Highlights, report and reaction: Liverpool 2 Brentford 0

Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah were on target as Brentford lost 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

Díaz rounded off a quick counter attack to give the hosts an early lead, before Salah netted midway through the second half. Christian Nørgaard and Nathan Collins went closest for the Bees who fought hard on Merseyside but to no avail.

Keane Lewis-Potter replaced Kevin Schade as the Bees switched to 3-5-2 for their second fixture of the Premier League season.

Fábio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg, back in familiar surroundings having swapped Anfield for the Gtech this month, were named among the substitutes. Ivan Toney, for the second week running, was not involved.

The hosts took the lead with their first effort at goal. Ibrahima Konaté rose highest to head away Mathias Jensen’s corner and Diogo Jota wriggled free of Vitaly Janelt to begin a lightening Liverpool counter attack. The forward slid the ball beyond the Bees’ backline and into the path of Díaz, who took it in in his stride before firing beyond Mark Flekken.

The Reds immediately went in search of a second. Andy Robertson exchanged passes with Díaz on his way into the box and Flekken got down quickly at his near post to push the ball out for a corner. Salah, found by Trent Alexander-Arnold in the area, blazed over under pressure from Nathan Collins.

Just before the half-hour mark, Alexander-Arnold’s curling free-kick from 20 yards cleared the wall but also the crossbar.

The Bees had a big chance to level moments later. Nørgaard made a clever run to get in front of marker Jota but didn’t make clean contact with his header and the ball bounced wide of Alisson’s left post.

Jensen saw a speculative strike from outside the box sail wide and Konaté headed Roerslev’s first-time cross out for a corner under pressure from Kristoffer Ajer as Brentford found a foothold and began to ask some questions of their hosts.

On 41 minutes, Alexander-Arnold, in an advanced position on the right, received a pass from Alexis Mac Allister, cut in on his left and pulled the trigger. A mean deflection off Collins wrong-footed Flekken but the ball flew over the bar.

At the other end, in the final action of the half, Lewis-Potter brought down Jensen’s cross-field pass, skipped past Alexander-Arnold and tested Alisson with a low strike from 20 yards.

Shortly after the restart, Jota’s overhead kick was headed towards goal by Robertson and Flekken bravely clawed to safety.

On 51 minutes, the lively Lewis-Potter scampered from the left flank to the edge of the Reds’ box and played a short pass to Mbeumo. The forward shifted the ball on to his left and saw his shot blocked by Konaté.

Collins then met Jensen’s inviting first-time cross with a header at the back post, forcing Alisson into a smart stop.

Moments later, Collins made a crucial intervention at the other end. Mac Allister lifted ball into the area, Alexander-Arnold cushioned it down and the Republic of Ireland international sniffed out the danger to position himself between Jota and the goal and make a last-ditch block.

Just after the hour mark, Alexander-Arnold’s in-swinging corner struck Flekken’s near post. Liverpool recycled the ball, the full-back delivered another devilish cross into the box and Konaté headed straight at the keeper.

Flekken then made a superb stop to deny Díaz, who struck hard and low from in line with the penalty spot having been found by Salah.

But Liverpool weren’t to be denied a second. Mac Allister and Díaz combined to tee up Salah, who coolly lifted the ball over the on-rushing Flekken and into the back of the net.

During the final 10 minutes, Collins was again in the right place at the right time to prevent Liverpool from extending their advantage, diverting substitute Cody Gakpo’s powerful drive from the edge of the box on to the crossbar.

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold (Bradley 72), Konaté, van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch (Endo 90+1), Mac Allister; Salah, Jota (Núñez 72), Díaz (Gakpo 72)

Subs not used: Kelleher, Gomez, Elliott, Tsimikas, Quansah

Brentford: Flekken; Collins, Pinnock, Ajer; Roerslev, Janelt (Onyeka 73), Nørgaard, Jensen (Carvalho 66), Lewis-Potter (Damsgaard 66); Mbeumo, Wissa (Schade 73)

Subs not used: Valdimarsson, van den Berg, Mee, Yarmoliuk, Trevitt

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Frank: Our best half of football at Anfield

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank assessed his side’s defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, where he was particularly pleased with the Bees’ first-half performance on Merseyside.

“It was a game of two halves. First half, I thought we were very good and it was very even – it was a good match actually,” said Frank.

“We pressed well, we defended well and we limited Liverpool; they basically had nothing besides their goal, which came from our corner.

“We were this close to the first contact and then lost the 50/50 on the edge of the box – we have to deal with those situations better.

“Second half, we were still in it – we had the Nathan Collins chance from the corner, which shows we are a constant threat – but then they score and then it’s very difficult.

“We lost fair and square, but the first half was our best half of football here at Anfield.”

Lewis-Potter finds positives

Keane Lewis-Potter stressed that there were positives to take from Brentford’s performance at Anfield.

“It’s a tough one to take,” he said.

“We spoke about the need to stop their transitions, and the first goal was a transition from our corner.

“But we caused them a few problems, particularly during the first half on set-pieces. In the second half, Nathan [Collins] had a header that could have changed the game completely.

“The positives are there from the first half. We defended well and we did have chances.”