Liverpool moved top of the Premier League after Darwin Nunez ended his goal drought in a 2-0 win at Burnley on Boxing Day.
The Uruguay striker had gone over 600 minutes without a goal but scored early at Turf Moor, rifling an effort home from the edge of the box.
Despite registering eight shots on target in the first half, Liverpool struggled in front of goal with VAR coming to Burnley’s rescue just after half-time when Harvey Elliott’s effort was ruled out for Mohamed Salah standing in an offside position.
The longer the game progressed, the more Burnley sensed an equaliser as Jurgen Klopp’s team became sloppy but Johann Berg Gudmundsson squandered a glorious chance when heading over from close range.
Liverpool wrapped up the points in stoppage time when the returning Diogo Jota slotted home from a tight angle.
Arsenal have a chance to leapfrog Liverpool back to the summit on Thursday when hosting West Ham.
How Reds packed a Boxing Day punch…
Nunez, back into the starting XI after missing the Arsenal game, fired Klopp’s men into a sixth-minute lead at Turf Moor with his first goal in 13 matches in all competitions. It was a fantastic strike from the edge of the area and looked to be setting Liverpool on their way to a comfortable Boxing Day stroll.
However, Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford was kept busy in the Burnley goal, making seven saves all before half-time as Liverpool became the second team this season to register eight shots on target in the first half, following on from Newcastle in their 8-0 dismantling of Sheffield United. The pick of the saves came when denying Salah with a fingertipped effort that took the ball around the post.
Cody Gakpo thought he had doubled the lead when he fired home a rebound from one of those Trafford saves but referee Paul Tierney ruled Nunez had fouled Charlie Taylor.
Liverpool continued to put Burnley under pressure and Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch combined brilliantly to allow Elliott to score. However, a VAR review was called as Salah was deemed to be in Trafford’s eye-line and Tierney ruled it out.
That was Burnley’s cue to believe they had a comeback in them.
Gudmundsson wasted their best chance when planting a far-post free header over a half-empty goal, although fellow substitute Jacob Bruun Larsen also should have done better when Endo passed straight to him 30 yards out.
Liverpool finally made the game safe when Jota fired home an angled shot in the 90th minute – a result that leaves Burnley five points adrift of safety and Klopp’s side top of the pile, for now.
Klopp: Players can now have two days off
Jurgen Klopp speaking to Amazon Prime: “We created a lot of chances recently and didn’t use an awful lot of them. But in the end it’s all about performing. It’s the fourth game in 10 days and whatever the body is doing, how you lose focus, you’re not as precise anymore, you just have to get through it. We got through it and now we have five days until the next game and it feels like we should go on holiday. The boys have two days off. I told them before the game if we win we have two days off – I saw my two days off slipping through my fingers!”
On the performance, in his post-match press conference: “You never know what to expect from the fourth game in 10 days. It was really intense, whatever the outside world thinks. Coming here and playing the game we played is exceptional. It’s exceptional as well that we didn’t score more goals – actually we did but for different reasons they took it away.
“For a long time we caused Burnley so many problems, we played a super game. In the last game in a really busy period you can’t expect that but we did. I really liked the game we played – but we should score more, that’s clear.
“Burnley had massive chances to score the second goal, even the first. But in the end we deserved to win that game and it was two perfect goal scorers. We sneaked [Jota] onto the squad list because he had trained only twice but we said he can have that [extra session] in Burnley, and he can train tomorrow properly and he will be ready for Newcastle. 2-0. No injuries. All good.”
Komapny rues missing ‘final touch’
Vincent Kompany in his post-match press conference: “We played against a top side. I don’t think the scenario of the game was too bad in terms of being in the game and then having a late push to get a result. We had our moments. We can’t prevent them from having moments because they’re a top side.
“The team fights, the team is alive, it’s entertaining but it lacks the final touch at the moment to reward ourselves but I see these guys work every day and I have no doubt they will make that step.
“In the first half we had big, big transition opportunities. I felt we were in the first half but we weren’t as solid as we needed to be. The second half we were more solid and had more moments as a result and looked dangerous the entire second half.”
Opta stats: Klopp boxes clever
- Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool have won all six of their Premier League games on Boxing Day, the outright most by a manager with a 100% win rate on this day in the competition’s history.
- Burnley are the first side in English top-flight history to lose as many as nine of their opening 10 home matches of a season.
- Nunez scored his 23rd goal for Liverpool in all competitions, but the first to come from outside the box. Indeed, before today, each of his last 40 goals in club football had been from inside the penalty area, with his previous goal from outside the box being for Benfica against Sporting da Covilhã in December 2021.
What’s next?
Burnley’s next game is at Aston Villa on Saturday; kick-off 3pm.
The Clarets then travel to Tottenham in the FA Cup third round on Friday January 5; kick-off 8pm.
Liverpool are next in action on New Year’s Day when they host Newcastle, live on Monday Night Football; kick-off 8pm.
Monday 1st January 6:30pm
Kick off 8:00pm
Jurgen Klopp’s side then head south to face Arsenal in the FA Cup third round on Sunday January 7; kick-off 4.30pm.
