Sunderland Sink Chelsea as Liverpool Pile Pressure on Sage, Brighton Climb to Second After Win Over Brentford

Pierre Sage’s future as Crystal Palace head coach appears increasingly uncertain after Liverpool inflicted a fourth Premier League defeat in a row on the struggling Eagles.
Palace are bottom of the table, having claimed just seven points out of a possible 30 under Sage, who succeeded Oliver Glasner in the summer.
Liverpool made Palace pay for missed opportunities at Selhurst Park, and it was Alexis Mac Allister’s fine header in the 40th minute that broke the deadlock following a neat free-kick routine.
Fourteen minutes into the second half, Florian Wirtz produced a tidy finish to double the Reds’ lead after he was picked out by Bradley Barcola.
Alexander Isak had been quiet before missing one big chance late on and then netting the visitors’ third, his seventh league goal of the season.
The hosts netted a consolation with the last kick of the game, when Eddie Nketiah scored from the spot after Milos Kerkez had been penalised.
The Selhurst Park atmosphere was understandably muted as the Eagles started the game on the back foot.
But the crowd was momentarily lifted when a Palace attack ended with Yeremy Pino crashing a close-range effort off the Liverpool crossbar.
For all of Liverpool’s possession, they created little and it was the hosts who thought they had taken a first-half lead but Jorgen Strand Larsen was ruled offside.
And Palace had enough chances to have scored before Nketiah’s stoppage-time penalty, forcing Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker into six saves.
Liverpool, who slumped to an underwhelming loss at Fenerbahce in Europe in midweek, are up to fourth in the Premier League.
At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland held on to their first Premier League win since August as Enzo le Fee’s penalty helped the hosts sink Chelsea.
Le Fee sent Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders the wrong way from the spot in the 36th minute.
But the awarding of Sunderland’s penalty was controversial, with referee Jarred Gillett adjudging Levi Colwill to have pulled Brian Brobbey to the floor – despite both players grappling one another as Brobbey was driving towards goal.
Sunderland’s win, just their second in the league this season but sixth in all competitions, will ease pressure on manager Regis Le Bris, although his side remain in the Premier League’s bottom three.
Brighton moved up to second in the Premier League after cruising past 10-man Brentford at the Amex Stadium.
After a run of five consecutive away games across all competitions in the last month, it took Brighton only 15 minutes to settle into their familiar surroundings on the south coast, with Diego Gomez opening the scoring with a sensational left-footed strike from outside the area.
Picking up a loose ball 25 yards out, the Paraguayan midfielder arrowed his effort into the top-left corner to leave Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher with no chance.
Gomez’s previous goal this season was a spectacular effort from the halfway line against Crystal Palace last month.
It went from bad to worse for the visitors three minutes before half-time when Pascal Gross doubled the home side’s lead from the penalty spot after Luka Vuskovic was fouled by Keane Lewis-Potter inside the area.