Premier League: Brentford capitalise on porous Liverpool defence to claim 3-1 win
The Bees' streak of six games without a loss in the Premier League was extended with a 3-1 victory over the Reds at the Community Stadium.
Liverpool lost a crucial away gameBrentford moved up to seventh place in the standings due to the victory, which Frank and his team celebrated with their fans after the final whistle.
"What a night! I can't praise the players enough, they are incredible," Frank told BBC Sport.
The team's mentality, effort, tenacity, and cohesion were evident in the win.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Magnificent win for Brentford, who have still never lost an EPL game when they've scored first. Thomas Frank got tactics spot on. Brentford clinical when it mattered, even without Ivan Toney, and soaked up pressure after a second-half Liverpool resurgence. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LFC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LFC</a> defensively soft. <a href="https://t.co/Y5i1SYpWa8">pic.twitter.com/Y5i1SYpWa8</a></p>— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) <a href="https://twitter.com/JacobsBen/status/1609996395620044802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate diverted a corner into his net for Brentford's first goal after 19 minutes.
Before Yoane Wissa made it 2-0, Liverpool saw two goals disallowed for offside in the first half.
After halftime, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored to give Liverpool a goal back, but late in the game, Bryan Mbeumo added a third to give the hosts a win after Darwin Nunez also had a goal disallowed for offside.
“Crazy, crazy . Because Liverpool is one of the top teams in the world, you must give 200% if you want to defeat them," Wissa told Sky Sports,
"I hope the fans appreciated it. Together, we put in a lot of effort. We did this because we played together. We must be modest and remain together because we now understand how the Premier League operates. Today, I had a chance to score a hat trick. Offside, then I got one, so it's fantastic that I scored twice. Everyone is content."
Ivan Toney, Brentford's top scorer and key forward, sustained a knee injury against West Ham and was out for the triumph.
As Liverpool suffered a devastating loss, Jurgen Klopp acknowledged they were unable to handle Brentford's distinct brand of "chaos" and lamented Darwin Nunez's "shooting technique".
Nunez had added to the growing list of chances in front of the goal he had lost by rounding David Raya only to have Ben Mee recover and clear the goal line.
According to Klopp, who replaced vital defender Virgil van Dijk before the break, Brentford uses set-pieces to create havoc. Liverpool's inability to deal with those meant they left West London empty handed.