Brentford 1-2 Liverpool: Isak Scores Winner as Reds Complete Comeback

Liverpool travelled to West London to take on a Brentford side yet to lose a game this campaign.

Andoni Iraola's side were looking to back up an impressive away victory against LASK with a statement result against the Bees on Saturday afternoon.

But would Keith Andrews' side continue their sensational start to the season, or could Iraola's Reds be the first to defeat Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium?

The big team news going into this game was the return of the injured trio Alexander Isak, Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo. 

Isak and Szoboszlai returned straight into the starting XI in place of Lewis Koumas and the suspended Ryan Gravenberch.

Gakpo would begin the game on the bench for Liverpool, with the return of three important players for the Merseyside club a timely boost as they embark on a busy fixture schedule, as highlighted by Andoni Iraola prior to the game.

Other changes included Victor Munoz returning to the side in place of Rio Ngumoha, Milos Kerkez in place of Kostas Tsimikas, and the return of Virgil van Dijk to the heart of the LFC defence with Jeremie Frimpong coming out of the side.

The first real chance of the game fell to Liverpool as a counterattack down the right-hand side fell to Dominik Szoboszlai on the edge of the box, but his shot sailed into the stands.

15 minutes in, the game remained very scrappy, with both sides trying to figure each other out. 

The pressing and intensity were there from LFC, with the most promising opportunity coming from winning the ball high up the pitch and slipping in Barcola, who tried to get the ball into the box, which was blocked by a recovering Van den Berg for Brentford.

Michael Kayode had Brentford's first chance of the fixture from the edge of the box on the right, but it was deflected behind by captain Virgil van Dijk.

The Reds were finding some joy on the counterattack, especially after a Brentford corner, as the Bees looked vulnerable defensively.

This was shown as Bradley Barcola chased down the ball, nicked it off the unaware Brentford defender, leaving himself one-on-one with Kelleher, but the Frenchman chipped the ball just wide of the post.

The home side has a really good chance with Igor Thiago after a ball is squared across the box by Dango Ouattara, but a heroic piece of defending from Jeremy Jacquet prevents a clear shot on target for the Brazilian striker.

A blow for the Reds, with Dominik Szoboszlai going down off the ball, as he looked to have picked up an injury setback, just half an hour into his return, with Trey Nyoni coming on in the Hungarian international's place.

Bradley Barcola had another chance on the edge of the penalty area, but again, like Szoboszlai's at the start of the game, his shot was comfortably over Kelleher's crossbar.

Liverpool thought they had a penalty with five minutes to go in the first half, after Mac Allister went down in the box, but the decision was overturned by VAR after it was deemed that Dango Ouattara got the ball first, before any contact with the Argentinian midfielder.

And Brentford, after a crucial call went their way, would deal LFC a double blow.

A neat chip into the box by Igor Thiago allowed Keane Lewis-Potter to run onto the floating ball and bury a header past a helpless Alisson, 1-0 Brentford right before half-time.

In additional time of the first 45 minutes, the referee and VAR made a major decision. 

Moments before a corner was taken, Bees midfielder Yehor Yarmoliuk got into a physical altercation with Jeremy Jacquet before Yarmoliuk pushed his head against Jacquet's.

After a delay of nearly five minutes, referee John Brooks was eventually called to the monitor and decided to send off the Ukrainian midfielder, leaving Brentford down to 10 men, but 1-0 up at half time.

At half-time, Andoni Iraola would make a change, with Jeremie Frimpong coming on for Ronald Araujo as he looked to have his side more on the front foot in this second half, especially given the man advantage.

However, the Dutch full-back would last just seven minutes until he was substituted off with an injury, with Rio Ngumoha coming on in his place.

From a corner, Ngumoha takes on his defender, chips the ball into the box, Van Dijk has a swing, but it goes well wide.

A breakthrough for Liverpool would come shortly after, as Wirtz played Victor Munoz through on the right wing; he chopped inside onto his left foot and placed his strike into the bottom left corner, 1-1.

With momentum behind them, the Reds piled on the pressure and eventually found their second goal.

A ball into the box, nodded down by Bradley Barcola, and hit by Alexander Isak, and it found the back of the net, 2-1 to Liverpool.

Brentford kept on going, despite the setback in this second half.

Aaron Hickey runs down the left, slides the ball across the six-yard box to an onrushing Igor Thiago.

But the number nine couldn't sort his feet out, and the Merseyside club cleared.

Bradley Barcola, who was a threat all game, picked the ball up inside the box following a corner, and he clipped a ball towards Kelleher's far corner; however, the strike hit the crossbar and cleared by Brentford.

The next 10-15 minutes would become very scrappy, with neither team really able to keep hold of the ball long enough to create any meaningful opportunities.

The best chance fell to Barcola again, who, in a 3v3 counterattack, tried to take his defender on, but was tackled, and the opportunity yet again evaded the forward.

Another red card for the home side, as Rio Ngumoha ran towards the Brentford goal, and Vitaly Janelt pushed him over and was given a second yellow card, and he was off, leaving the Bees with nine men for the final five minutes.

With all this extra space, Iraola's side had a final counter late in the game.

Bradley Barcola and Lewis Koumas were 2v1 with Kelleher, the French winger squared it to Koumas, but Brentford recovered and cleared their lines.

The game finished 2-1, and Andoni Iraola's side left the Gtech Community Stadium with three points, inflicting Brentford's first defeat of the season.