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ARNE SLOT SAYS CITY’S LOSS DID NOT GIVE LIVERPOOL AN EXTRA EDGE

Liverpool Head Coach, Arne Slot

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot insisted his Premier League leaders needed no motivation from Manchester City’s defeat at Brighton to beat Aston Villa and take a five-point lead into the international break.

A sense of opportunity swept through Anfield just before kick-off following news of the defending champions’ loss on the south coast but Slot said that was not the driving factor behind their 2-0 win – the 15th victory in 17 games this season.

“I cannot tell what the fans felt, I can only say if my players need extra motivation that would not be a good idea,” said the Dutchman.

“If you play at Anfield in front of your own fans you should only be motivated. You should not need motivation from another match.”

Liverpool’s 28 points from 11 matches has been bettered only once in the last 34 seasons, in 2019-20 when they had 31 points at the same stage and went on to win the league comfortably.

Having beaten Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday to make it four wins from four in the Champions League, just days after coming from behind to defeat Brighton, it has been a significant week in Slot’s short Anfield career.

But he is not getting carried away by his rivals’ slip-ups as he is aware fortunes can quickly change.

“It was definitely a big week but every game is,” he added.
“Hopefully we will have a lot of these weeks to come. We are trying to compete for the league, for the Champions League and for the cups as well.
“We also know it is a long season as well and the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and City are capable of winning so many games in 17 as we did.”

The only downside to the victory, secured by goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, was a hamstring injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold which is likely to rule him out of England’s forthcoming Nations League matches.

“That is difficult to say how serious it is but it is always a serious if a player goes out in the first half,” said Slot.

“He asked for it because he felt something, so that is first of all not a good sign.

“It is always difficult so close after the game to tell you exactly what it is but let’s wait and see.

“I would be surprised if we will see him playing for the England national team this week but hopefully he can.”

For the first time Villa have lost four successive matches under manager Unai Emery.

“Obviously the result is not good but how we played I am confident. I am confident because I think we are in the right way after this match,” he said.

“We wanted to get points but today against Liverpool we can accept the result because they are really feeling strong at home and not really dominating and creating chances against us.

“They won and we accept it.”

Villa had two penalty appeals in the second half, one for a shirt pull on Pau Torres and another for a foul on the defender.

“For me it was clearly a penalty because he pulled the shirt of Pau Torres. I know that in Europe this is a penalty, but here in England they want to use VAR,” he said.

“In this situation it was clear. I always respect the decisions of referees and I accept it, but for me, when I watched it, with VAR it was a clear penalty.

“It was a very important moment in the game because if we could have the chance to shoot the penalty, maybe the match would have been different.

“I accept the result and the referee’s decision (but) I don’t agree.”

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LIVERPOOL BEAT ASTON VILLA TO GO FIVE POINTS CLEAR ON THE PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE

Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool five points clear at the top of the Premier League as the 2-0 victory over Aston Villa clinically exploited Manchester City’s defeat earlier in the day.

Anfield was buzzing after the news came in of Brighton’s victory over the defending champions and for long periods the atmosphere crackled with the sense of expectation and opportunity.

It was not their most convincing victory under Arne Slot, who has now won 15 of his first 17 games, but took Liverpool to 28 points – a tally bettered only once in the last 34 seasons when they amassed 31 points at the same stage in 2019-20 on the way to lifting the league title.

It was sparked by Nunez, who scored one and missed two, which for him was a typical night in a red shirt.

The criticism levelled at the Uruguay international is that he is not reliable enough in front of goal to be first-choice number nine but he has a knack for making himself the centre of attention regardless.

His 66 minutes on the pitch was an encapsulation of that as his 20th-minute goal saw him react quickest to a loose ball to fire past Emiliano Martinez.

But faced with a long run on goal and only the Argentinian to beat from another corner breakaway he skied his shot into the Kop, while the close-range header he missed early in the second half would have undoubtedly made for a more comfortable night for the league leaders.

The winner was almost a throwback to the Jurgen Klopp era as Virgil van Dijk broke out from a Villa corner and played the ball into an empty Villa half for Salah to race onto.

He was clean through but went down in a tangle with the pursuing Leon Bailey.
Referee David Coote waved away claims for a foul – and potential red card – but Nunez was alert to the opportunity and although his first touch took him wide of Martinez his second saw him fire into an empty net from a tight angle.

But faced with a one-on-one opportunity of his own from another Villa corner 12 minutes later he displayed the profligacy which has blighted his Liverpool career to date, having only been inches away from connecting with Salah’s deft chip moments earlier.

Liverpool may have dominated but in the space of a minute the visitors had four chances to equalise: Caoimhin Kelleher tipped over Amadou Onana’s header and then repelled Diego Carlos’ near-post flick from the next delivery, with Ryan Gravenberch blocking Ollie Watkins’ follow-up before Lucas Digne volleyed into the side-netting.

The loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold to a hamstring injury midway through the first half was a blow to Liverpool and England ahead of their forthcoming Nations League matches but it did not materially affect their performance.

Straight from the second half kick-off Morgan Rogers curled a shot wide after breaking down the left to serve warning that Villa were far from done, then Nunez was equally wasteful with his head from six yards out.

Villa’s claim for a penalty when Conor Bradley had hold of Pau Torres’ shirt at a free-kick was rejected by VAR but seemed a more valid shout than when Watkins went down theatrically in a shoulder challenge with the excellent Ibrahima Konate.

The visitors ramped up the pressure in the closing 15 minutes but it required Ezri Konsa to slide in to superbly deny Luis Diaz from yet another corner counter-attack.

However, Diego Carlos was not as fortunate when he headed against Salah, who raced away to beat Martinez for his eighth goal in 10 outings against Villa, who have lost four in a row under Unai Emery for the first time.

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BRIGHTON FIGHT BACK TO STUN MAN CITY AS CHAMPIONS SUFFER FOURTH SUCCESSIVE LOSS.

Brighton staged a sensational late fightback to come from behind and send Manchester City to a fourth consecutive defeat with a pulsating 2-1 win at the Amex Stadium.

Substitute Matt O’Riley appeared in the area in the 83rd minute to tuck away Joao Pedro’s pass for his first Brighton goal to stun the Premier League champions, minutes after Pedro had himself equalised following a penalty box scramble.

Erling Haaland’s goal after 23 minutes had looked like City’s winner for much of the game, the Norway striker finishing off following a sublimely calibrated pass from Mateo Kovacic.
Yet this was a display of supreme courage on the home side, Fabian Hurzeler’s players refusing to let go lightly of a chance to leap into the top four.
They deservedly levelled when half the City team descended on Danny Welbeck as he received the ball in the box. In the panic, no one spotted Pedro, who leapt onto the scene to finish.

And it fell to Pedro to provide the ball for O’Riley, appearing for only the second time since moving from Celtic after injury wrecked his early months at Brighton, who capped a famous night on the south coast with the coolest finish amid scintillating drama.

City had already lost three in a row for the first time since April 2018 and their injury problems had not abated. Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake, run ragged when only half-fit in the defeat against Bournemouth, made only the bench, so 19-year-old Jahmai Simpson-Pusey was handed his first league start in central defence.

Yet a fourth consecutive loss awaited Pep Guardiola for the first time in his managerial career, though the early signs had been that City’s blip was righted.

Kovacic, the visitors’ best player in the first half, drove upfield and slipped the ball to Savinho who was thwarted by Bart Verbruggen as he aimed for the corner.

The opening goal though was not long in arriving. Yasin Ayari gave the ball away near halfway to Kovacic and City’s midfield powerhouse cruised forward again. His ball to find Haaland was perfectly pitched, the striker’s run meticulously routed in between Igor Julio and Jan Paul van Hecke, and though Verbruggen blocked the initial shot, Haaland won the foot race with Van Hecke to crash the ball in off the crossbar from a yard out

Haaland saw his near-post drive turned against the post by Verbruggen then moments later glanced a header over from a corner, as City threatened a second.

Brighton had weathered a storm and they turned up the pressure on City before the break.
There might have been a penalty when Josko Gvardiol went to the ground and blocked Welbeck’s effort seemingly with an arm, the chance coming after Kyle Walker had misjudged the flight of the ball, but play continued.

The second half would see Brighton throw everything at the champions in search of a route back. Jack Hinshelwood headed straight at Ederson from Pervis Estupinan’s deep cross, then Kaoru Mitoma turned Walker in the corner with impudent trickery and teed up Estupinan, whose delivery was again spot on though Georginio Rutter was not so concentrated with his wayward header.

Ederson had to race from his goal to smother at the feet of Mitoma, and then Pedro drew agonised cries around the Amex when he followed up a featherlight touch to bring the ball down with an awful shot dragged wide with the goalkeeper to beat.

It looked like City would hold out, but Pedro and O’Riley had other ideas.

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OSIMHEN SCORES BRACE AS GALATASARAY EDGE SPURS IN 3-2 CLASH

Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to top the UEFA Europa League table as they fell to a 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray at RAMS Park.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were so often masters of their own downfall as Victor Osimhen, the on-loan Napoli striker, bagged a brace to add to Yunus Akgun’s stunning opener.


Teenager Will Lankshear notched his first senior goal but was then sent off for a second bookable offence, and Dominic Solanke made an instant impact off the substitutes’ bench with a delicate backheeled finish from Pedro Porro to halve the deficit and keep Spurs in touching distance.

However, the visitors kept crumbling under the intense pressure from the raucous home support, who whistled furiously in an attempt to tease out mistakes.


Errors continued to plague the inexperienced Spurs side – which had seven changes made to it after Sunday’s 4-1 victory over Aston Villa – as their insistence on playing out from the back had them punished twice, but it really should have been more.


Okan Buruk’s hosts were ahead inside just six minutes when former Leicester City loanee Akgun half-volleyed a beauty into the top corner after Archie Gray had nodded away a free-kick, and it seemed as though Spurs’ young starlets would falter under the intimidation and deafening noise around the stadium.


They responded brilliantly, however, with their first foray forwards resulting in an equaliser – scored by the teenager Lankshear – after great persistence from Son Heung-min down the left, before Gray picked up the pieces on the underlap.
The deputising left-back got his head up to find Brennan Johnson peeling away at the far post, and the Wales international had the awareness to pick out Lankshear with a ball across the face of goal, which the junior striker prodded into the back of the net.


Back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster was in fine form to halt Osimhen on 25 minutes when he was slotted through by the rampaging Gabriel Sara, and the Nigerian thought he had the Turkish side’s second when he nodded past the English shot-stopper, only to be denied by the flag.
Osimhen, however, would get on the scoresheet just two minutes later, with more sloppiness from the visitors playing out, and Dries Mertens latched onto the loose ball, sliding in the loanee to poke it past the onrushing Forster to re-establish Gala’s lead.


Forster was on hand to thwart Osimhen once more as Radu Dragusin was again caught dawdling on the ball, and just one minute later, Osmihen doubled his tally for the evening, with Spurs’ concentration waning as the attack reached its second phase. Mertens picked the ball up down the right, bending in an inviting ball that Osimhen buried.


Postecoglou was forced into action at half-time, hauling off Son and Johnson for Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, but the changes had no impact on the game’s momentum as the pendulum swung even further in Gala’s favour, the hosts piling on the pressure.


Mauro Icardi latched onto another loose ball in Spurs’ final third but lashed over before a penalty-box melee ensued as Mertens fired a shot at Bentancur. From the resulting corner, Akgun stung the palms of Forster with a vicious effort from range, before Osimhen missed a golden opportunity for his hat-trick as he directed a header high and wide from a delicious Mertens delivery.

The Turkish side could have been made to rue their profligacy as Solanke emerged off the bench to snatch what would turn out to be just a consolation for Tottenham, who were down to 10 after Lankshear was sent off for two yellows: first elbowing Kaan Ayhan, and then mistiming a challenge on Gabriel Sara tight to the touchline.


Icardi had the ball in the visiting net on 76 minutes after he linked up nicely with substitute Hakim Ziyech to slice through the wide-open Spurs defence, but the former Inter Milan forward, who was stretchered off later in the encounter, was flagged for offside.


The north London outfit slip down to fifth in the league table with the defeat, and they will need to dust themselves down quickly with tricky tests against Roma and Rangers coming thick and fast.
Galatasaray, meanwhile, top the tree on 10 points – at least temporarily – and they travel to AZ Alkmaar next.

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CHELSEA HUMILIATE ARMENIAN SIDE, NOAH IN A MERCILESS EIGHT-GOAL THUMPING

Chelsea swept past Armenian side Noah as Enzo Maresca’s second string turned in a merciless attacking display to win 8-0 at Stamford Bridge.

The Europa Conference League had been a testing ground for the head coach to ply his enviable strength in depth and, having hit four in each of their first two matches, his stand-ins raised the bar to blow the visiting team away with six goals scored in the first half demonstrating a chasmic gulf in class

Tosin Adarabioyo and Marc Guiu celebrated first Chelsea goals since joining, Joao Felix grabbed the opportunity to impress with two more, while there were goals too for Axel Disasi and, most impressively, Mykhailo Mudryk whose curler from outside the box was the pick of them.

Christopher Nkunku scored twice after the break, one of them a penalty, to cement his spot at the head of Chelsea’s scoring charts.

Noah boss Rui Mota said before kick-off that his team had not come to London simply to defend and the first half lent a bitter irony to those words, as Chelsea tore into the Armenians with unimagined ease.

Four times inside the opening 21 minutes besieged visiting goalkeeper Ognjen Chancharevich picked the ball out of his net, first when Adarabioyo lost his man at a corner and stooped to glance Enzo Fernandez’s cross across goal and in.

Defender Goncalo Silva gave the ball away virtually from the kick-off allowing Guiu to steal in and double the lead, then Disasi headed a near identical goal to the first, making the most of another Fernandez delivery to notch his fourth Chelsea goal.

Noah had actually had the first opportunity of the match, Goncalo Gregorio lashing the ball straight at Filip Jorgensen after a speedy counter-attack, and though their defence was an incoherent mess there were moments of competence in the attacking third that briefly worried Chelsea.

That early threat was a distant memory by the time Felix grabbed the first of his two goals and it was another error by the hapless Silva, losing possession tamely and allowing Fernandez – captain for the night having lost his place in Maresca’s Premier League XI – to feed Felix for a simple finish.

That made it four goals in a blitzkrieg nine-minute spell, a signal for Chelsea briefly to pull back. If they intended to go easy thereafter on Noah, no one had told Mudryk, who lashed in a fifth as sublime as any this ground had seen on European nights.

Felix’s drive may have been going wide before captain Hovhannes Hambartsumyan swung a leg and diverted it into the corner for 6-0.

The only thing missing had been a goal for Nkunku. He was denied twice in the second half, first by Chancharevich then by the crossbar as he sought his ninth of the campaign.

Finally his luck turned 20 minutes from time when the ball rebounded back to him off the goalkeeper for him to squeak the rebound inside the near post.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall won a penalty allowing the France international to complete the rout.

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AMAD DIALLO’S BRACE ENDS MANCHESTER UNITED’S YEAR-LONG WAIT FOR A EUROPEAN WIN.

Amad Diallo’s delightful double ended Manchester United’s 380-day wait for a European win as Ruud van Nistelrooy oversaw a much-needed 2-0 victory against PAOK in his penultimate match as interim boss.

Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils had drawn their first three matches in the new-look Europa League, blowing a lead at home to Twente before doing the same away to Porto and Fenerbahce.

Those results extended United’s wretched European record and played a part in his sacking, with recalled Diallo scoring a fine brace to seal United’s first victory in continental competitions since last October.

The result extended Van Nistelrooy’s unbeaten interim stint to a third match, with incoming head coach Ruben Amorim watching remotely from Portugal ahead of taking charge at Old Trafford on Monday.

Diallo will have certainly caught his eye on his first start in five weeks, with the lively winger denied a penalty despite appearing to be caught by Baba Rahman in a forgettable first half.

The 22-year-old continued to prove a thorn in the side and fantastically guided home a header before settling nerves with a beautiful curling effort from distance after winning the ball.

United had won just one of their last 11 European games and the Greek champions were no pushovers.

The 4,000 fans in the away end – plus a number in the home section – held their breath early on after Mady Camara’s shot was blocked by Casemiro, wrongfooting Andre Onana before being dealt with.

Andrija Zivkovic bent well wide after making himself space as the chorus of PAOK chants continued and United began asking questions of their own.

Van Nistelrooy’s side started sending balls into the box and Alejandro Garnacho saw a shot blocked shortly after the VAR checked for a potential penalty.

Diallo went down having been caught by former Chelsea left-back Rahman, but referee Radu Petrescu’s decision to ignore the appeals were ratified by Daniele Chiffi in the booth.

Rasmus Hojlund saw a bundled header gathered by Dominik Kotarski having met a cross from Diallo, who saw the ball taken off his toe by Rahman after Garnacho whizzed a low ball to him at the far post.

PAOK showed increasing threat as the opening period wound down. Onana stopped Zivkovic’s hopeful attempt and then tipped over Camara’s snapshot after a fine first touch.

Neither side made a change heading into a second half that was five minutes old when Diallo broke the deadlock.

Bruno Fernandes sent a diagonal ball to the far post, where Diallo stretched to send a looping header back across goal and just inside the post.

PAOK claimed Hojlund had impeded Tomasz Kedziora’s attempt to clear, but it was given the green light after a VAR check.

Diallo was denied a second by Kotarski as United played with intent but without the requisite incision.

That has been costly for United this term and Zivkovic lasered narrowly wide before PAOK blew a glorious 64th-minute chance.

Van Nistelrooy’s Reds were caught napping as Taison slipped in Tarik Tissoudali, who had made space between Jonny Evans and Diogo Dalot but saw his touch and strike from 10 yards saved by Onana low to his left.

The United goalkeeper anticipated the attempt and the forward was taken off as both managers made switches.

It was a let-off for Van Nistelrooy’s side, who calmed the nerves with a fantastic 77th-minute goal.

Diallo won possession as he continued his battle with Rahman, showing strength then skill as he moved on to his left foot and curled home a fine effort from the edge of the box.

Mason Mount came on after the matchwinner appeared to pick up a knock, with the visitors then bringing on Shola Shoretire.

The United academy graduate remains the youngest player to feature for the Red Devils in a European game and was applauded on to the field by the home support.

Homegrown Marcus Rashford went close to adding gloss in stoppage time.

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LUIS DIAZ HAT-TRICK SEES LEVERKUSEN BOSS XABI ALONSO LOSE ON LIVERPOOL RETURN

Luis Diaz scored Liverpool’s first Champions League hat-trick in two years as they extended their 100 per-cent record to four matches with a 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen as former midfielder Xabi Alonso endured a miserable return to Anfield.

Diaz’s impudent chip was followed by Cody Gakpo’s fourth goal in a week as the hosts won the game within the space of three second-half minutes before Diaz added two more late on.

Liverpool’s first eight goals in the competition all came from different scorers – Diaz the first man to net more than once – and shows the options and versatility head coach Arne Slot has at his disposal as on this occasion he opted to play the Colombia international as a centre-forward to accommodate Gakpo on the left.

Last season it took Diaz until February to score the nine goals he has now, while Gakpo’s six in this campaign is equally as impressive as he is by no means a regular starter.

They are resources Alonso, who was hot favourite for the Liverpool job when Jurgen Klopp announced he was leaving before ruling himself out to concentrate on guiding his club to their first Bundesliga title, could only dream of as his side struggled to make an impression.

The Spaniard stood in his technical area for most of the game, conducting things like he had done for five years in a red shirt at this ground.

However, much of it involved pulling his players this way and that to maintain a defensive organisation which did its job in keeping their hosts – scorers of 32 goals in their last 12 European games at Anfield – at bay for an hour.

Only with the match won did the Kop chant the name of their beloved former player in the 90th minute – but not before celebrating Slot and his remarkable start to his maiden campaign which has brought 14 wins, one draw and one defeat in 16 games.

For such a highly-anticipated game the only fireworks came from the streets surrounding Anfield but when they subsided just after 9pm things began to liven up on the pitch.

Curtis Jones lifted over a shot from the crowded edge of the penalty area while Mohamed Salah snatched at an effort with his right foot and skewed wide.

But the match was decided within the space of three clinical minutes.

Trent Alexander-Arnold drilled a pass into the feet of Jones and he slid in the perfect through-ball to pick out Diaz who confidently lifted a shot over the onrushing goalkeeper.

Diaz then teed up Salah to cross to the far post for Gakpo to head home and although his goal was flagged offside, VAR overturned that decision and Anfield reverberated to the tune of Ring of Fire, synonymous with the 2005 Champions League triumph of which Alonso had been a pivotal part.

Victor Boniface had a chance to make things interesting but headed wide from six yards and Leverkusen were made to pay when Diaz brought down Salah’s cross to poke home the third eight minutes from time.

Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher stuck out a leg to deny Florian Wirtz and keep a clean sheet late on before Diaz stabbed home a rebound as Liverpool won their opening four European matches for only the sixth time in their history.

The first half was a tactical battle with Liverpool dominating possession and Leverkusen trying to find the chinks in their armour to break out.

It resulted in a game low on excitement and chances with Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick deflected over, and Salah and Gakpo barely testing Lukas Hradecky with weak shots close to either post.

Jeremie Frimpong, whose earlier penalty claim against Virgil van Dijk was turned down, fired past Kelleher just before the break after bundling past Kostas Tsimikas but the assistant referee flagged for a handball and VAR agreed.

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MANCHESTER CITY GETS 4-1 THRASHING BY SPORTING IN RUBEN AMORIM’S HOME FAREWELL

Ruben Amorim endeared himself to Manchester United fans before even arriving at Old Trafford by engineering a stunning 4-1 defeat of Manchester City with Sporting Lisbon.

The Portuguese was taking charge of his final home match as Sporting boss before officially starting work as United’s head coach and watched as his side came from behind to thrash City in the Champions League.

City took an early lead through Phil Foden but Sporting hit back with a hat-trick that included two penalties from Viktor Gyokeres – who has been tipped to follow Amorim to United – and a strike by Maximiliano Araujo.

It was the first time City – for whom Erling Haaland missed a penalty – have lost three games in succession since 2018, excluding a later sequence in 2021 that included the Community Shield.

The evening began with Sporting in a celebratory mood as they showed their appreciation for Amorim for a four-year spell in which he delivered two domestic titles.

They were celebrating again by the end, but only after overcoming a poor start in which City could have put the result beyond doubt themselves.

City won 5-0 on their last visit to the Jose Alvalade Stadium and may have fancied a repeat as they opened the scoring within four minutes.

Hidemasa Morita was robbed by Foden and punished as the England international fired through a poor attempt at a save by Franco Israel.

It was Foden’s eighth goal in his last nine Champions League starts, and he nipped in to seize possession again soon after, but this time the attack ended when Haaland sliced wide.

Israel almost had another moment to forget when he dallied in possession, but he cleared in the nick of time from under Haaland’s feet.

Despite City’s dominance, they were vulnerable to the counter-attack.

They had a lucky escape after Rico Lewis gave the ball away and Gyokeres raced away from inside his own half only to shoot tamely at Ederson.

It was a poor miss but the former Coventry striker was in the right place to hook clear off his own line from a Haaland header.

Haaland was also denied by a fine save from Israel when he met a Foden cross with a fierce volley and Bernardo Silva shot wide.

City were made to rue their profligacy as Sporting snatched an equaliser before the break.

Again they were caught by a quick break as Geovany Quenda released Gyokeres and this time the Swede made no mistake as he outpaced teenager Jamhai Simpson-Pusey to score.

It sparked a remarkable turnaround, with Francisco Trincao shooting over just before the break and Sporting grabbing the lead within 20 seconds of the second half starting.

The hosts went straight upfield and Araujo finished emphatically after timing his run onto Pedro Goncalves’ neat through-ball to perfection.

Things immediately got worse for City as they conceded a penalty within a minute of the next restart when Josko Gvardiol bundled Trincao over in the box. Gyokeres thumped home the spot-kick.

City were offered a route back into the game when they were awarded a controversial penalty of their own by VAR after a Silva shot struck Ousmane Diomande’s arm. Haaland failed to capitalise as he smashed the ball against the crossbar.

The third penalty of the game was awarded 10 minutes from time when substitute Geny Catamo was knocked over by Matheus Nunes.

Gyokeres again finished emphatically and Amorim, who will face City again in a Manchester derby next month, could wave farewell to the home fans in good heart.

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SUPER SUB HARRY WILSON STINGS BEES WITH ADDED-TIME DOUBLE IN THRILLING FULHAM WIN.

Substitute Harry Wilson scored two late goals as Fulham came from behind to beat west London rivals Brentford 2-1 in a Premier League thriller.

The visiting Bees initially stung their hosts through Vitaly Janelt’s goal before Wilson came off the bench to net twice in stoppage time and settle matters at Craven Cottage.

The dramatic climax enabled Marco Silva’s men to end a run of three matches without a win.

Reiss Nelson came into the starting XI at the expense of Adama Traore and the Arsenal loanee was in the thick of the action as he almost gave the hosts the lead in the opening minutes.

Nelson, operating on the left, was slipped through by fellow Arsenal academy graduate Emile Smith Rowe, and after his initial effort towards the near post was denied by Mark Flekken, the Brentford goalkeeper did well to get to his feet and perform a double save.

Smith Rowe’s quality was on full display under the lights and the Cottagers’ club-record signing was at the heart of a wonderful play which almost resulted in a 16th minute goal.

The midfield player started a one touch move between Nelson and Antonee Robinson where he was slipped through, with his shot being heroically blocked by Nathan Collins, who prevented his effort curling into the bottom right corner.

Brentford survived the early Fulham storm and Janelt then gave his side with a thumping strike.
The visitors’ press finally paid dividends as they won the ball high, allowing Janelt to crack a left-footed shot past Bernd Leno and into the corner of the net.

Silva turned to the bench after an hour as Traore came on in a bid to impact the match with his explosive pace down the right.

At this point, Thomas Frank’s side were sat in a low block, but Traore fancied himself against Bees left-back Sepp Van Den Berg, with his first action creating a cross for Raul Jimenez, with the in-form Mexican forward failing to get enough purchase or accuracy behind his headed attempt.

Fulham were not going down easily and Brentford needed to defend valiantly. Traore continued to see the ball down the right flank and after his first shot was blocked by Ben Mee, the central defender rushed out and put his body on the line to get in the way of a powerful half-volley which looked destined for the net.

The Cottagers continued to search for the equaliser and Traore created it in the second minute of added time.

The rapid Spaniard surged down the right and picked out Wilson, whose creative flick looped over Flekken and into the far corner.

Harry Wilson celebrates his second goal and game-winner at Craven Cottage

The Wales international, frustrated by his lack of starts for the Cottagers, was not finished. Five minutes later he showed the instincts of a striker to attack a Robinson cross and head the winning goal, to the delight of the home support.

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LEVERKUSEN BOSS, XABI ALONSO DISMISSES LIVERPOOL LINKS ON RETURN TO ANFIELD

Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso dodged questions about taking over at Anfield and insisted he does not return to the city as a tourist.

Alonso was hot favourite for the Liverpool job when Jurgen Klopp announced in January he was leaving, but quickly ruled himself out of the running before guiding Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title.

Asked whether it was ever a serious consideration, the Spaniard, who won the 2005 Champions League during a five-year spell at Anfield, said: “At that time I was focused, I had a big thing with the players and we were really focused on that.”

He has already been linked with a return to another of his former clubs Real Madrid to succeed Carlo Ancelotti, but he refused to speculate on whether coming to Anfield would be a consideration.

“Let’s talk about the game tomorrow, it’s more interesting than my future. Let’s talk about the great players on both sides, that is what is in my head,” he added.

“For us it is a big challenge to come here. Liverpool at the moment is one of the best if not the best in Europe, they are showing that in a very strong Premier League and the Champions League.

“It’s a good squad, good coach. At Anfield, it’s a big challenge. We’re looking forward to it, let’s see what happens.”

Alonso remains a crowd favourite and there is every chance the Kop will sing his name at some point on Tuesday night.

“We will see, I will tell you after the game how I feel. There will be a moment for everything, but the main thing is not me,” he said.

“It’s the players, how we deal with the emotions you have in this stadium, they are in a good moment.”

On his return to Liverpool, he added: “Maybe tomorrow I will take a little walk or a run, but there is no time for tourism.

“I know the city very well, I loved it, but I will focus on the game and only the game.”