Premier League | Liverpool go top, Man United rally to beat Villa
The Hindu
Liverpool top Premier League after Burnley win; Man Utd rally to beat Aston Villa; Newcastle suffer surprise 3-1 home defeat.
Liverpool moved back to the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 victory at struggling Burnley on Tuesday as Manchester United gave their fans some Boxing Day cheer by rallying to beat Aston Villa 3-2.
There was little festive joy for Newcastle United though as they suffered a surprise 3-1 home defeat by Nottingham Forest for whom Chris Wood scored a hat-trick.
Luton Town won the day's big relegation battle — beating Sheffield United 3-2 thanks to two own goals — while form-team Bournemouth won again to reach the top half of the table.
Liverpool have now won all six of their Premier League games on Boxing Day under Juergen Klopp and while three points always looked likely against Burnley, it was not until substitute Diogo Jota's 90th-minute goal that the points were sealed.
Darwin Nunez's precision finish after six minutes gave Liverpool a flying start — his first Premier League goal for almost two months. Liverpool had goals by Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott ruled out after VAR checks and Mohamed Salah rattled the crossbar as the visitors dominated.
But 19th-placed Burnley rallied in the second half and there was a sense of relief for Klopp when a sweeping move ended with Jota slotting in from a tight angle late on.
Liverpool overtook Arsenal to move into first place with 42 points from 19 games. Arsenal are on 40 ahead of their London derby with West Ham United on Thursday.
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