Brentford 3-1 Liverpool: Dismal defending sees Reds' winning run halted
Astro Arena
January 3, 2023 09:34 MYT
January 3, 2023 09:34 MYT
Liverpool's top-four hopes were dented as Brentford capitalised on woeful defending to win 3-1 on Monday.
Brentford tasted success against Liverpool for the first time since 1938 as goals from Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbuemo, after Ibrahima Konate's own goal, sealed victory in the absence of talisman Ivan Toney at Brentford Community Stadium.
Losing 2-0 at half-time, Jurgen Klopp rang the changes, including replacing Virgil van Dijk, and Liverpool had hope thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's 50th-minute header.
Yet Mbuemo pounced on Konate's mistake late on to kill the game off and snap Liverpool's four-match winning streak in the Premier League.
An Mbeumo shot was palmed away for a corner early on, but Brentford had their opener from the resulting set-piece – Konate diverting into his own net from Mbeumo's inswinger.
Brentford's threat from corners continued, with Wissa twice having the ball in the net, only for the offside flag to twice come to Liverpool's salvation.
Wissa would not be denied a third time though, heading home from Mathias Jensen's cross, with Alisson unable to scoop the ball away before it crossed the line.
Klopp made a triple-change at the break and it looked to have made an instant impact when Darwin Nunez lashed in, but a VAR check showed he was offside.
Liverpool had one back shortly after when Trent Alexander-Arnold's sublime cross was met by Oxlade-Chamberlain on his 100th league appearance for the Reds.
Yet having weathered the storm, Brentford wrapped up a memorable, deserved victory with six minutes remaining, muscling Konate off the ball before drilling beyond Alisson.