Liverpool on Tuesday climbed to the top of the English Premier League as Darwin Nunez ended his goal drought to inspire a 2-0 win against Burnley, while Rasmus Hojlund broke his own barren run to cap Manchester United’s thrilling fightback to beat Aston Villa 3-2.
Manager Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool took an early lead through Nunez at Turf Moor and held on despite wasting a host of chances.
Nunez’s eighth goal this season was his first in 12 games since he netted against AFC Bournemouth in the EFL Cup on Nov. 1.
Photo: AFP
Diogo Jota, back from a month’s injury absence, wrapped up the victory late on to leave Liverpool two points above second-placed Arsenal, who have a game in hand.
Arsenal can regain top spot with a victory at home to West Ham United today.
After successive draws with Manchester United and Arsenal before Christmas, this was an essential victory for Liverpool’s title ambitions.
On Liverpool being in pole position, Klopp said: “That’s nice. It will probably change, and that’s no problem. It was not perfect, but we are where we are.”
At Old Trafford, United were in danger of another damaging defeat when goals from John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker put Villa in control by halftime.
Manager Erik ten Hag’s team were booed off at the interval, but they staged a much-needed revival, sparked by Alejandro Garnacho scoring their first goal in seven hours and 20 minutes.
Garnacho struck again to equalize before Hojlund finally scored his first Premier League goal, in his 15th appearance, with eight minutes left.
Hojlund’s cathartic strike ended Manchester United’s four-match winless run in all competitions and lifted them to sixth in the Premier League.
“At halftime I said to the team: ‘Keep believing.’ The atmosphere changed a lot from the first half to the second. If we play our best we can beat anyone,” Ten Hag said.
United’s victory came in front of INEOS director of sport Dave Brailsford, who was in the directors box in the first sign of British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s involvement after buying a 25 percent stake in the club on Christmas Eve.
Two games without a win have dented Villa’s unexpected title challenge. Manager Unai Emery’s men remain third, three points behind Liverpool after their first defeat in 11 matches in all competitions.
Chris Wood’s hat-trick against his old club Newcastle United gave Nuno Espirito Santo his first victory as Nottingham Forest manager, a 3-1 success at St James’ Park.
Wood left Newcastle to join Forest in June, but had scored only four times for his new club.
Alexander Isak’s first-half penalty put Newcastle ahead before New Zealand striker Wood equalized late in the first half.
Wood struck twice more in the second half to hand former Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno his maiden victory with Forest in his second game in charge after replacing the sacked Steve Cooper.
It was Forest’s first win in eight games, and only their second success in their past 15 matches.
Luton Town manager Rob Edwards said South Yorkshire Police are investigating an alleged racist comment toward Carlton Morris in his side’s 3-2 win at fellow strugglers Sheffield United.
Morris complained of a comment made from a Sheffield United fan late in the second half, which left him “pretty angry,” and the police have spoken to him.
“There was an alleged racist comment, the police are dealing with that, they have spoken to Carlton and got his take on it,” Edwards said.
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
RSS