Premier League: Liverpool lose ground in top four race after losing to Brentord
A disastrous first-half performance proved fatal for Liverpool as Brentford strolled to a convincing 3-1 win over the Reds in the Premier League at the Gtech Community Stadium.
With Jurgen Klopp’s charges all over the place in the opening exchanges, Brentford were two goals to the good at half time through an Ibrahima Konate own goal and Yoane Wissa, who saw another two strikes disallowed.
Liverpool briefly came out fighting in the second half and reduced the deficit through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but Bryan Mbeumo added a third for the Bees late on as Liverpool succumbed to a thoroughly deserved defeat.
Only a few days after benefitting from two Wout Faes own goals, Liverpool ironically suffered a similar fate with just 19 minutes on the clock, marking the first of a string of failures to defend Brentford set-pieces.
An inswinging corner from Mbeumo missed Ben Mee, but the ball hit the leg of a stagnant Konate – back in the side following the World Cup – and trickled over the line despite the best efforts of Alisson Becker.
Coping astonishingly well in the absence of Ivan Toney, Brentford dominated Liverpool in every aspect, as a shell-shocked Klopp watched on with his players at sea.
Thomas Frank’s name rang out across the Gtech Community Stadium as his side breached the Liverpool backline twice more, as Wissa prodded home after a goalmouth scramble in the 27th minute, but the flag immediately went up for offside.
The former Lorient man quickly dusted himself down and thought he got second time lucky in the 39th minute, connecting with a brilliant half-volley from a corner, but the ball deflected off of an offside Mee into the net and was ruled out upon review.
Wissa’s expression told the whole story, but Liverpool simply refused to wake up and were finally punished again in the 42nd minute, as Mathias Jensen floated a cross in for Wissa – who else – to direct a header over the line.
Alisson managed to claw the ball away, but not until it had already gone over the line, and the home crowd could scarcely believe the level of their side’s performance coupled with the Reds’ capitulation.
Barring some catching practice for David Raya, Liverpool only had one notable first-half opportunity, as Mohamed Salah played Darwin Nunez through in the eighth minute, but the ball just would not go in for the Uruguayan, who skipped past Raya but saw his goal-bound effort brilliantly blocked by Mee.
A trio of half-time substitutions were not a complete surprise for Liverpool, as Klopp took off Kostas Tsimikas, Harvey Elliott and – bizarrely – Virgil van Dijk, as Andrew Robertson, Naby Keita and Joel Matip came on.
Within just three minutes of the second half, Nunez thought he had consigned his profligacy to history after latching onto a pass from Thiago and chipping into the net over Raya, but he had just gone slightly too early as the game saw its third disallowed goal.
Nevertheless, any half-time rants from Klopp had clearly galvanized his side, and they pulled one back in the 50th minute, as Trent Alexander-Arnold sent in a peach of a cross for Oxlade-Chamberlain to head home.
Brentford spent most of the second half camped in and around their penalty area as Liverpool huffed and puffed for a leveller, but Raya received adequate protection from his defence, who limited the space in behind expertly.
However, the Bees had no trouble in exposing a weak Liverpool backline and seemingly put the game to bed in the 84th minute, as Christian Norgaard’s ball over the top was cut out by Konate, but the Frenchman was shrugged off the ball by Mbeumo, who calmly slotted home past Alisson.
Klopp’s charges were incensed and believed that Konate was fouled, but VAR saw nothing wrong with the nudge by Mbeumo, and Liverpool had no response in six minutes of injury time.
Liverpool missed the chance to put pressure on the top four and remain in sixth place in the table ahead of their FA Cup third-round tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Brentford – who tackle West Ham United this weekend – are up to seventh and are only two points behind the Reds, albeit having played a game more.
