Soccer-Barcola shines as Liverpool labour to 2-1 win over Brentford

Soccer Football - Premier League - Brentford v Liverpool - GTech Community Stadium, London, Britain - October 17, 2026 Liverpool's Bradley Barcola reacts REUTERS/Ian Walton

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Liverpool bounced ⁠back from last week’s 3-0 Premier League drubbing by Manchester City with a ⁠workmanlike 2-1 win at Brentford on Saturday, as winger Bradley Barcola showcased the ‌full range of his talents despite spurning two gilt-edged chances.

Keane Lewis-Potter had given the home side the lead in the 44th minute but Yehor Yarmoliuk was sent off for an attempted headbutt deep into first-half ​stoppage time, and Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak completed Liverpool's ⁠comeback with second-half goals to ⁠seal the three points.

"Super-happy with the win. It's a tough ground, it's a tough team ⁠to ‌play, especially away from home. We knew it was going to be a bit of a scrappy game and it's important to come out on top," ⁠Isak said.

Vitaly Janelt picked up a second yellow card in ​stoppage time to leave ‌Brentford with nine men, and Barcola then squandered another opportunity when he opted ⁠to pass rather ​than shoot after Liverpool broke forward on the counter-attack.

Perhaps his mind was still on his first-half opportunity, when he intercepted Janelt’s attempted header and raced clear, only to lift his effort ⁠over the onrushing goalkeeper and wide. Either way, the ​two chances gave Liverpool fans a glimpse of what may be to come once he settles fully on Merseyside.

Signed from Paris St Germain in a deal worth up to 123 ⁠million pounds, the 24-year-old was a constant threat from his starting position on the left wing, cutting inside onto his right foot to shoot or cross and moving infield or up front whenever the opportunity arose.

With opponents often deploying five players across the back ​against the leading sides, Barcola’s skill, agility and trickery offer ⁠Liverpool another means of unlocking compact defences following Mohamed Salah’s departure at the end of ​last season.

"I think there's still lots to improve. We're ‌taking steps and we're grabbing points on the ​way which is important. It's a tough place to come, so three points is really good," Isak said.

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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足球 - 英超联赛 - 布伦特福德对阵利物浦 - 英国伦敦GTech社区体育场 - 2026年10月17日 利物浦球员布拉德利·巴科拉做出反应 路透社/伊恩·沃尔顿

伦敦，10 月 17 日（路透社）——利物浦在上周六的英超联赛中以 2-1 战胜布伦特福德，从上周 0-3 惨败给曼城的阴影中走了出来。尽管错失了两次绝佳机会，边锋布拉德利·巴科拉仍然展现了他全面的天赋。

基恩·刘易斯-波特在第 44 分钟为利物浦取得领先，但叶霍尔·亚尔莫柳克在上半场补时阶段因试图用头撞击对手而被罚下场，维克托·穆尼奥斯和亚历山大·伊萨克在下半场各入一球，帮助利物浦完成逆转，最终锁定胜局。

“非常高兴能赢下这场比赛。这是一个难打的场地，对手也是一支难缠的球队，尤其是在客场。我们知道这将是一场艰苦的比赛，所以最终获胜非常重要，”伊萨克说道。

维塔利·亚内尔特在伤停补时阶段吃到第二张黄牌，布伦特福德只剩九人应战。随后，利物浦发动反击，巴尔科拉错失了又一次机会，他选择传球而不是射门。

或许他仍然心有余悸，回想起上半场的那次机会：他截获了贾内尔特的头球攻门，迅速获得单刀机会，可惜射门高出，越过了出击的门将，偏出了球门。无论如何，这两次机会让利物浦球迷看到了他完全融入默西塞德郡后可能展现出的潜力。

这位24岁的球员从巴黎圣日耳曼加盟，转会费高达1.23亿英镑。他作为左边锋的首发球员，始终对对手构成威胁，经常内切用右脚射门或传中，并在有机会时向中路或前场移动。

由于对手经常在对阵强队时部署五名球员横跨后防线，巴萨的技术、敏捷性和技巧为利物浦在穆罕默德·萨拉赫上赛季末离队后提供了另一种破解密集防守的方法。

“我认为我们还有很多需要改进的地方。我们正在进步，并且在此过程中不断拿到积分，这很重要。这里是个难打的客场，所以拿到三分真的非常棒，”伊萨克说道。

（菲利普·奥康纳报道，普里莎·萨卡编辑）

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