Brentford 0-2 Liverpool: Referee accused of “bottling” Darwin Nunez red card as Arsenal’s title hopes dented

The Premier League title race swung dramatically back in Liverpool’s favour on Saturday afternoon as they scored twice in stoppage time to beat Brentford 2-0 before Arsenal threw away a two-goal advantage to draw with Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium.

Maligned striker Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score twice for the Reds, who had 37 shots against the Bees as they almost dropped another two points in the title race. The Gunners looked to have responded well as they went 2-0 up against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium via goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz. However, Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins hauled the visitors level as Villa struck twice in eight minutes.

The Gunners now sit six points behind Liverpool, who still have a game in hand over their title rivals. Arsenal thought they’d snatched all three points late on when Mikel Merino’s shot deflected in off Havertz but replays showed the ball struck the German’s arm and was ruled out by VAR.

Nunez escapes sending off

After scoring his first goal in the 91st minute, Nunez took his shirt off as he ran towards the Liverpool fans in the away end. He was booked for his celebration and just moments later avoided a second yellow for tackle on Nathan Collins.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot admitted the forward was lucky to remain on the pitch but did not feel the potential sending off would have changed the result. He said: “It would have been realistic if that was a yellow... I couldn't have complained if he got a second yellow for this foul.

"It wouldn’t have had any impact in this game, it was at 2-0, but it would definitely have made an impact on the next one, because Jota was not available today. Let’s hope he is for the next one, but then Darwin would also not have been available too [if he was sent off]. So we were a bit lucky in this situation, but being lucky once in a while is nice.”

Pundits react to decision

Speaking on talkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham said: "He's already been booked, Darwin Nunez, for taking his shirt off to celebrate the first goal, and now he's just gone flying into a challenge on Nathan Collins who felt the force of that. That's a second booking, isn't it? The referee bottled it. It's clearly a second yellow. The referee sort of put his fingers together to say that it's close to being another yellow card - no, it is another yellow card. What a sub appearance that would have been - two goals and a red card!"

Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney added: "It definitely is. The referee looked after him once because he did go back into the fans after the second goal. We've just had a lovely view of Arne Slot who winced because he should have been sent off. He went into the crowd after his second goal. So it should've been three yellow cards. All day it's a sending-off. It totally encapsulates him. That's why he's not got one, because it's the last action. The game's already over."