Liverpool eased to a comfortable 4-1 win over Brentford to temporarily extend their Premier League lead to five points on Saturday. Darwin Nunez put the visitors ahead before the break before Alexis Mac Allister made it two in the second half. Mohamed Salah added a third on his return from injury before Cody Gakpo cancelled out Ivan Toney’s consolation for the Bees.
Mohamed Salah starred on his return to action as Liverpool moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League table courtesy of a thumping 4-1 victory at Brentford.
The visitors opened the scoring on 35 minutes when Darwin Nunez raced on to Diogo Jota’s superb header to exquisitely lob Mark Flekken and snare his 13th goal of the season.
Alexis Mac Allister doubled the advantage on 55 minutes when he took a pass from Salah – on as a first-half substitute – to stab a low shot into the corner.
Salah then made it a goal and an assist on his comeback from a hamstring injury as he raced after Cody Gakpo’s flick-on and fired into the corner for his 19th of the campaign.
Ivan Toney pulled one back with his fourth in five matches since serving a betting ban, but Gakpo capped Liverpool’s win with a clinical effort four minutes from time.
It was an excellent result in a tricky encounter on paper for the league leaders, but there was a sour note for Jurgen Klopp as both Curtis Jones and Jota left the field through injury in the opening 45 minutes, to add to a growing list of stars on the sidelines ahead of Sunday’s League Cup final with Chelsea at Wembley.
The result means the Merseysiders will finish the weekend at the summit, although title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal can close the gap again when they play later on Saturday.
Next up, Liverpool face Luton at Anfield on Wednesday night. Brentford visit Man City on Tuesday.
EUROSPORT
