If you could distill it, it could fuel the country. That was in effect Brentford boss Thomas Frank’s sentiment as he praised his team’s high-octane spirit after the 3-3 draw with Liverpool on Saturday.
A game that had everything – atmosphere, goals, stolen leads and a late leveller from Yoane Wissa – ended all square at the Brentford Community Stadium as the Bees once again went toe-to-toe with the Premier League elite.
Having already dismantled Arsenal here, Brentford appear undaunted when up against “bigger” opposition.
It is the same up-from-the-Championship enthusiasm that saw Leeds rumble the big boys last season, and Sheffield United the year before that.
“If we could bottle this up then there’d be no problem with the petrol crisis,” said Frank after an enthralling encounter that has Brentford ninth in the table after six games.
“We played brave with big determination throughout the game. The second half, when they went 2-1 up, we stayed in the game and then in the end we maybe could have won it.”
Goals from Ethan Pinnock and Diogo Jota saw the two sides trade blows in the first half, before Mohamed Salah scored his 100th Reds goal in the Premier League to put the visitors ahead.
Vitaly Janelt then hit back only for Curtis Jones to nudge Liverpool in front again. Yet Wissa’s cool finish following a scramble in the box earned the Bees a deserved point.
“I’m very, very pleased that we were able to score three goals,” added Frank.
“A lot of teams haven’t created many chances against them. We managed to capitalise today and I’m very pleased with that. We tried to play, to attack. I believe if you play offensive and if you are attacking there’s a bigger chance to get a result.
”As for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, he was left to rue missed chances but conceded the rollercoaster game had probably been good for the neutral viewer.
“[I’m] not sure enjoy is the right word. It was a wild ride,” he said.
“They deserved their three goals for the way they played. We obviously couldn’t deal with the long balls today but we should have scored more goals.”
Liverpool had shipped just one goal in the Premier League all season before Saturday’s encounter and Klopp said he wasn’t particularly worried about the defensive performance in west London.
“They deserved it. I don’t think you can control them much better, we created a lot of clear-cut chances but couldn’t deal with them defensively. These things happen,” he said.
“We should have scored more. If we win 3-2 or 4-3 we still have these struggles defensively. (Ivan) Toney and (Bryan) Mbuemo did really well. Brentford deserved a point.
“I have no problem with accepting when you play this kind of football. That’s football. You have to create things to deserve to win.
“They deserved a point as well because they put up a proper fight. I respect that a lot. In the end there were situations we should do better – and then it could be a completely different game. Their goalie should have number 10 on his shirt with the balls that he played.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/39APJon
Post a Comment