Football News: Liverpool need Nunes brace in injury time to beat Brentford

Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez scored twice in injury time at Brentford as the Reds extended their lead to seven points.

Darwin Nunez scored twice in stoppage time as Liverpool consolidated their place at the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Brentford on Saturday.

Second-placed Arsenal will later look to restore Liverpool’s four-point lead by beating Aston Villa.

Nunez was jeered by Brentford fans after coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute, but the Uruguayan striker responded by heading home a cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold in the opening minute of added time.

Nunez then finished off a counter-attack two minutes later to secure a first league win in three 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 have only lost one league game all season so far, at home to Forest in September. The Reds had 37 shots against Brentford and scored with their last two.

Justin Kluivert scored his second league hat-trick of the season to help Bournemouth beat Newcastle 4-1, ending their nine-match winning run in all competitions.

The Dutch midfielder netted in the sixth, 44th and second-half stoppage time at St James’ Park. Milos Kirkes added a fourth in the sixth minute of extra time. Bruno Guimaraes equalised 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 against Newcastle each time.

Newcastle have won six of their nine league games in a row, helping the Saudi-controlled side to a top-four finish in their bid to return to the Champions League.

Newcastle striker Alexander Isak failed to score, having previously netted in eight consecutive league games. That leaves him three games shy of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy’s record for the longest scoring streak in Premier League history.

Bournemouth dominated Newcastle despite a long list of injuries. The south coast side extended their unbeaten run to 11 games and moved into sixth place, level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea. A fifth-place finish could secure a place in the Champions League for the first time next season. “Why not dream big?” Kluivert quipped. “We never know where we might end up.”

Next-to-last Leicester lost their seventh consecutive league game, 2-0 to Fulham, to pile pressure on recently-hired manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Van Nistelrooy has won just one of his nine league games in charge — the first against West Ham on December 3. Emile Smith-Rowe and Adama Traore scored for Fulham.

Crystal Palace secured a 2-0 win over West Ham, thanks to two second-half goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, the second from the penalty spot.

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