It was Ivan Toney’s day at the Etihad in the early Premier League kick-off. The Brentford forward bounced back from the disappointment of not making it to England’s World Cup squad by scoring a brace that saw his side defeat Manchester City 2-1.
Brentford showed no signs of timidity on their visit to the Premier League champions and opened the scoring in the 16th minute with an opportunistic header from Toney. Phil Foden’s half-volley levelled things going into halftime, but Brentford held firm against the relentless onslaught on their goal, and Toney grabbed the winner in the 8th minute of injury time.
In the post-match press conference, Thomas Frank called it the “single biggest result” in the club’s history. The loss leaves Manchester City rooted in 2nd place and means that Arsenal will enter the World Cup break top of the table.
Together ❤🐝 pic.twitter.com/sfU3gNJTxz
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) November 12, 2022
Antonio Conte’s Tottenham side is making a habit out of second-half comebacks as they thrice came back from a goal down to defeat Leeds United 4-3. Rodrigo’s smart finish in the 76th minute looked like the final nail in the coffin, but driven on by the marauding Dejan Kulusevski on the right wing, Spurs didn’t back down. Rodrigo Bentancur equalised in the 81st minute and again scored two minutes later to send Spurs temporarily into third place.
Liverpool eased to a 3-1 win in Nathan Jones’ first game as Southampton boss. Roberto Firmino opened the scoring for Liverpool and a first-half brace from Darwin Nunez saw the game essentially wrapped up by halftime. Nunez has come under a great deal of scrutiny since his arrival in the Premier League, but the Uruguayan has a commendable nine goals in 10 starts for the club in all competitions.
Darwin Nunez is averaging a goal contribution every 88 minutes this season 😳 pic.twitter.com/1oT1p11lsK
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 12, 2022
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Bournemouth beat Everton 3-0 to heap the pressure on Toffees’ boss Frank Lampard whose side has won just one of its last five games and lie in 17th. Bournemouth were strongly tipped for relegation at the start of the season, but now enter the World Cup break 13th on the table. Leicester defeated West Ham 2-0 to continue their rich vein of form and Nottingham Forest beat Crystal Palace 1-0 for only their third win of the season.
