Salah scores on return as Liverpool dispatches Brentford

LONDON — Mohamed Salah made a scoring return for Liverpool as the English Premier League leader dispatched Brentford 4-1 on Saturday.

Salah had been out for a month since sustaining a hamstring injury at the Africa Cup of Nations. He came on as a substitute just before halftime at Gtech Community Stadium and struck his 19th goal of the season in all competitions in the 68th minute.

Liverpool already led 2-0 at that point, after Darwin Nunez opened the scoring in the 35th and Alexis Mac Allister added another from Salah's assist.

Ivan Toney pulled a goal back for Brentford in the 75th, scoring for the fourth time in five games since returning from an eight-month ban for breaching betting rules.

But substitute Cody Gakpo sealed the win for Liverpool.

While their title challenge remains in good shape, there was concern after new injuries to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota in the first half. Jota had to leave the field on a stretcher.

Liverpool was already without the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara and Dominik Szoboszlai, while goalkeeper Alisson was also hurt in training on Friday and missed the game against Brentford.