Burnley 0-2 Liverpool (Nunez 6′, Jota 90′)
By Neil Jones | TURF MOOR — Darwin Nunez ended his goal drought as Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Burnley.
The Uruguyan’s fifth-minute strike, his first in 13 club matches, set Jurgen Klopp’s side on their way at Turf Moor, though they would be made to work for their points, killing the game off only in the final minute of the 90.
Substitute Diogo Jota, making his first appearance in more than a month after a hamstring injury, wrapped up the win with a clinical finish as Klopp’s side made it 13 league matches unbeaten, and delivered a seventh straight Boxing Day victory in the process.
“The perfect goalscorers,” Klopp said afterwards, as he reflected on a job well done from his side. “We played a super game,” the Reds boss added. “We could have scored more, but we deserved the win.”
Klopp is entitled to be content right now. At the halfway stage of the season, Liverpool are very much in the title race, and while their manager might bemoan the poor finishing, good goalkeeping and questionable officiating which prevented his side from enjoying a more comfortable evening here, he will certainly be pleased with the progress he has overseen in recent months after a summer of turmoil at Anfield.
They could and should have been out of sight by the hour mark here, but found James Trafford, the Burnley goalkeeper, in excellent form.
The England U21 international expertly denied Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Wataru Endo, while both Gakpo and Harvey Elliott had goals controversially ruled out either side of half-time.
“I don’t know,” said Klopp when asked for his thoughts on those decisions.
Burnley, for their part, may rue misses from substitutes Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Jacob Bruun Larsen as they came on strong in the closing stages, but Kompany’s side really could have few complaints about the scoreline. Had Liverpool been clinical, the scoreline could have been a lot more one-sided, a point made by Vincent Kompany in his post-match press conference.
The visitors led early with Nunez, restored to the starting XI after being benched for the draw against Arsenal on Saturday, side-footing home impressively after Gakpo had escaped down the left to tee him up.
No sign of a lack of confidence there.
It's a fine start for Liverpool against Burnley
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 26, 2023
Darwin Nunez receives the ball on the edge of the area and it's a perfect first-time finish from the forward #PLonPrime #BURLIV pic.twitter.com/8Qd6gTEDgQ
Gakpo himself should have added to Liverpool’s advantage, but fired off target after a Vitinho error, while Trafford made a fine one-handed save to keep out Salah’s effort.
Josh Brownhill wasn’t far away with a 25-yarder, but Burnley were fortunate not to be 2-0 down before half-time as Gakpo fired home, only for referee Paul Tierney to adjudge that Nunez had fouled Charlie Taylor in the build-up. It looked a generous decision, both on first viewing and thereafter.
Salah hit the crossbar and Trafford plunged to his right to deny Endo as a second goal remained elusive for Klopp’s side.
Their frustration continued after the interval, with Elliott slotting home Ryan Gravenberch’s cross, only for Salah to be judged to have obstructed Trafford’s view from an offside position, one he had been shoved into by Taylor.
Buoyed by that let-off, Burnley responded with their best spell of the game. Sander Berge dragged an effort wide and Gudmundsson headed wastefully off target from Wilson Odobert’s cross.
Player of the match: Darwin Nunez
A fine finish to open the scoring, and looked sharp and dangerous throughout.
Bruun Larsen should have done better when presented with the ball by Endo, but fired wide, while Trafford saved from Luis Diaz, the Liverpool substitute, with his feet.
Diaz would, however, have the last laugh, his backheel teeing up Jota, who rammed a low shot through Trafford’s legs to seal the game in the 90th minute.
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