Brentford 1-2 Liverpool: result and report

Report

Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 at Brentford, but the extra man did as much to turn the game as anything they created. Brentford led at half-time, then played the whole second half with ten men. Liverpool used that advantage to score twice in eight minutes.

Keane Lewis-Potter gave Brentford the lead on 44 minutes, with Igor Thiago providing the assist. The lead held until the break, though the first half ended badly for the home side when Yegor Yarmolyuk was sent off deep into stoppage time.

Liverpool still needed until the hour to make the numerical advantage count. Víctor Muñoz equalised on 62 minutes from Florian Wirtz's pass. Alexander Isak scored the winner eight minutes later, set up by Bradley Barcola. Vitaly Janelt's second yellow card in stoppage time meant Brentford finished with nine men.

Plenty of shots, few clear openings

Liverpool had far more of the ball in the final third. They had 17 shots to Brentford's six, five on target to two, and 16 key passes to six. They also hit the woodwork, so the winning margin could have been wider.

Yet the quality of chances was much closer than those totals suggest. Liverpool finished with 1.76 xG to Brentford's 1.52, despite facing ten men for 45 minutes. Brentford also created two big chances to Liverpool's one. Liverpool kept shooting, but few of those efforts were the kind that open a game up.

Alexis Mac Allister was named player of the match even though he had neither a goal nor an assist. That fits a win built on steady pressure rather than a stream of clear chances.