Alexander Isak's second-half winner secured Liverpool a 2-1 comeback victory at Brentford, who finished with nine men after two red cards. The win follows last week's 3-0 demolition of Manchester City and marks successive away victories for Andoni Iraola's side.
Red card changes the game
Brentford took the lead through Keane Lewis-Potter's superb header from Igor Thiago's cross. But the visitors were given a lifeline when referee John Brooks dismissed Yehor Yarmoliuk for a headbutt on Jeremy Jacquet. Brooks, who had earlier overturned a Liverpool penalty following a check that showed a vital touch from Dango Ouattara's tackle, reached for the red card after video consultation.
Brooks later sent off Vitaly Janelt as Keith Andrews' battling side ended the game with nine men and plenty of pride but, crucially, no points. The points instead headed back to Merseyside, leaving Iraola to reflect on how having game-changing players in your squad can sometimes be enough to change games.
Iraola's bold tactical move
Liverpool largely struggled to make in-roads when it was 11 versus 11 and, like City last week, they were simply in possession of enough quality to make their numerical advantage count when it really mattered. Full credit to Liverpool's head coach, however, because the decision to overlook Joe Gomez and instead move Victor Munoz to right-back and bring on Rio Ngumoha was as inspired as it was bold.
Iraola's bravery was rewarded when Wirtz fed a marauding Munoz, who had acres of space to dart into down the flank. The Spaniard's smart chop inside opened up the space for him to guide a left-footed finish past Kelleher and level the game. Credit where it is also due for Wirtz, whose perfectly weighted pass brought his 11th assist for the club since his £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2025. Only Rayan Cherki (16) has more open-play assists during that time for Premier League clubs.
Isak's moment of class
Isak, a player who cost £125m, was anonymous in the first half, but came alive at the perfect time, taking a touch to control Barcola's knock-down before firing home with his left foot. "It was about concentration," Isak said after the game. "I didn't have too many chances and was waiting for my moment. I just tried to get control of the ball and finish as quickly as possible. Luckily it went in. You've got to be ready for when your chance pops up."
That's five now for the campaign and double figures will be the next milestone for him. Jeremie Frimpong, introduced to inject more thrust at right-back, lasted just six minutes before being withdrawn with what is suspected to be a muscle issue. Having already seen the returning Dominik Szoboszlai's afternoon cut short with what is thought to be a recurrence of his own hamstring problem, it's another worry for Iraola, who is seeing his numbers diminish just as the fixture list is piling up.
Janelt's red card only infuriated the home crowd further in stoppage time and Barcola continued to make a meal of promising breaks that should have put the game to bed, but Liverpool did enough. After hard-fought wins against Bournemouth and Brentford away from home, Iraola, slowly, is starting to rebuild this Reds side's character. It may take some time to bring it all together but things appear to at least be moving in the right direction.
