If Liverpool’s spluttering forwards end up remembering this as the day when their luck turned then they will owe a big debt of gratitude to Yehor Yarmolyuk. This was a game with a very clear before and after. Andoni Iraola will hope surviving one of the toughest tests the Premier League has to offer is a sign his methods are starting to work, but Liverpool’s new manager will not forget that it was a very different contest after Yarmolyuk’s red card for a head-butt on Jérémy Jacquet left Brentford trying to defend a 1-0 lead with 10 men for the entire second half.
Brentford, who later lost Vitaly Janelt to a second yellow card, could not hold out. They raged at John Brooks’ officiating after squandering their unbeaten start but they only had themselves to blame after tumbling out of the top four. The reality for Keith Andrews is that Brentford pressed the self-destruct button when they had Liverpool on the ropes. Yarmolyuk was never going to get away it in the video assistant referee era and Liverpool made the midfielder pay.
