Liverpool 1-1 Brentford: Reds secure UCL spot as Salah & Robertson bid farewell to Anfield

Liverpool drew 1-1 with Brentford on a day of emotional goodbyes to Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson at Anfield.

Match Report 

Salah, who was saying farewell to the Anfield faithful alongside Andy Robertson, teed up Curtis Jones' opener for Liverpool, with a stalemate enough to secure fifth place. 

Kevin Schade earned a point for the Bees, but that was not enough for them to secure their own European place, as they finished ninth, behind Brighton on goal difference.

Liverpool started strongly and almost took the lead through Salah, who smacked the left post with a free-kick from the edge of the box 19 minutes in. 

Rio Ngumoha also went close, curling a shot narrowly wide of the top-right corner before Schade saw a one-on-one effort smothered by Alisson just before the break.

Salah was then denied by Kelleher before embarking on a blistering run down the right to pick out Jones for a tap-in with an outside-of-the-boot delivery in the 58th minute.

But Jones was unable to clear his lines at the other end six minutes later, and then deflected Keane Lewis-Potter's cross to a stooping Schade.

Igor Thiago dragged a late shot wide, while Dango Ouattara thumped a header wide deep in stoppage time – after Kelleher had made himself big to deny Florian Wirtz – but Brentford could not find the winner they needed to leapfrog Sunderland and Brighton to seventh.

Data Debrief: Salah bids farewell

It was an emotional day at Anfield, with Salah not given the chance to orchestrate one last magic moment in front of the Kop as he went off to a 74th-minute guard of honour.

He still played his part, though, as in his 442nd game for Liverpool, he overtook Steven Gerrard's 92 Premier League assists for the Reds. He is the 10th player to be outright top for both goals and assists for a single club in the competition.

Liverpool will feel they missed a chance to end on a high – they have now dropped 11 points from winning positions at Anfield in the top-flight this season.

For Brentford, it was a tale of too many draws this season that ultimately cost them a first European berth. Since the start of March, they have drawn seven and won just one of their 10 Premier League games (L2); in this time, it is the most draws of any club in the division, while only Burnley have won fewer (0).

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

0' Match Event for Liverpool vs Brentford

13' Highlight from Liverpool vs Brentford

15' N'Goumoha shoots from inside the box

19' Match Event for Liverpool vs Brentford

22' Szoboszlai shoots from a tight angle

31' Jones goes down in the penalty area, but the referee waves play on

38' Gravenberch's long-range shot is blocked by Kelleher

41' N'Goumoha cuts inside and shoots, but the ball goes wide of the far post

43' Alisson makes a miraculous save

48' Match Event for Liverpool vs Brentford

51' Highlight from Liverpool vs Brentford

54' Ouattara's long-range shot goes wide

58' GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Brentford (Curtis Jones)

64' GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Brentford (Kevin Schade)

73' Highlight from Liverpool vs Brentford

80' Match Event for Liverpool vs Brentford

82' Robertson is substituted off, bidding farewell

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Line-ups

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Salah, Van Dijk, Robertson, Konate, Gakpo, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Gravenberch, Rio Ngumoha

Subs: Endo, Joe Gomez, Isak, Chiesa, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Wirtz, Trey Nyoni

Brentford XI: Henderson, Kelleher, Mathias Jensen, Janelt, Van den Berg, Keane Lewis-Potter, Nathan Collins, Kevin Schade, Igor Thiago, Dango Ouattara, Michael Kayode

Subs: Kristoffer Ajer, J. Dasilva, Nelson, Ethan Pinnock, Hákon Valdimarsson, Mikkel Damsgaard, Aaron Hickey, Kaye Furo, Romelle Donovan