Salah made a great return to the Liverpool lineup and broke down the opponents. But the price of victory is injury.
Dmitry Zimin February 17, 2024, 17:56 Moscow time
Jurgen Klopp’s team scored four goals against Brentford, but it seems they can continue without Jota.
In a week, Liverpool can win the first trophy of the season: the team, not without difficulties, advanced to the final of the League Cup, where it will play against Chelsea in the final. It is clear that the fans miss the titles. There hasn’t been one since 2022. And it’s great for inner confidence to have a cup as early as February. That’s why it might seem to some that all the thoughts of Jürgen Klopp and his boys are already there, in the decisive match. And the game against Brentford is not that important. He seems like an outsider with whom there should be no problem. However, the German coach’s cynical smile in the 10th minute spoke volumes. At the beginning of the match, the home team crushed the championship leader, to such an extent that there was reason to doubt Liverpool’s class.
No, there were no super dangerous moments or lack of defense. The hosts simply acted unexpectedly more aggressively, more actively and more intelligently. At the same time, the guests created the first really cool moment. Bradley flew into the box, playing alternately with Luis Díaz and Diogo Jota, and finally took up the attacking position. But he didn’t hit very hard and the Portuguese shot offside. Brentford could have scored within five minutes – it was Ivan Toney’s first try. He received the ball on the penalty line, flew towards it, but finished it wide of the goal.
The rest of the half seemed to add to Klopp’s problems. First, Curtis Jones fell to the grass, followed by Zhota. Two forced substitutions already in the first half. This takes into account that there are already problems with injured people, especially on the goal line, where Alison was eliminated. Not exactly the best news. But there are also positive aspects: in the interval between two substitutions, Liverpool opened the scoring. A monstrous miss from the center of defense sent Jota and Nunes flying towards goal and Darwin scored. And then, instead of the Portuguese, Mohamed Salah took the field: this is his first match after the injury suffered in the African Cup.
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The Egyptian could have scored almost with the first touch, but he postponed his effective actions until the second half. And there it was already very good. First I saw Alexis Mac Allister opening perfectly in the center and another mistake by the defenders. The Argentine made some casual touches and beat Flekken.
And in the 68th minute, “Pharaoh” finally returned. He ran sharply from the flank to the center, reacting to Cody Gakpo’s discount. He easily pushed Collins, who seemed afraid to intercept, and made it 3:0 in favor of his team.
Mohamed Salah
Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
It seemed like all this was going to end. With such errors in defense, Brentford, of course, had nothing to catch. But they still scored a goal. Tony took advantage of the opportunity on the second try, although this time everything was much easier. However, the locals’ final error led to the fourth goal against them. Gakpo played very well this time.
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Liverpool will face Luton in midweek and then Chelsea will face the English championship leaders. The fight in all tournaments and for all trophies continues. But it is more difficult for Brentford: Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal are ahead. How to avoid falling into the relegation zone before March.
