Match Report
Liverpool were beaten 3-1 at Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday night.
Milos Kerkez’s first goal for the Reds, scored in first-half stoppage time, repaired some of the damage inflicted by Dango Ouattara’s early opener and Kevin Schade’s 45th-minute finish.
But there was to be no rescue act at Gtech Community Stadium, where Igor Thiago’s penalty on the hour made it 3-1 before Mohamed Salah blasted home what would prove to be only a consolation in the 89th minute.
Team news
Kerkez and Salah were joined in Liverpool’s starting XI by Conor Bradley as Arne Slot made three changes from the midweek win at Eintracht Frankfurt.
First half
Long-throws are a specialty of Michael Kayode and, five minutes in, Brentford profited as his delivery was flicked on and Ouattara was on hand to volley home at the back post.
Salah’s touch was heavy after he’d been found by Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz then drilled a left-footed shot narrowly wide at the end of a lengthy spell of Liverpool possession.
The visitors were improving and Ekitike glanced Gakpo’s cross wide before the Dutchman cut inside and curled off target.
But the equaliser didn’t arrive in that spell and Brentford, who had defended well in their low block, were able to regain a measure of control.
Former Reds captain Jordan Henderson saw a low attempt from range go wide and, after a succession of deliveries into his penalty area, Giorgi Mamardashvili tipped a rising Mikkel Damsgaard drive over the crossbar.
A key passage of play followed as huge Liverpool appeals for a penalty when Gakpo went down under a challenge were dismissed shortly before the hosts made it 2-0 as Damsgaard sprung Schade in behind the Reds’ backline and the forward finished.
There was, though, still time for Slot’s side to halve the deficit, which they did in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Conor Bradley’s cross, sent in hard and low, was converted by his opposite full-back Kerkez from close range.
Second half
However, a Liverpool comeback did not materialise and it was Brentford who looked most likely to score again before, on the hour, the game swung decisively in their favour.
Initially, Virgil van Dijk’s challenge on Ouattara was given as a free-kick on the perimeter of the area, but VAR determined the infringement had occurred on the line and a penalty was awarded. Thiago stepped up and rolled the kick straight down the middle.
Slot quickly made a triple substitution, with Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister and Federico Chiesa the players introduced.
Dominik Szoboszlai was redeployed to right-back as part of the change and the No.8 got to the byline to deliver a cut-back from which another former Red, Sepp van den Berg, produced a crucial block to thwart Salah.
A difficult evening then took another turn for the worse as Curtis Jones was forced off due to injury, before Salah offered a glimmer of hope by crashing home a stunning right-footed finish late on.
But it was a case of too little, too late for Liverpool, who applied pressure in stoppage time but were defeated for the fourth Premier League game in a row.
SOURCE: www.liverpoolfc.com
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