Liverpool was able to find the scoring solution in the absence of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané by defeating Brentford 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday.
Brazilian midfielder Fabinho proved to be an unexpected scoring card, scoring his third in eight days, converting to open the scoring shortly before half-time.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and substitute Takumi Minamino increased the difference in the second half.
The 0-0 draw against a 10-man Arsenal for the League Cup on Thursday cast doubt on the goalscoring ability of Jürgen Klopp’s team as Salah and Mané are in Cameroon for the African Cup of Nations with their respective teams. . But this result provided more hope for the coming weeks.
After not conceding for the first time in five Premier League games and their first league win since mid-December, Liverpool moved past Chelsea to second in the standings but 11 points behind Manchester City with one game remaining.
The charges of corners had generated frustration for Liverpool in recent weeks, without creating danger in that way. But the Reds got ahead with stopped ball action.
Trent Alexander-Arnold provided his 10th assist in 21 matches by taking the corner kick that Fabinho headed towards the far post in the 44th minute.
Since the start of the 2018-19 season, Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller (64) and Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi (47) have accumulated more assists in Europe’s top five leagues than the right-back (42).
Liverpool got the second in the 69th when Andy Robertson’s cross from the left was headed in by Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Minamino came on shortly after for Oxlade-Chamberlain and redirected the ball in the 77th after a mistake by the Brentford defense. The London club remains 10 points above the relegation zone.
In the other game on Sunday, Jack Harrison scored a hat-trick as Leeds beat West Ham 3-2 despite suffering heavy casualties.
West Ham came from behind twice through goals from Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals, but Harrison’s third goal snapped the London club’s four-game winning streak.
The victory allowed the club led by Marcelo Bielsa to open a distance of nine points over relegation. West Ham is fourth, two points ahead of Arsenal with two more games remaining.
Leeds traveled to London without nine members of their first team — and two others were injured before half-time. They had seven teenagers, including 15-year-old Archie Gray, on the bench.
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