Brentford beat Liverpool 3-1 to make it seven points from a possible nine over the festive period and climb to seventh in the Premier League.

Ibrahima Konate turned into his own net to give the Bees a 19th-minute lead, which Yoane Wissa doubled on the stroke of half-time.

Liverpool pulled one back through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain five minutes after the restart, but Brentford were not to be denied.

After keeping the Reds at bay, Bryan Mbeumo struck on the counter attack with six minutes to play to ensure a winning start to 2023.

The teams

Ivan Toney missed out due to injury, Wissa replacing him, while Vitaly Janelt came back in for Josh Dasilva.

Liverpool made three changes: Konstantinos Tsimikas, Fabinho and Konate replacing Andrew Robertson, Jordan Henderson and Joel Matip.

Brentford: Raya; Roerslev, Zanka, Pinnock, Mee, Henry (Bech 90+6); Norgaard, Janelt (Ghoddos 88), Jensen (Dasilva 73); Mbeumo (Canos 88), Wissa (Lewis-Potter 73)

Subs not used: Strakosha, Damsgaard, Crama, Trevitt

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk (Matip 46), Tsimikas (Robertson 46); Fabinho, Elliott (Keita 46), Thiago; Salah, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Jones 83), Nunez

Subs not used: Adrian, Gomez, Carvalho, Bajcetic, Phillips

Attendance: 17,163

First half

Liverpool made the brighter start; the pace of Darwin Nunez a particular threat in the early stages.

Zanka picked up an early yellow card for a foul on the Liverpool forward.

Nunez’s next involvement almost brought the opening goal as he latched onto Mohamed Salah’s through ball and rounded David Raya. His shot looked certain to find the back of the net but Ben Mee recovered to make a crucial goal-line intervention.

Brentford’s first effort on goal was a curling Janelt shot from 20 yards, which Alisson fielded easily.

Mbeumo then sent a back-post header bouncing wide before he was excellently denied by Alisson.

Christian Norgaard won the ball back on the edge of the Brentford box and played the ball into Wissa who turned and lifted a ball over the top for Mbeumo to run onto. The forward drove to the edge of the box and tried to beat Alisson at his near post but the Liverpool stopper got a strong hand to the ball and knocked it away.

There was nothing Liverpool’s Brazilian keeper could do, however, as the resulting corner, taken by Mbeumo, struck Konate’s knee and found the bottom corner.

Raya needed to be at his very best to maintain the advantage after Oxlade-Chamberlain’s quick feet opened up a shooting chance for Tsimikas at the back post; the left-back’s low effort looked destined for the bottom corner, but Raya got down quickly and turned away.

A Thiago error allowed Mathias Jensen in behind, but Fabinho recovered to bail his midfield partner out by diverting the shot over the bar.

Brentford had scored their first from a corner and thought they had a second set-piece goal just before the half-hour but, following a pair of blocked Janelt efforts, Wissa was offside when he finally forced it home.

Raya easily fielded a long-range Oxlade-Chamberlain shot and Konate had an effort blocked but it was Brentford who ended the half stronger and got their reward.

Again set-pieces were Liverpool’s downfall but not before another huge let-off as Wissa had a second goal disallowed for offside from a corner; Mee beyond the last man when Wissa’s volley clipped him on the way in.

However, it was very much a case of third time lucky for the Bees striker a minute later. Jensen, on his 150th Brentford appearance, delivered a peach of a cross which Wissa met with a powerful downward header. Alisson reacted well to claw it away but not before it had crossed the line.

Second half

Jurgen Klopp reacted with a triple change at half-time and the balance of play shifted with Liverpool very much on the front foot after the break.

Nunez thought he’d halved the arrears four minutes after the break with a delicate dinked finish but, for the third time on the evening, VAR checked and then disallowed a goal for offside.

There was no reprieve for the Bees. Two minutes later, Oxlade-Chamberlain met Alexander-Arnold’s left-footed cross and nodded past Raya from eight yards.

Liverpool’s tails were up but Brentford dug in. Raya made another fine low save as Fabinho shot low through a crowd of bodies. Thiago and Salah also saw shots deflected wide but for all their dominance on the ball, the visitors couldn’t open up a stubborn Brentford backline.

As it turned out, that Fabinho shot, which came with 35 minutes to play, was Liverpool’s final effort on target of the game as Brentford resolutely defended their box.

The Reds’ clearest sight of an equaliser fell to Nunez with 20 minutes to play but his low shot from the right-angle of the box was dragged closer to the corner flag than the goal.

A jinking run into the box from Salah brought another fine block from Mee, Konate heading the resulting out-swinging corner wide, before Brentford wrapped things up with six minutes to play.

Substitute Keane Lewis-Potter hassled Matip into losing possession in midfield and the loose ball dropped to Norgaard. Norgaard played a ball over the top which Mbeumo and Konate chased to get onto; the Liverpool man got there first but lost his balance, allowing Mbeumo to pick up the loose ball and slot past Alisson. Liverpool appealed for a foul on Konate but Stuart Attwell waved away their protests and Brentford had restored their two-goal lead.

Rico Henry made an important intervention to prevent Salah getting a shot off in the box but Brentford came closer to a fourth than Liverpool did to a second in the closing stages.

On the counter attack, Lewis-Potter delivered from the left with Alisson getting a vital touch to divert the ball away from the on-rushing Sergi Canos at the back post.

The final minutes of injury-time ticked away without incident as Brentford fans reveled in another special night under the Gtech lights.

Reaction: Thomas Frank

Head coach Thomas Frank thanked the Brentford fans for helping the team across the line during the ‘insane’ win against Liverpool. 

Reaction: Mathias Jensen

Mathias Jensen believes that Brentford’s ‘fighting spirit’ is the key factor behind the team’s impressive form in the Premier League.

Reaction: Yoane Wissa

Yoane Wissa praised Brentford’s resilience after the Bees’ 3-1 victory over Liverpool.