Darwin Nunez scored with an beautiful chip as Liverpool saved their foot on the throttle within the Premier League title race with a 4-1 win at Brentford on Saturday to go provisionally 5 factors clear on the summit.
Nunez’s first-half effort opened the scoring, and targets after the break from Alexis Mac Allister and the returning Mohamed Salah successfully ended the competition.
Ivan Toney pulled one again for Brentford, however Cody Gakpo grabbed Liverpool’s fourth to wrap up a snug win for the guests. The victory lifted Liverpool to 57 factors, with Manchester Metropolis in second and third-placed Arsenal, who can each scale back the deficit afterward Saturday, every on 52. Brentford keep 14th with 25 factors.
There was a bitter notice for Liverpool supervisor Juergen Klopp, who was already coping with a prolonged harm checklist, as Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota have been each taken off within the first half, whereas Nunez didn’t emerge after halftime.
The Liverpool supervisor, who would have been impressed with the benefit with which his aspect negotiated a doubtlessly difficult away recreation, was already with out a lot of key gamers by way of harm together with goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai. He lower a pissed off determine on the touchline as Brentford snapped into challenges and compelled Liverpool again within the early levels, with Toney spurning a few probabilities.
But it surely was the guests who broke the impasse because of Nunez’s superb end within the thirty fifth minute. A protracted clearance ahead from Virgil van Dijk was headed into Nunez’s path by Jota and the Uruguayan ran clear earlier than chipping the ball expertly over the advancing Flekken for his ninth league aim of the season.
Salah, making his return from an harm suffered on the Africa Cup of Nations, got here off the bench to switch Jota and had two probabilities both aspect of halftime so as to add his title to the scoresheet. He didn’t convert a harmful cross from Luis Diaz that bobbled up in entrance of him after which straight after the interval stabbed vast after working by way of with solely the keeper to beat.
The Egyptian was the creator for Liverpool’s second, nevertheless within the fifty fifth minute, as he lower in from the fitting and fed Mac Allister whose first contact took him previous the final man earlier than he stabbed it into the web. Salah was on the right track 13 minutes later when an extended ball ahead from stand-in keeper Caoimhin Kelleher was headed on by Gakpo. Salah pounced because the Brentford defence stood nonetheless, beating Nathan Collins earlier than ending left-footed.
Toney pulled one again within the seventy fifth minute, firing residence on the rebound after Sergio Reguilon’s shot was fantastically saved by Kelleher. But it surely proved little greater than a comfort, and Liverpool ensured there can be no late drama when Gakpo added a fourth within the 86th minute. The Dutchman, who changed Nunez at halftime, was fed by way of on aim by Diaz’s cross and completed clinically along with his left foot.