Brentford boss Thomas Frank hailed his side's 'unbelievable' first-half performance despite losing 3-0 away at Liverpool.

Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Takumi Minamino scored despite a defiant opening 44 minutes from the Bees.

The result sees Brentford remain in 14th despite a disappointing run of form, while Liverpool reduced the gap between them and leaders Manchester City down to 11 points with a game in hand.

But Frank was still happy to see his side perform so well for so long against one of Europe's best teams.

He said: "We were unbelievable in the first half against one of the best teams in the world. We kept them quiet.

"If we had gone to half time 0-0, it would have been a different story, but if we want to get points here, we can't concede from set-pieces.

"We had the chance with Bryan Mbuemo, and then they came down the other end - fantastic cross, fantastic finish - and that killed the game.

"Until the second goal, it showed if we keep our discipline, keep pressing, defend well in the low block, we can match some of the best."

Brentford impressed for much of the first half and were unlucky to find themselves 1-0 down at the break as a result of Fabinho's header at the far post.

Andy Robertson then found Oxlade-Chamberlain with a cross, and the former Arsenal man's diving header was enough to double their lead.

And things got worse for Bees keeper Alvaro Fernandez when Liverpool's high press put his distribution under pressure, leading to a mistake which allowed Minamino to wrap things up.

Frank added: "I think the 2-0 goal is still avoidable, of course, you know with 3-0 that can happen, but the game was over there.

"You know 1-0, everything is open definitely.

"I would go that far to say maybe the first 60 minutes was a very, very strong performance, we were brave, I thought, and we pressed high when we could.

"We defended low with a great mentality when great blocks were needed, giving nothing away in open play, definitely in the first half.

"And we created some chance and opportunities in the first half.

"After that (the second goal), we opened up too much, and that disappointed me a bit because you know it's a balance of knowing to keep playing and keep trying and knowing that if you open up too much, it's very difficult against a team like Liverpool."