From the high of scoring a hat-trick just three days ago, Bradley Barcola endured a moment he’d rather forget in Liverpool’s visit to Brentford this afternoon.
The Reds winger had yet to score for his new club prior to the midweek win over LASK, having cost an initial £106m (potentially rising to £123m) to sign from Paris Saint-Germain in late August, but he struck three goals past the Austrians in a 6-3 romp.
In the first half at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, the 24-year-old was presented with a gilt-edged chance to build on that Wednesday treble, but unfortunately he was unable to capitalise.
Brentford fans heckle Barcola after horror miss
Liverpool pounced on a cheap Brentford giveaway in their half of the pitch and Barcola had acres of room into which to run, finding himself with only Caoimhin Kelleher to beat despite the best efforts of two Bees defenders to get back.
Unfortunately, the Frenchman scuffed his finish with a weak dinked shot which rolled wide, rather than going for an emphatic low effort into the far corner.
The home fans revelled in the gaffe from the 24-year-old by chanting ‘What a waste of money!’, with Liverpool Echo reporter Paul Gorst lamenting an ‘overconfident’ finish from the Reds’ number 29.
A moment to forget for Barcola
Any Premier League forward would be reasonably expected to score the chance with which Barcola was presented in the 20th minute, never mind one of the Frenchman’s ability and price tag.
If anything it looked as though the Liverpool winger was too casual with his finish, opting for the clever dink rather than burying the ball with conviction.
That miss seemed to play on the 24-year-old’s mind as he skied another chance later in the first half (albeit not in the same ‘sitter’ category as the one-on-one with Kelleher), and it proved costly for the Reds as Keane Lewis-Potter headed Brentford in front shortly before the interval.
At the time of writing, Barcola needs to put that frustrating first 45 minutes behind him and remember why Liverpool were prepared to spend such a vast sum of money on him. How he responds to that horror moment in the second half will be crucial.