Brentford 1-2 Liverpool: Report by Layth Yousif
Liverpool came from a goal down to beat ten man Brentford 2-1 in front of 17232 fans in west London on Saturday afternoon.
The hard-fought victory for Andoni Iraola’s’ side came after fell behind to Keane Lewis-Potter header on 44 minutes. That was before the Bees Yehor Yarmoliuk was red carded in the eighth minute of addition time at the end of the first half for violent conduct, prior to goals after the interval from Victor Munoz on 62 minutes, and Alexander Isak eight minutes later sealed their deserved triumph.
Speaking after the match, Brentford head coach Keith Andrews said:
INSERT ANDREWS QUOTE
Keith Andrews made three changes to the team that came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa last weekend.
Kevin Schade starts on the bench after picking up a knock at Villa Park, to be replaced by Dango Outtara. With Sepp van den Berg starting in place of Jannik Schuster, while Mathias Jensen comes in for El Hadji Malick Diouf.
After Wednesday’s 6-3 Champions League win over LASK in Austria, Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola could once again select influential duo Alexander Isak and Dominik Szoboszlai. The fit again pair replaced Lewis Koumas and Ryan Gravenberch, who is serving a one-game ban for his red card during the 3-0 defeat to against a Manchester City side still awaiting sanction for their cheating. Reds’ Jeremie Frimpong dropped to the bench, with Ronald Araujo starting at right-back, while Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha gave way for Alexis Mac Allister and Victor Muniz.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon in west London, the contest started brightly with Alexis Mac Allister firing over the bar of former Reds keeper Caoimhin Kelleher on 15 minutes, before Jeremy Jacquet deflected Michael Kayode’s stinging strike narrowly wide of Alisson’s left-hand post.
That was before Liverpool’s £123m attacker Bradley Barcola’s dreadful missed chance that saw the £123m former PSG winger produce a poor effort, after Brentford’s Yehor Yarmoliuk lost the ball on the halfway line. Barcola did everything right until he attempted to lift it over former Red Kelleher as the ball dropped wide of the far post.
Trey Nyoni replaced the clearly frustrated Szoboszlai, who slapped the ground in annoyance after appearing to pick up an injury shortly after the half hour mark. A disappointing early end for Liverpool’s No8 who also missed last weekend’s game with a hamstring issue. As the clock ticked towards the interval Barcola angled a curling shot over Kelleher’s bar.
There was drama when Dango Outtara was penalised in the box for a foul on Mac Allister. Yet it appeared the Bees No11 got to the ball first, before the man. VAR clearly agreed and sent referee John Brooks to the monitor with the referee overruling his original decision of a penalty. Credit where credit is due: A good decision all round by VAR.
Moments later Brentford went ahead when Lewis-Potter headed home past Alisson from Igor Thiago’s cross to put the Bees 1-0 in front a minute before the scheduled break. With the goal coming shortly before six additional minutes announced at the end of the regulation 45 there was still more drama to come when Yarmoliuk was sent off for violent conduct following a VAR review. Sheer idiocy from the Bees Yarmoliuk after he headbutted Liverpool’s Jeremy Jacquet in the box on 53 minutes, as the half time whistle was finally blown with the clock showing 55 minutes.
As the previously blue skies slid into a foreboding gunmetal grey, the atmosphere ramped up after the restart, with Bees No19 Jaidon Anthony firing wide, prior to Reds captain Virgil van Dijk hooking his shot wide just before the hour mark.
As the rain started to fall it was Victor Munoz fires past Kelleher with an excellent strike to equalise against Andrews’ ten men on 62 minutes to make it 1-1. Worse was to come for the home side when Isak slotted low into the far corner with a clinical finish after latching onto Barcola’s header to the Reds striker in a crowded box with 20 minutes to go, as the travelling fans celebrated going 2-1 ahead. Barcola was to curl a testing effort onto the bar as Iraola’s Merseysiders deservedly clinched all three points against the foolishly depleted Brentford side after Vitaly Janelt received a second yellow in the 92nd minute.
GOAL – Keane Lewis-Potter header on 44 minutes
Yehor Yarmoliuk red card (45+8) for violent conduct
GOAL – Victor Munoz 62
GOAL – Alexander Isak – 70
