According to Andrew Robertson, Liverpool’s performance against Brentford was “not good enough,” as a series of defensive miscues prevented the Reds from getting closer to the top four in the Premier League.
At the Community Stadium, the Reds conceded three shoddy goals as Brentford triumphed victoriously.
Ibrahima Konate scored an own goal at a corner during the frantic first half, and after Liverpool narrowly avoided losing two more goals at set pieces due to offside decisions on video review, they fell two goals behind when Harvey Elliott made a mistake that allowed Mathias Jensen to set up Yoane Wissa.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain helped the Reds close the gap after manager Jurgen Klopp made three substitutions at the break, but a late Konate blunder allowed Bryan Mbeumo to secure the victory.
The Reds have already dropped 23 points this season, one more than they did the entire 2016–17 campaign. With a win, they would have moved up to fourth place by one point.
Defender Robertson remarked, “With the fans sitting at home or on the bus back up to Liverpool, it’s not good enough for them.”
“We’ve talked about consistency and other things, but we’re still having trouble.
Unfortunately, climbing the league table seems to be difficult at the moment because it feels like we are moving forward and backward at the same time.
Meanwhile, Brentford has improved to seventh place after going unbeaten in six games, its finest stretch in the top division in more than 80 years.
Another poor performance for Liverpool
When Klopp’s team defeated Leicester 2-1 last week, their defense was similar to that performance, but they were frequently exposed.
The first goal, which Konate unluckily flicked, was the result of Mbeumo racing clean through on the counterattack, forcing goalkeeper Alisson to save the defense.
The two ensuing corners saw the disorganized visitors completely out of their element. Fortunately, they survived both times as Wissa turned the ball home, but his attempt was disallowed because it hit an offside Ben Mee on the way in.
The Reds made a costly error seconds after the hosts got heated up as Elliott dropped the ball while attempting a dummy in his own half after the restart.
They got better after the break, with Virgil van Dijk being one of those substituted due to a hamstring injury, but in the 84th minute, when Konate was knocked off the ball by Mbeumo, he ought to have been stronger.
Jamie Carragher, a former Reds defender, claimed on Sky Sports that Liverpool needed to invest “£200m” in order to challenge at the top of the league once more, and Robertson, a player who was substituted at halftime, criticized the performance of the entire club.
We were always second to the ball in the first half, he claimed.
We needed to be quicker to the ball in the box, more combative inside our own half, and proactive in stopping corners from happening, but we weren’t.
“In the first half, we could have given up three goals.”
That performance [against Leicester] should have been a wake-up call that told the team, “Okay, we won, but now we need to put in a better effort,” he continued.
“Three days later, we delivered a disappointing performance. We must be consistent in our efforts.
No Toney, No Issue For Fought Brentford
With a victory over Liverpool to go along with exciting home victories over Manchester United and Arsenal since their return to the Premier League, this was another memorable night for Brentford playing under the lights.
Additionally, it marked their first triumph over Liverpool since 1938.
Given that Ivan Toney, their leading scorer, was out from the squad after suffering an injury in their 2-0 victory over West Ham on December 30, the triumph was all the more impressive.
Since their promotion, this is only their second Premier League victory without the striker, and their victory required a team effort.
After Darwin Nunez had maneuvered around goalkeeper David Raya in the opening seconds, center-back Mee made a critical save by clearing the ball off the line.
They poured forward in attack for the remainder of the first half, rattling Liverpool, and they stood their ground in the second half when it appeared that the tide was changing.
Van Dijk and Kostas Tsimikas, the other side of Klopp’s defense, were substituted in favor of Naby Keita to give the midfield more drive.
But after Trent Alexander-inswinging Arnold’s cross was finished by Oxlade-Chamberlain for his first goal in a year, Thomas Frank’s team worked hard to prevent Liverpool any other clear chances.
At the conclusion, Bees players and fans jubilantly celebrated a victory that made them ponder how high this team can yet soar.
Best player in the game
