MO SALAH returned from injury with a bang – only to watch key Liverpool team-mates swap places with him in the treatment room.
Salah’s assist and goal on his first appearance since a hamstring problem killed off the game and sealed the victory that kept the Reds clear at the top of the table.
But Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of fielding anything like a first-choice team for next weekend’s Carabao Cup Final were dealt a triple blow.
Klopp had already lost Curtis Jones when Diogo Jota was taken off on a stretcher and replaced by Salah.
Then Darwin Nunez, scorer of the brilliant opening goal, did not come out for the second half.
Alexis Mac Allister extended the visitors’ lead from Salah’s pass then the Egyptian, after missing earlier chances, made the most of more poor Brentford defending to make it three.
Ivan Toney pulled one back with 15 minutes to go, but another howler by Nathan Collins allowed Luis Diaz to play in Cody Gakpo for the fourth.
At least the number of goals exceeded the injuries, but if the gap at the top remains clear, Klopp’s options in the short and medium term are not.
An open, attractive game began with a chance for the Bees. After a quick throw-in, Christian Norgaard found Vitaly Janelt unmarked in the box but the midfielder dragged his shot well off target.
Home ‘keeper Mark Flekken was soon forced into an excellent double save, first keeping out Conor Bradley’s cut effort then blocking Diogo Jota’s follow-up.
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Back came Brentford and a lovely move ended with Neal Maupay rolling the ball into Toney’s path, only for his striker partner to send a left-foot shot a good distance wide.
He soon sent a tame free kick straight into Caoimhin Kelleher’s arms.
And when released by Maupay in the channel, he could not put enough on his shot when under pressure from Ibrahima Konate.
At the other end, Jota forced another sharp stop from Flekken.
Norgaard failed to hit the target with another presentable chance before Liverpool took the lead.
Flekken went from taking a free kick to picking the ball out of his net within seconds.
The visitors cleared untidily with a punt by Virgil Van Dijk but what followed was perfection.
Jota’s header was weighted and directed just where Nunez wanted it. The Uruguayan charged on at pace and sent the most delicious chip over the Brentford keeper and under the bar.
But the Reds suffered their second injury blow of the afternoon before half time.
Curtis Jones had been forced off earlier, then Jota was taken off on a stretcher after Norgaard fell on him.
On came Salah to a chorus of welcome from the away fans.
The Egyptian King should have scored in the third of eight minutes of stoppage time, but Diaz’s cross just bounced off him.
Worse news for the Reds followed when Nunez did not emerge for the second half, and was replaced by Gakpo.
Diaz, the one Liverpool forward who deserved to go off, created an opening but sent his shot over the bar.
Then Salah wasted another fine opportunity.
Van Dijk’s header sent him clean through but his reluctance to use his right foot led to him jabbing a weird left-footed shot wide.
No matter. Moments later Salah made the second goal.
His pass found Mac Allister and the Argentinian World Cup winner outdid Kristoffer Ajer before jabbing home.
Bradley, giving another fine performance in Alexander-Arnold’s place, just cleared the bar with his own effort.
Liverpool were finding life a little too easy, so Brentford boss Thomas Frank made a triple substitution.
Ajer’s block stopped Diaz earning Salah another assist. But soon he had a goal.
Gakpo won the header against Ajer, who was then let down by both his centre back partners.
Ben Mee just left the ball for Salah ran on to and when Nathan Collins came across, he failed to stop Salah hitting a shot across Flekken to make it 3-0.
The Bees felt a flutter of hope when Toney followed up to score after Kelleher made a superb stop from Sergio Reguilon.
The home team threatened little, though, until Collins was guilty of another rank piece of defending.
The former Wolves man allowed the ball to go through him, leaving Diaz to find Gakpo and the Dutchman to find the net.
Flekken kept out a late Harvey Elliott free kick, Van Dijk hit the bar and Kelleher made a save himself in between, but this was a relegation performance from Brentford.
Injuries may yet play a big role in whether this is a trophy-winning season for Liverpool.
Remind yourself how the game unfolded with our live blog below.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
