Darwin Nunez proves Liverpool hero with last-gasp Brentford brace - 5 talking points
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Liverpool huffed and puffed away at Brentford but needed super-sub Darwin Nunez to win it for them at the death. Manchester United and Nottingham Forest both claimed draws against Arne Slot's league leaders in recent weeks. The Reds had chances to claim a win in West London, hitting the woodwork through Dominik Szoboszlai, but in the end it was Nunez's last-gasp brace that did the damage - first turning home a Trent Alexander-Arnold pass and then blasting home a second.
It had looked as though Slot's side might have left the door ajar for the chasing pack. Instead, the pressure is now on Arsenal, who take on Aston Villa in Saturday's late game. The intervention was a welcome boost for under-fire Nunez. The Uruguayan had been linked with a January exit, but showed his value to the Reds with fellow forward Diogo Jota missing through injury.
Brentford were inches from opening the scoring inside five minutes, with Mikkel Damsgaard not quite sharp enough to turn home a low Mads Roerslev ball flashed across the Liverpool box. In the end, while Liverpool would have wanted a win, they'll also be aware their opponenst had chances to make it even worse.
As far as Slot's side were concerned, most of the early opportunities were half-chances rather than anything more clear-cut. That didn't stop Szoboszlai trying to make things happen, though, and the Hungarian came close to breaking the deadlock when his long-range effort clipped the top of the crossbar.
Brentford continued to push for a goal before the break, but were almost caught out on the break when Cody Gakpo met a Mohamed Salah pass with just Mark Flekken to beat but failed to find the target. Diaz and Nunez both squandered opportunities in the second half as it looked like ending 0-0.
