Liverpool storm back with ten minutes extra man advantage and sink Brentford in eight-minute blitz

Brentford had this game in hand for more than an hour. The Bees went ahead right before halftime, held on a man down in the second half and still ended up losing 1-2 to Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium. The comeback took just eight minutes, between the 61st and 69th, and told a very different story from the one taking shape in the first half.

The home side started better than expected and even had a penalty awarded in the 40th minute for a foul on Alexis Mac Allister, though VAR wound up overturning it. The reward came three minutes later: Keane Lewis-Potter headed home into the top corner, assisted by Igor Thiago, for the 1-0 that stood at the break.

The second half opened with a bizarre sequence: Yehor Yarmoliuk was shown a straight red card that VAR overturned in the 49th minute, though not for long, because three minutes later he was sent off again, this time for fighting. Down to ten men from the 52nd minute on, Brentford held on as best it could, but Liverpool started to turn the screw with Florian Wirtz pulling the strings.

The visitors' comeback

The equalizer came on the counterattack: Victor Munoz finished with his left foot just inside the post off a Wirtz assist in the 61st minute, making it 1-1. Eight minutes later, Alexander Isak made it 1-2 for good, tapping in from close range after a headed pass from Bradley Barcola. Brentford was reduced to ten men again when Vitaly Janelt picked up a second yellow in the 91st minute, with no time left to respond.

The match statistics reflect the control Liverpool gradually seized as the minutes wore on, amplified by Yarmoliuk's dismissal:

In post-match expected goals, Liverpool generated 1.481 to Brentford's 1.036, a gap that barely captures the numerical disadvantage the home side played through for nearly the entire second half.

Before kickoff, our projection gave Brentford a 42% chance of winning, against 31% for Liverpool and 27% for a draw, with expected goals of 1.66 for the home side and 1.42 for the visitors. The result ended up running in the exact opposite direction of that forecast, and Yarmoliuk's second-half red card had a lot to do with that swing.

In the standings, the result leaves Liverpool in fifth place with 12 points from seven games played, while Brentford sits sixth with 10 points from the same seven matches. The gap between the two sides is just 2 points, a sign of how tight this stretch of the Premier League is below the top spots, where Manchester City leads with 21 points and a perfect record.

Brentford leaves with the feeling of having let slip a lead built on merit, one it held onto even a man down for much of the second half. Liverpool, meanwhile, picks up three points that didn't look so certain on paper, leaning on the drive of Wirtz, who had a hand in both comeback goals, and the finishing of Isak to seal the win.