Salah joins 100 club for Reds but Bees sting in thrilling 3-3 draw

DPA London Mohamed Salah hit the 100-goal mark for Liverpool in the Premier League but battling Brentford cut short the celebrations by snatching a point i...

DPALondonMohamed Salah hit the 100-goal mark for Liverpool in the Premier League but battling Brentford cut short the celebrations by snatching a point in a 3-3 thriller. This harebrained contest between recent champions and new additions to the elite was a serving of the English top flight at its most exhilarating, although Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp may take issue with his team’s defending.  Ethan Pinnock and Diogo Jota traded early goals at the Brentford Community Stadium, before Salah and Vitaly Janelt did likewise early in the second half.  Curtis Jones then scored with a 25-metre blast, helped by a slight deflection, but Yoane Wissa had the final say, his clever finish in the 82nd minute meaning Liverpool go just one point clear at the top of the table rather than three.  Salah looked sure to get his landmark goal in Liverpool colours in the seventh minute when he poked Jota’s pass under goalkeeper David Raya, only for Kristoffer Ajer to produce a sublime goal-line clearance.  Ivan Toney headed off target and Frank Onyeka fired over while stretching as the hosts challenged their illustrious visitors, before Bryan Mbeumo became the second player denied by a clearance off the line, Joel Matip getting back in time.  Those were warning shots, but Liverpool were hit by a sting from the Bees when Pinnock put Brentford ahead in the 27th minute. The defender got on the end of a clever free-kick routine, with Toney’s deft flick allowing Pinnock to slide in at the far post.  Liverpool were level four minutes later, Jota powerfully heading a first-time cross from the right by Jordan Henderson past Raya. Jones rattled the left post before the break, Raya saving brilliantly as Jota reacted to the rebound.  Salah made no mistake in the 54th minute, however, slotting in Fabinho’s excellent pass over the top. He was declared offside initially, but replays showed he was not beyond the last defender.  Brentford were not done, and when Pontus Jansson smashed a shot against the Liverpool bar, Janelt was on hand to head in at the second attempt, beating Virgil van Dijk to the ball.  Jones silenced the home crowd with a thumping drive that took a flick off Ajer, Liverpool going 3-2 ahead in the 67th minute.  Salah floated the ball a foot over the bar when he should have fired in Liverpool’s fourth, and it proved costly when Wissa won the race for the ball in a scramble and chipped over Alisson.  Toney thought he had won it in the 87th minute when his sizzling strike beat Alisson, but he had stepped a yard offside. Fernandes misses penalty as Man Utd lose to VillaBruno Fernandes’ stoppage-time penalty miss capped an awful day for Manchester United as they deservedly lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa.A point would have taken United top of the Premier League, with Chelsea losing to Manchester City on Saturday, but they could have no complaints about the outcome at Old Trafford despite a dramatic finish.Kortney Hause looked to have gone from hero to zero when he followed a late headed goal at one end with a handball at the other.But Fernandes, taking the spot-kick ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, blazed over the crossbar to condemn United - who lost Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw to injury - to a first league defeat of the campaign.Villa must have wondered if their opportunity for a first win against United in 18 attempts had come and gone when they passed up a trio of huge first-half chances.Matt Targett wasted the best of them from a low Matty Cash cross, before David de Gea gifted the visitors their next opening, prodding a strong Maguire backpass into Ollie Watkins’ path but recovering to block, and then Ezri Konsa nodded over from beneath the crossbar.Emiliano Martinez made a smart stop from Maguire’s header two minutes before half-time and a Paul Pogba effort dropped wide, but United otherwise created little.With Shaw and Maguire off, Watkins ran at Raphael Varane and drew a strong save from De Gea, and the goalkeeper could not get to Hause’s header from Douglas Luiz’s latest dangerous corner two minutes from time.It looked as though United might still get a reprieve when the ball then struck Hause’s hand in the area, but Fernandes - wearing the captain’s armband in Maguire’s absence - could not hit the target from 12 metres as Ronaldo watched on.Premier League Saturday ResultsChelsea 0 Manchester City 1Manchester United 0 Aston Villa 1Everton 2 Norwich City 0Watford 1 Newcastle United 1Leeds United 1 West Ham United 2Leicester City 2 Burnley 23 Liverpool 3