VAR takes back three goals
Klopp’s race to catch up suffers a severe setback
01/02/2023 9:27 p.m
With his fifth win in five games, Jürgen Klopp and his Liverpool FC would have slipped closer to the top of the Premier League table again. But it puts a damper on Brentford FC. The VAR has to take back three goals, the Reds cannot make up the deficit from the first half.
False start to the new year: team manager Jürgen Klopp has missed the fifth league win in a row with top English football club Liverpool FC. The Reds lost 3-1 (2-0) at Brentford FC. New signing and World Cup discovery Cody Gakpo was still unavailable.
In the lively game with three goals disallowed after video evidence, former Leipzig Bundesliga player Ibrahima Konaté scored an own goal in the 19th minute. Yoan Wissa (42nd minute) then made it 2-0 for Brentford after two goals had been disallowed for offside.
After Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal (50′), Bryan Mbeumo (84′) made the decision to make it 3-1. Liverpool, who remain sixth, also had Darwin Núñez’s goal disallowed for offside.
Despite their recent winning streak, Liverpool are lagging behind sporting expectations. The club remain sixth in the Premier League and a win would have seen them leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur to international standings.
Brentford, with Hamburg-born Vitaly Janelt in the starting XI, initially climbed three places and sorted themselves in behind Liverpool. Gakpo has not been called up by Klopp after the Dutchman was recently banned from training with the team due to work permit issues. Gakpo was hotly courted on the transfer market after his strong performances at the World Cup in Qatar. Liverpool had prevailed against the European club elite in poker for the 23-year-old from PSV Eindhoven.