Premier: Liverpool wins, De Zerbi defeats Brighton

Brighton collapses before facing Roma, Liverpool only finds the goal in the 99th minute that allows them to maintain their title-winning pace. These are the most important verdicts on Saturday of the 27th day of the Premier League.

Fulham-Brighton 3-0

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Another defeat. Still without scoring. Brighton prepares for the first act of the double match with Roma in the round of 16 of the Europa League, Thursday’s first leg at the Olimpico, slipping with a heavy 3-0 at Fulham, a defeat that goes hand in hand with that of Wolverhampton Wednesday cost them elimination from the FA Cup. De Zerbi has many injuries, especially in the middle of the pitch where Gilmour’s disqualification also adds up, and his Brighton is also not going through a great moment for this reason, with too many highs and steps which are costing precious points for the new chase towards Europe. Fulham instead took a deserved second win in a row, the third in the last four games, good for climbing to 35 points in the standings and thinking about looking forward rather than behind. Fulham broke the deadlock in the 21st minute with Wilson, who thanks to Muniz took advantage of a clearance error by Webster and Estupiñan and beat Steele with a great left-footed shot. The second goal came shortly after the half hour with Muniz, who headed Wilson’s cross. Brighton did little, despite 70% ball possession, and went to the break with two goals to recover. To do so, De Zerbi sends in Ansu Fati and Adingra, but Brighton risks both reopening the match and conceding a third goal before the coach also brings on Buonanotte and Gross. The seagulls improve, but Ferguson continues to make mistakes in front of Leno, Buonanotte hits the post in the 79th minute and Fulham is always dangerous on the counterattack and in the 91st minute with Traoré they also find the third goal. And he takes the victory which makes De Zerbi worry about Roma.

Nottingham Forest-Liverpool 0-1

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How important a season can become can also be understood from victories that you don’t expect. Because in the 99th minute, after an attacking game, Liverpool no longer expected to be able to beat Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. And he expected his first place in the standings to be at risk of being overtaken. Instead, Darwin Nunez took care of it, one of the many injured players that Klopp recovered just in time: it was the Uruguayan centre-forward, often criticized for too many errors, who headed into the area following a desperate ball inside from Mac Allister and allowed Liverpool to keep up with the title. Now the pressure is on City, who play the derby against United tomorrow, and on Arsenal, who are guests of Sheffield United on Monday. The Reds did their part, rising to 63 at the last minute but ensuring another week at the top of the table, awaiting the direct clash with Manchester City next Sunday. In Nottingham, Liverpool controlled the game in the first half (73%), but failed to get a shot on target and went to half-time at 0-0. The result did not break the deadlock and after an hour Klopp asked for help from the returning Nunez, who was immediately active. For the goal, however, we have to wait until the 99th minute: the Uruguayan scores it himself, who draws the sensational wildcard that keeps the Reds ahead of everyone. For Forest it is another heavy defeat, the fourth in the last 5 matches in all competitions and the fifth in the last 7 Premier League matches.

Tottenham-Crystal Palace 3-1

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Reversal. Tottenham gets back to winning (3rd success in the last 5 games) and dreaming of 4th place which is worth the Champions League, but struggling to beat Crystal Palace at home. Postecoglou’s team, with Destiny Udogie back in his place on the left, took the entire first half and a good part of the second half to understand how to get past the Eagles, in the second game with Glasner on the bench and again with Eze available, author of the splendid free-kick that froze the Tottenham Stadium just before the hour mark. But that goal is also the spark that ignites Spurs, who from the 77th minute onwards complete a splendid turnaround that takes them to 50 in the standings. Palace, with their first defeat of the new era, remained stuck at 28 and Tottenham was in complete control of the game in the first half, but Palace defended themselves with order and began the second half from 0-0, a result which also resisted the post which Son strikes in the 54th minute. Surprisingly, the guests came through, with a sensational free kick from Eze from 20 meters in the 59th minute which Vicario could do nothing about. The Spurs resume attacking and find the 1-1 in the 77th minute with Werner, who collects an assist from Johnson in the middle of the area. Three minutes later Romero completed the turnaround, turning a beautiful ball from Maddison with his head to make it 2-1. Son also made it 3-1 in the 88th minute.

the others

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Thanks to Disasi, Chelsea avoided another disappointment in their fluctuating season by drawing 2-2 with Brentford: ahead first with Jackson, the Blues were overturned in the second half before the French defender reduced the problems. But the league table continues to cry and Chelsea fans are calling on Mourinho. Unlike that of Newcastle, who already closed the Wolverhampton practice in the first half, knocked out 3-0 to reach 40 points. Disaster instead for Everton: Beto missed a penalty then deceived the Toffees, but West Ham in the final he unleashes and takes the 3-1 which gives Moyes’ team their second victory in a row. Everton’s last Premier League match, always in trouble, dates back to 16 December 2023.