Premier League: Liverpool survive Burnley scare to regain top spot as Man City extend winning streak
Liverpool survived a scare from struggling Burnley to regain first place in the Premier League with a 3-1 win at Anfield on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had been knocked out of pole position by Manchester City’s 2-0 victory against Everton earlier in the afternoon.
In front of Liverpool’s record league crowd of 59 896, following the full opening of the Anfield Road stand, the Reds responded to last weekend’s damaging defeat at title rivals Arsenal.
Liverpool were without goalkeeper Alisson Becker and defender Joe Gomez, while their fitness issues mounted when Trent Alexander-Arnold was forced off early in the second half.
Fortunately for Klopp, it was Alexander-Arnold’s replacement Harvey Elliott who set up the goals for Diaz and Nunez.
It looked as though Liverpool might end the weekend off the summit after Burnley’s Dara O’Shea cancelled out Diogo Jota’s opener.
But Liverpool recovered their composure in the second half as goals from Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez lifted them two points clear of second-placed City.
It was a hard-fought success rather than an eye-catching performance, with Liverpool’s flu and injury-hit side dragging up just enough quality to dispatch second-bottom Burnley.
Erling Haaland scored for the first time since November as the Manchester City striker’s double fired the champions to second place.
Pep Guardiola’s side were well below their best as they laboured to break down stubborn Everton at a nervous Etihad Stadium.
But Haaland struck twice late in the second half to get back on the scoresheet for the first time since returning from an absence of nearly two months due to a foot injury.
They were the Norway star’s first Premier League goals since he netted against Liverpool on November 25 and his first in five games in all competitions since he scored against Leipzig in the Champions League on November 28.
Guardiola’s men have won their last 10 games in all competitions, but the Spaniard might be a little concerned with the labourious way they took to the task against struggling Everton.
City are unbeaten in their last 22 league games at the Etihad, but third bottom Everton didn’t make it easy for them.
Everton’s haven’t beaten City since 2017 but Guardiola had painful memories of a 1-1 draw against the Merseysiders last season and had urged his players not to let their guard down.
Tottenham Hotspur moved back into the Premier League’s top four as substitute Brennan Johnson struck deep in stoppage time to secure a 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Johnson slammed the ball high into the net from a low cross from Tottenham’s returning captain Son Heung-min who had started on the bench after finishing his Asian Cup duty.
It had been hard work for Tottenham who fell behind early on to a Pascal Gross penalty after Danny Welbeck was fouled.
They improved after the break, though, and levelled in the 61st minute through Pape Matar Sarr who tucked in a rebound after his initial low cross had deflected against the post.
A point apiece would have been about fair but Johnson’s late show sent Tottenham into fourth place above Aston Villa with 47 points from 24 games.
Bottom side Sheffield United stunned Luton Town 3-1 at Kenilworth Road and denied the high-scoring Hatters a golden opportunity to pull four points clear of the Premier League drop zone on.
Brazilian Bruno Guimaraes scored twice as Newcastle United held off a spirited comeback from Nottingham Forest to win 3-2 at the City Ground in Saturday’s late Premier League game.
Both Newcastle’s first-half goals, scored by Guimaraes and Fabian Schar, came from set pieces, but the visitors struggled to deal with the pace of Forest’s counter-attack.
Newcastle climbed to seventh in the table on 36 points while Forest are 16th, two points above the relegation zone.
Fulham ended a three-match winless streak in the Premier League with a 3-1 defeat of Bournemouth at Craven Cottage courtesy of a Rodrigo Muniz double.
Victory, Fulham’s first in the league in 2024, saw them swap places with Bournemouth and move into 12th place.
Christian Norgaard and Ivan Toney scored for Brentford as they ended a six-match losing streak away from home with a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
