Premier: Liverpool win, De Zerbi’s Brighton draw

Liverpool concede three goals to Brentford, while Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton are no longer able to win in the league. In the twelfth round of the Premier League, Salah reached ten goals with a brace and dragged the Reds to second place in the standings. Brighton are caught up by Sheffield (penultimate), unlike Aston Villa, who continue to dream: McGinn and his teammates, thanks to the 3-1 success against Fulham, are -1 from fourth place. West Ham also did well, coming from behind to beat Nottingham Forest.

liverpool-brentford 3-0

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An excellent Brentford is forced to bow before the class of Momo Salah, now with ten goals in 12 games and increasingly driving Klopp’s team. The Reds, for the first time in the season, have to do without MacAllister: his absence weighs heavily, because Brentford are often dangerous on the counterattack. In the first half, Liverpool wasted numerous scoring opportunities, while Nunez scored twice but in an offside position. The 1-0 was made by Salah, who entered the area from the left and, served by Nunez, beat the goalkeeper with his left foot in the 39th minute. The music doesn’t change in the second half. Brentford tries to sting with Mbeumo, Liverpool can double their lead, but they don’t shine in the final metres. In the end, the 2-0 was still sealed by Salah: following a cross from Tsimikas from the back line, the Egyptian headed the ball and reached double figures in league goals. In the 74th minute the game was finally closed by Jota, who made it 3-0 with a right-footed shot from the edge of the area. Liverpool thus rises to 27 points, the same as second-placed Arsenal.

ASTON VILLA 3-1 FULHAM

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It’s all easy for Emery’s team, who beat Fulham and dream of the Champions League zone, remaining in the wake of Tottenham (now at +1), Arsenal and Liverpool (at +2). The Cottagers struggled to contain the counterattacks of Watkins and McGinn, while up front they hit the wall raised by Konsa. In the 28th minute the hosts were already ahead thanks to an own goal by Robinson, who deflected Tielemans’ cross from the left behind Leno. Before the break, McGinn doubled the lead with an accurate shot from distance. Fulham become dangerous with some individual flashes from Willian but, in the second half, they also suffer a hat trick: the usual McGinn starts on the counterattack, Bailey and Watkins accompany him and together they become protagonists of a good move, concluded with an easy touch in front of the net by Watkins himself. Raul Jimenez’s goal (also scored from close range) was not enough to change the fate of the match: the Villains won, while Fulham remained +6 from the relegation zone.

BRIGHTON-SHEFFIELD UNITED 1-1

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Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton are having fun in the Europa League, but they are no longer winning in the league: with today’s draw against Sheffield, second to last in the table with just five points, they have completed their sixth consecutive match without a win. The Italian coach tries to surprise his opponents by focusing on Ansu Fati at the center of the attack, with Lallana and Gross supporting him in the attacking midfield. Brighton started well, so much so that in the 6th minute they were already 1-0 ahead: the 21-year-old Adingra showed off his game with an applause-worthy play, which saw him start on the wing, center himself by dribbling past a couple of opponents and, after an exchange with Goodnight, beat the goalkeeper coolly. After the goal, however, Brighton were no longer dangerous and, even after the introduction of Mitoma and Joao Pedro, they were unable to close out the match. In the 69th minute, Dahoud was sent off and, five minutes later, Sheffield equalised: the 1-1 draw came from a cross from Bogle, deflected by Webster past his own goalkeeper. The balance holds until the final whistle: Brighton are now eighth in the table, -6 from the Europe zone.

WEST HAM 3-2 NOTTINGHAM FOREST

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One emotion after another: it starts in the 2nd minute with Paqueta, and then closes in the 88th minute with Soucek’s decisive shot. West Ham and Nottingham Forest face off in an entertaining match. The Hammers scored early on with the former AC Milan midfielder, who took advantage of an error by Dominguez (who arrived from Bologna in the summer) to recover the ball in the midfield, reach the edge and aim for the corner. Nottingham didn’t feel the pinch: the 1-1 came in the 44th minute with a tap-in by Awoniyi, who scored after Areola’s save on Gibbs-White. In the second half Forest overturned the result with Elanga, a young talent who grew up in United’s youth sector, but then West Ham found the counter-comeback by making perfect use of Ward-Prowse’s free kicks. First Bowen (in the 65th minute) and then Soucek (in the 88th minute) scored with a header following a corner: the Hammers are now ninth in the table, with just two points less than Brighton (on 19).