.png)
5 hours ago
1
The Brentford fans ought to have known better. After all, Darwin Núñez had scored a fabulous goal against their team in the corresponding fixture here last season. Still, when Núñez entered as a 65th minute substitute, they were ready with their taunt, one that compared him unfavourably to his one-time Liverpool predecessor, Andy Carroll.
Núñez had travelled to London having scored only four times all season. The scrutiny burned. It was no kind of return for an £85m record signing. Arne Slot had insisted he would come good, that it was simply a matter of getting him into the right spaces and situations against deep-set opponents. How it would work out at the very end for Núñez and Liverpool.
The initial signs were not good – a misdirected header, a wild blast into the stands. Liverpool had turned the screw throughout, raining in shots on the Brentford goal. When the board went up to show four additional minutes, they had tried 35 – without success.
Finally, they got one to work and Núñez’s delight knew no bounds, the celebrations suitably wild. Another substitute, Harvey Elliott, had sparked the move up the inside right and when Trent Alexander-Arnold got the break of the ball, he crossed low and there was Núñez to sweep home.
There was more. It was another Elliott assist and another Núñez finish; this one lashed high into the net, utterly emphatic. “You’re just a shit Andy Carroll,” came the chant. This time, it was delivered with collective mischief from the travelling Liverpool supporters.
Liverpool needed this after the draws against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest; after dropping points in four of their previous seven Premier League games. They not only embellished the division’s best away record; the only unbeaten one. They once again laid down the gauntlet to their challengers.
It was a slow burn contest, which had certainly started in that vein, Slot watching and waiting, trying to figure Brentford out. Thomas Frank’s team were difficult to classify in terms of a set formation, plenty of shifting parts. Bryan Mbeumo had the license to roam off the right wing. Mikkel Damsgaard embraced his No 10 role.
Brentford tried to work the give-and-goes; they made quick switches, some of them to isolate Mbeumo against Kostas Tsimikas, whom Slot started at left-back ahead of Andy Robertson.
Brentford had flickers. Damsgaard could not react early on to tap home a deflected Mads Roerslev cross; was Roerslev offside? Christian Norgaard sent a header wide from an Mbeumo free-kick.
It was Liverpool who enjoyed the bigger chances. Slowly but surely, they worked their patterns, stretching Brentford, gaining control. Their most eye-catching moment of the first period came on 35 minutes when Dominik Szoboszlai took a touch, looked up from 25 yards and thought: why not? The technique on the right-footed drive was sumptuous. The shot fizzed past Mark Flekken and rattled the crossbar.
Liverpool had their regrets. Szoboszlai had started to get into dangerous areas. Twice he had quickened the pulse only to lack the finish, the second after a mazy dribble through a crowd of Brentford defenders.
It felt as though Liverpool were going to break the game open before half-time, especially when Cody Gakpo sparked a quick transition and did not stop to admire the crossfield pass. Szoboszlai found Mohamed Salah who went back across for Gakpo but his final action was neither a dinked finish nor a pass, the ball slipping past the far post.
Earlier, Luis Díaz, who played as a false nine, could not execute a slightly awkward header from Ibrahima Konaté’s floated cross; Díaz’s contact was off his shoulder. He seemed to lose his bearings. Ryan Gravenberch had also worked Flekken from distance.
Slot had to like how it unfolded. The sizing up had worked and Liverpool came to hold the game in their grip. They pushed onto the front foot. All-out attack Brentford became all about holding their defensive shape.
Liverpool continued to threaten after the second-half restart, driving in the transitions, looking to play in those runners on the overlap. They just wanted something clear cut. It was about remaining patient as the tension crackled.
Díaz would see a low shot turned away by Flekken and, after Slot swapped the striker for Núñez, the scene felt set. When another replacement, Robertson, bent over a cross, the chance was there. Núñez’s header was off-target. There would also be the moment when he snatched horribly at an effort from outside the area.
After Alexis Mac Allister had headed into the side-net, the game became a little more stretched or at least it was not entirely Brentford’s defence versus Liverpool’s attack. Brentford had a few moments, mainly Mbeumo-inspired. Yoane Wissa would trouble Alisson at the goalkeeper’s near post.
Liverpool continued to push, they continued to shoot. Alexander-Arnold fizzed one past the post. Salah did the same. Núñez would tear through the frustration.
