Liverpool paid a high price for their shoddy defensive play as Brentford defeated them 3-1 to capture another illustrious victim.
An own goal by Ibrahima Konate and a strike by Yoane Wissa gave the Bees the upper hand, forcing Reds manager Jurgen Klopp to replace crucial defender Virgil van Dijk at halftime out of frustration.
The Reds were killed off by Bryan Mbeumo as they lost more ground in the fight for a top-four Premier League finish despite Alex Oxlade-goal. Chamberlain's
Without Ivan Toney, Brentford had no issues this season as Liverpool suffered the same fate as Manchester United and Manchester City.
The Bees' top scorer with 13 goals was not in the lineup, despite Thomas Frank's optimistic evaluation of the injury that forced Toney off the field at West Ham three days earlier.
However, Wissa, who took over for Konate, had two goals disallowed for offside before doubling the lead that Brentford had gained as a result of Konate's blunder in a fast-paced first half.
That didn't happen until after Darwin Nunez had contributed to his long list of missed opportunities in goal. The Uruguayan striker missed yet another wonderful scoring opportunity as Mohamed Salah let him get behind the defense.
Ben Mee came in just in time to sneak in and prevent Nunez's attempt after he had maneuvered the ball around Bees goalkeeper David Raya. But Raya did well to keep out a Fabinho shot and Konate headed wide.
And Brentford ended their hopes six minutes from time after Mbeumo brushed off a feeble challenge by Konate and tucked away the third. At the other end, Wissa put Mbeumo clean through on goal, but Alisson expertly blocked the Cameroon forward's attempt.
When the ball bounced off France World Cup finalist Konate's leg and slid past Alisson from the corner, the hosts seized the lead. Mbeumo's corners proved to be a problem for the visitors, as Wissa scored twice but both goals were disallowed.
But four minutes before halftime, the DR Congo winger scored his third goal of the game with a spectacular header from Mathias Jensen's cross.
Even though Alisson got a touch on the ball and picked it up, referee Stuart Attwell's watch buzzed to signal that Wissa had ultimately scored. Joel Matip took the place of Van Dijk as one of three halftime substitutions because Klopp had had enough of the defensive chaos.
Despite being unlucky, Nunez did manage to score soon after the halftime after beating Raya one-on-one but was disallowed by VAR for offside. Soon after, Trent Alexander-alluring Arnold's cross was met by Oxlade-Chamberlain, who glanced in a header to give Liverpool a lead.
The Reds made a strong effort to equalize, but Raya was able to save a drive from Fabinho and Konate's header went wide.
Six minutes from time, Mbeumo buried the third after brushing off Konate's poor challenge, putting an end to Brentford's aspirations.
blogpay
Total Comments: 0