Jurgen Klopp on Liverpool's 3-3 draw at Brentford on Saturday Night Football: "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."
Sunday 26 September 2021 10:27, UK
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp conceded Premier League new boys Brentford were worth a point in their 3-3 draw at the end of a 'wild ride' in the capital.
Klopp's men twice gave away leads at the Brentford Community Stadium in an early contender to be one of the games of the season, and missed the chance to move three points ahead of Chelsea and Manchester United in the table after their respective losses earlier in the day.
The Reds have still picked up more than two points per game across their opening six matches but will rue an opportunity lost, having taken maximum points from all games bar their draw with Chelsea coming into Saturday's tea-time kick-off.
"It was a wild ride," Klopp told Sky Sports. "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.
"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. We should have scored more. If we win 3-2 or 4-3 we still have these struggles defensively. Toney and Mbeumo did really well.
"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."
Mo Salah became the fastest player in Liverpool history to score 100 top-flight goals for the club with his second-half finish, only weeks after reaching 100 Premier League goals in total in the fifth-lowest number of games in the division's history.
Despite continuing to break individual records, Klopp said his Egyptian forward would likely not be in celebratory mood.
He said: "We gave him a shirt a couple of weeks ago with 100 on the back, we might have to give him another one now.
"I know Mo, he's now sitting in the dressing room and thinking about the two chances he didn't score. He'll probably be the quickest player to score 150 goals too - it's an outstanding achievement, no doubt."
Having beaten Arsenal in their first ever Premier League game, Brentford claimed another scalp of sorts by denying Liverpool victory, and also became the first team to score three times against them in a league match since Leicester in February.
"I'm crazy proud of the players and the way they kept going," said Bees head coach Thomas Frank. "I can't remember when a team in the Premier League have scored three goals against them, especially when they've been in front.
"I think going forward we were unbelievably good. We can do better, we need to do more for the first two goals, and then we needed some big saves from David [Raya] but they also cleared off the line.
"We could have won it in the end. Coming back twice showed unbelievable character, we constantly wanted to go forward. I wanted us to defend a bit more, we gave more chances away than we have done in the first five games, but you need that big moment if you're going to get points against the big teams."
