Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah scored as Brentford lost 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Díaz finished off a quick counterattack to give the hosts an early lead before Salah struck midway through the second half. Christian Nørgaard and Nathan Collins came closest for the Bees, who fought hard on Merseyside, but to no avail.
Keane Lewis-Potter replaced Kevin Schade as the Bees switched to a 3-5-2 formation for their second game of the Premier League season.
Fábio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg, who returned to Gtech from Anfield this month, were among the substitutes, with Ivan Toney missing for the second week in a row.
The hosts took the lead with their first attempt on goal. Ibrahima Konaté leapt highest to head away Mathias Jensen’s corner and Diogo Jota wriggled away from Vitaly Janelt to set up a lightning-fast Liverpool counterattack. The striker slotted the ball behind the Bees’ defence and into the path of Díaz, who calmly received it and fired it past Mark Flekken.
The Reds immediately looked for a second goal. Andy Robertson played passes with Díaz on his way into the box and Flekken quickly pounced at his near post to tip the ball wide and win a corner. Salah, found in the box by Trent Alexander-Arnold, shot over under pressure from Nathan Collins.
Shortly before the half-hour mark, Alexander-Arnold’s curved free kick from 18 meters not only went over the wall, but also over the crossbar.
The Bees had a great chance to equalise shortly afterwards. Nørgaard cleverly ran forward to get in front of marker Jota, but his header was off target and the ball bounced past Alisson’s left post.
Jensen’s speculative shot from outside the box went wide and Konaté headed Roerslev’s first cross for a corner under pressure from Kristoffer Ajer. Brentford now found their footing and began to cause the hosts some problems.
In the 41st minute, Alexander-Arnold received a pass from Alexis Mac Allister in an advanced position on the right, cut in to the left and fired. A nasty rebound from Collins wrong-footed Flekken, but the ball flew over the bar.
At the other end, in the final action of the half, Lewis-Potter received Jensen’s cross pass, skipped over Alexander-Arnold and tested Alisson with a low shot from 18 meters.
Shortly after the restart, Robertson headed Jota’s overhead kick towards goal and Flekken bravely saved it.
In the 51st minute, the lively Lewis-Potter sprinted from the left to the edge of the Reds’ box and played a short pass to Mbeumo. The striker pushed the ball to the left and his shot was blocked by Konaté.
Collins then responded with a header to Jensen’s tempting direct shot at the far post, forcing Alisson into a brilliant save.
Moments later, Collins made a decisive save at the other end. Mac Allister lifted the ball into the box, Alexander-Arnold cushioned it and the Irish international sensed danger, placed himself between Jota and the goal and blocked at the last second.
On the hour mark, Alexander-Arnold’s inside-kicked corner bounced off Flekken’s near post. Liverpool won the ball back, the full-back delivered another devilish cross into the box and Konaté headed straight at the goalkeeper.
Flekken then made an excellent save to prevent Díaz from shooting hard and flat from close range towards the penalty spot that Salah had found.
But Liverpool did not let a second goal slip away. Mac Allister and Díaz played the ball together to Salah, who coolly put the ball over the onrushing Flekken and into the net.
In the final ten minutes, Collins was again in the right place at the right time to prevent Liverpool from extending their lead, deflecting substitute Cody Gakpo’s powerful shot from the edge of the box onto the crossbar.
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold (Bradley 72), Konaté, van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch (Endo 90+1), Mac Allister; Salah, Jota (Núñez 72), Díaz (Gakpo 72)
Unused substitutes: Kelleher, Gomez, Elliott, Tsimikas, Quansah
Brentford – Statistics & current form spots; Collins, Pinnock, Ajer; Roerslev, Janelt (Onyeka 73), Nørgaard, Jensen (Carvalho 66), Lewis-Potter (Damsgaard 66); Mbeumo, Wissa (Schade 73)
Unused substitutes: Valdimarsson, van den Berg, Mee, Yarmoliuk, Trevitt
Frank: Our best football half at Anfield
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank analyzed his team’s defeat to Liverpool at Anfield and was particularly pleased with the Bees’ first-half performance on Merseyside.
“The game consisted of two halves. In the first half, I think we were very good and balanced – actually it was a good game,” said Frank.
“We pressed well, defended well and kept Liverpool at bay. Apart from their goal, which came from our corner, they basically had nothing to offer.
“We were The shortly before the first contact and then lost the 50/50 on the edge of the penalty area – we have to deal with situations like this better.
“In the second half we were still in it – we had Nathan Collins’ chance from a corner, which shows that we are a constant threat – but then they score and then it is very difficult.
“We lost fair and square, but the first half was our best half here at Anfield.”
Lewis Potter finds positives
Keane Lewis-Potter stressed that Brentford’s performance at Anfield also brought positives.
“This is hard to cope with,” he said.
“We talked about stopping their transitions and the first goal was a transition from our corner.
“But we caused them some problems, especially in the first half on set pieces. In the second half Nathan (Collins) had a header that could have completely changed the game.
“The first halves have positive aspects. We defended well and had chances.”
