Prior to Saturday’s game, Liverpool were two points clear at the top of the table, Jurgen Klopp received his 10th Premier League ‘manager of the month’ award and Diogo Jota was named the ‘player of the month’ in the wake of some excellent recent form.
Despite all of those positives Liverpool arrived at Brentford’s G-tech community stadium having never won there before and without key players like Allison Becker and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
It felt like a tricky away game at a key point in Liverpools title charge, but in the end they made things look relatively simple with a fantastic 4-1 victory.
A good run of form from Liverpool’s South American stars continued in London as they had too much firepower for the Bee’s. Luis Díaz combined fantastically with young Conor Bradley to give Liverpool their first clear chance of the game.
Brentford had played well in the first period, but they also allowed their visitors too much time and space on the counter-attack, and eventually they were punished.
Virgil Van Dijk’s clearance from a Brentford corner was met wonderfully by Diogo Jota. The Portuguese forward was fantastic for Liverpool until he was strtechered off before half-time, but he made his mark before leaving the field of play.
Jota dealt with the high ball from Van Dijk in expert fashion, cushioning a header into the path of Nuñez to race towards goal unchallenged.
Nuñez arguably could have squared the ball back for Diogo Jota to roll into an empty net, but instead he provided his own piece of genius and scooped the ball over the on-rushing Brentford keeper Mark Flekken.
Considering some of Nuñez’s well documented mishaps in front of goal it came as a surprise to everyone that he didn’t simply opt to side-foot the ball past the keeper; but this is Darwin.
The forward is an enigma that Liverpool fans are still getting to know and love. For all his quality and physical presence; composure is not a word that you would associate with the Uruguayan, yet he finished today’s big opportunity like the most composed man on the planet.
Nuñez was brought off at half-time in what may prove to be yet another injury problem for the Reds, on a day where Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota also had to be substituted.
The Reds didn’t plan to leave London with three injuries and will hope they aren’t too severe. At least they left with three points.
Liverpool’s Argentine midfielder Alexis Mac Allister doubled their lead early in the second-half. The ex-Brighton man poked home after drifting into the box and receiving a pass from Mo Salah.
Alexis was fortunate to avoid a yellow card after he committed various fouls during the game, but his goal came at a crucial time for the visitors and perhaps closed the door on Brentford’s hopes of a comeback.
Mo Salah made his 27th appearance from the bench for Liverpool, and scored his 13th goal in those games to make it 3-0 to the Reds.
The Egyptian’s return from injury is a welcome break for a Liverpool side with a busy treatment room and a run of crucial fixtures coming up, including next weekend’s League Cup Final against Chelsea.
Brentford would pull a goal back through Ivan Toney, but not long afterwards Luis Díaz provided the assist as Cody Gakpo completed a fabulous 4-1 victory for the league leaders. The Reds return to Merseyside with the win and their place at the top of the table secure for another week at least.
