot late on.
Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2025
