EPL: Late Nunez double earns Liverpool win at Brentford as Bournemouth whip Newcastle

Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez struck twice in the space of two added minutes to earn the Reds a 2-0 win over Brentford on Saturday.

Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo spurned good opportunities before the break, with Ryan Gravenberch forcing a diving stop from Mark Flekken and Dominik Szoboszlai skimming the bar as the visitors cranked up the pressure.

But Brentford held firm and seemed on course for a deserved point until Nunez tapped in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross from close range in the 91st minute, before Nunez added a second two minutes later to seal the points.

Liverpool remained top with 50 points from 21 games, seven ahead of second-placed Arsenal who host Aston Villa later on Saturday. Brentford are 11th with 28 points from 22 games.

Earlier, Justin Kluivert’s stunning hat-trick snapped Newcastle’s winning streak in style as Bournemouth stormed into the Premier League’s top six with a rampant 4-1 win at St. James’ Park.

The Magpies were looking to set a club record with a 10th consecutive victory in all competitions but were thoroughly outplayed by the Cherries, who are themselves now on an 11-game unbeaten streak.

Kluivert, son of former Newcastle striker Patrick Kluivert, was the star of the show before Milos Kerkez fired in a fourth in stoppage time.

EPL fixtures: Brentford host Liverpool as Arsenal face Aston Villa

The defeat leaves Newcastle still in fourth but now just one point clear of Bournemouth in the race for a place in next season’s Champions League.

Bournemouth have never qualified for European competition before and Kluivert said that is the goal for an ambitious squad.

The Dutch international said: “Why not dream big and let’s see where we can end up.

“Our run is also beautiful and that’s what we showed here today, that we are here to make an impression.”

Alexander Isak’s hopes of matching the Premier League record scoring streak of 11 matches also came to an end on a humbling afternoon for the Magpies.

The Swedish striker had struck in eight consecutive games, but was barely given a sniff of a chance by a brilliant Bournemouth display.

A woeful West Ham performance, which saw Konstantinos Mavropanos sent off and Lukasz Fabianski give away a penalty, highlighted the problems facing Graham Potter as Jean-Philippe Mateta fired Crystal Palace above them with a 2-0 win at the London Stadium.

Leicester City were also beaten 2-0 as Fulham consigned Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side to a seventh defeat in a row at a frustrated King Power Stadium.

The Star