Liverpool stay unbeaten at home as Salah brace helps down Brentford

Liverpool — Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool maintained their 100% winning record at Anfield this season with a 3-0 victory over Brentford on Sunday, their sixth successive Premier League win at home.

Salah — who now has 200 goals in English football with Liverpool and Chelsea — became the first player yet to score in each of Liverpool’s first six home league games of a season as Juergen Klopp’s side climbed over Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal into second in the table on 27 points after 12 games.

Brentford, whose three-match winning run ended, are 10th on 16 points.

Darwin Nunez had two first-half efforts disallowed for offside as the sense of an impending goal grew. Talisman Salah finally broke the deadlock in the 39th minute after Trent Alexander-Arnold drilled a pass to Nunez who slipped it to Salah behind Brentford’s defence for a left-footed finish into the far corner.

The 31-year-old Salah headed in his second at the back post in the 62nd minute after Kostas Tsimikas slid to keep the ball in play on the byline. Diogo Jota scored in the 74th when he cut inside and bent the ball inside the far corner past keeper Mark Flekken. 

Elsewhere West Ham United’s Tomas Soucek powered home a late header to seal a topsy-turvy 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest and end their winless streak.

Soucek got on the end of James Ward-Prowse’s corner to seal the points for the Hammers who had gone four games without a victory in the league after a bright start to the campaign.

Forest only had themselves to blame with some slipshod defending, beginning in the third minute when a wayward pass by Nicolas Dominguez allowed Lucas Paqueta to fire home.

The visitors equalised just before the break when Taiwo Awoniyi tapped in a rebound and Forest went ahead when Anthony Elanga finished off a superb move in the 63rd minute.

But straight from the restart Jarrod Bowen was unopposed as he headed West Ham level from another Ward-Prowse delivery and West Ham finished strongly with Soucek securing the points. 

An own goal by Antonee Robinson and strikes from John McGinn and Ollie Watkins helped Aston Villa to cruise to a 3-1  win over Fulham, matching the club’s 40-year-old record of 13 consecutive home league wins.

Villa took the lead in the 27th minute when Youri Tielemans snapped up a ball down the left wing and fired it across the goal, where Fulham defender Robinson turned it into his own net.

Villa captain McGinn netted the second goal three minutes before the break with a low drive before Watkins added a third with a close-range finish in the 64th minute.

Striker Raul Jimenez netted his first league goal since March 2022 to reduce the deficit for Fulham.

Brighton & Hove Albion were held to a 1-1 home draw by Sheffield United after going down to 10 men in the second half when midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud received a red card.

Simon Adingra got Brighton off to a flying start in the sixth minute when the winger cut in from the left flank and dribbled past five defenders while playing a one-two pass with Facundo Buonanotte before he slipped the ball past the keeper.

But the Seagulls suffered a setback when Dahoud was sent off for stamping Ben Osborn’s leg and United took full advantage, equalising five minutes later when Jayden Bogle drilled a cross into the box and Adam Webster turned it into his own net.

Reuters