BRENTFORD 5 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 0

Mar 8, 2020 | Match Reports, News

Just one win and three draws in Brentford’s last four outings needed something special to eradicate them from the memories of the faithful. Five immaculate goals to despatch an admittedly lacklustre Wednesday can be considered job done, even if star striker Ollie Watkins – the EFL London player of the year – remarkably failed to feature on a scoresheet that showed the club regain its position as the division’s leading scorer.  

Fulham, four points ahead and due to entertain the Bees next Friday, and West Brom, in second place and visitors to Griffin Park the following Tuesday, have been given food for thought that might develop into severe indigestion if the results go against them. Oh, how delicious.

Here was a game in which not one member of the home team could be criticised for (a) lack of effort or (b) sloppy passing in defence or attack. The tone of the afternoon was set after five minutes, when a Henrik Norgaard rush culminated in Watkins clipping the crossbar with keeper Cameron Dawson beaten. Dawson looked glum, but would look even glummer as the game progressed.

A crowd of 12,270 – depleted somewhat in its later stages as some of the visiting fans departed early, probably in need of a stiff drink – did not have a long wait for Brentford’s superiority to be confirmed. The Wednesday rearguard was in sixes and sevens bordering on nines and tens as Josh Dasilva, recapturing the form that saw him score a hat-trick at home to Luton, drilled a shot through the careering bodies and then between Dawson’s legs,

Nine minutes gone and after another eight Emiliano Marcondes doubled Brentford’s advantage with the sweetest of curled shots, which appeared to increase the distance between it and Dawson with every yard covered on its way into the net.

With first-half possession recorded at 80 per cent, it came as no surprise that with five minutes of it left the treble was achieved. Bryan Mbeumo, who had been having a quiet time of late, livened only by a stunning free kick last weekend, latched on to a ball travelling at speed and ran with it before slotting a fierce shot beyond Dawson’s reach.

The Owls, surprisingly unaccompanied by derisory hoots from the home crowd, regrouped after the interval and David Raya was kept mildly busy until a dazzling run by Said Benrahma ended with a defence-splitting pass to Dasilva, whose turn and perfectly-placed shot deserved a round of applause, although poor Dawson could have been forgiven for not wanting to join the hand-clapping.

Astute substitutions by Thomas Frank, designed primarily to give the recently signed Oxfordian duo further Championship experience, paid off handsomely some nine minutes from time. Tariqe Fosu-Henry, hereafter to be known as Fosu, had been on the pitch only a few minutes before beautifully directing a shot inside the far post to score his first goal for the Bees.

Mention must be made of Benrahma, who dazzled to deceive and frequently left the visiting defence running here, there and everywhere, but rarely anywhere near the space the Brentford number ten was occupying. If he could only resist the impulse when beating a man to go back and beat him all over again, he’ll be the hottest property in the division.

Although perhaps not. He may not have added to his twenty-one goals, but Watkins is a pleasure to watch as he gains authority with every game. ‘Ollie Watkins is the best,’ the crowd sang lustily – and they may be right.  

Prior to kick-off, the teams dispensed with the usual handshake – any lurking coronavirus would make such gentlemanly acknowledgement a very bad idea indeed. Very sensible, but what about any collision on the pitch where flesh met flesh? Or handball, or a header? ‘Heavens,’ said my mate Charlie, ‘who’d have thought the beautiful game could be such a health hazard.’

Brentford: Raya, Dalsgaard, Jeanvier, Pinnock, Henry, Marcondes, Norgaard (sub Baptiste), Dasilva (Valencia), Mbeumo (Fosu-Henry), Watkins, Benrahma.

Sheffield Wednesday: Dawson, Palmer, Iorfa, Lees, Fox, Murphy, Pelupessy, Bannan, Da Cruz (Forestieri), Windass (Wickham), Fletcher (K Harris). 

CARDIFF CITY 2 BRENTFORD 2

Feb 29, 2020 | Match Reports, News

After two games where Brentford tried to recover from a two-goal deficit, this time it was the Bees who went two-nil up and blew three points. But the Championship being the extraordinary league that it is we’ve now gone five games without a win yet only dropped from fourth to fifth in the play-off places. Even the most optimistic Bees fans would accept that this winless run can’t go on much longer without us slipping out of the top six.
Brentford had been blown off course at Luton on Tuesday and early Bees arrivals at the Cardiff City Stadium found a fierce wind again threatening to disrupt our style of play. By the time of kickoff the wind had dropped but there were occasional gusts of wind and rain between the sunshine.
Thomas Frank, who’d decided against giving Luka Racic a chance at Luton in place of the injured Julian Jeanvier, now started with him in the centre two of a back four. Within five minutes the young Dane had got his first Brentford goal to put the Bees ahead.
After all those complaints from Bees fans about the quality of the corners at Luton Emiliano Marcondes got the ball past the first man to reach Henrik Dalsgaard and it then fell to Racic who dispatched it into the corner of the Cardiff net.
Sixteen minutes later Marcondes won a free kick right in front of the box and Bryan Mbeumo put it away with a superb strike that left Cardiff keeper Alex Smithies floundering.Twenty minutes gone, two set pieces, two goals.
But Brentford’s winning rhythm was soon disrupted by a lengthy row.
Christian Nørgaard tackled Will Vaulks on the sideline right in front of the dugouts. Those Bees fans in seats a few rows behind the dugouts thought it a perfectly fair tackle. What they judged was not fair was Vaulks’s response which was to move in on Nørgaard as he lay on the ground. Thomas Frank who was even closer thought Vaulks’s knee had made contact with Norgaard’s head .To put it bluntly he lost it, first with Vaulks, then with the Cardiff coaches crowding round him, then with fourth official Matthew Donohue who appeared to have advised referee Simon Hooper that no action need be taken against Vaulks other than a chat. There now seemed a danger that it might be Frank not Vaulks who would be sent off but the Brentford Head Coach and the ref settled it face to face, man to man. Afterwards Frank said it was ‘a clear,clear red card right in front of the fourth official’.
By a further twist it was Vaulks and his long throws who led the Cardiff fight back. Although Vaulks played only a minor part in their first goal, an Albert Adomah cross headed in by Junior Hoilett, his next long throw created the equaliser just before half-time when Captain Sean Morrison headed it on and Joe Ralls beat Raya. On both occasions Cardiff players had beaten Brentford ones to the ball in the air.
It was an irritable way to go into the half-time break and the omens were not good. As it turned out the Bees came out looking stronger. Overall they had nearly double the possession and more than double the corners. They had lots of shots straight at the keeper and the game then turned on two key misses. Brentford’s came when Ollie Watkins failed to convert a cross from Rico Henry. Cardiff’s fluffed conversion was by Joe Bennett, distracted by Raya from putting home a cross from Adomah.
Mr Hooper then made a whole series of decisions in the penalty boxes which annoyed Cardiff fans most. He angered them further when Josh DaSilva played a one-two with him and with Benrahma but nice move though it was Josh blasted it wide. In the final minutes there were chances for Dalsgaard and Mbeumo but keeper Smithies wasn’t really troubled by them. At the other end David Raya limped off after the truly stormy match into the arms of goalkeeping coach Andy Quy.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that a team coached by Neil Harris, successor to Neil Warnock, committed 14 fouls to Brentford’s 6 and earned 4 yellow cards against 1 for the Bees. Brentford proudly put brain before brawn in midfield and and supplement it with some elegantly timed tackles and energetic tackling back. But how the Bees could do with the man we hoped Dru Yearwood would and still might be, breaking up opponents’ attacks and launching our own. Shandon Baptiste, who also just might be that man, was crocked in a 50-50 duel just six minutes after coming on. It was that kind of day.

Cardiff City: Smithies; Sanderson, Nelson, Morrison, Bennett; Bacuna, Vaulks; Adomah, Ralls (sub Ward 80), Hoilett; Paterson

Brentford: Raya; Dalsgaard, Racic, Pinnock, Henry; Marcondes (Baptiste) (Žambůrek) Nørgaard, Dasilva; Mbeumo, Watkins, Benrahma.

LUTON TOWN 2 BRENTFORD 1

Feb 26, 2020 | Match Reports, News

For the second time in four days Brentford failed to win after having the best of the first fifteen minutes then going two goals behind by half time. Instead of taking six points in two battles for promotion they came away with just one, with no wins in four games and no clean sheets in eight league and cup games. Fortunately their rivals for the playoff places seem to be going through similarly bad patches.

For the first few minutes Brentford were making all the chances, Rico Henry nearly got his head to a Bryan Mbeumo cross. But in the ninth minute a Luton free kick from the right spun and bounced into the box where Shandon Baptiste stuck out a leg and put it past David Raya. This goal against the run of play ignited the Luton crowd and charged up their players, for most of the rest of the ninety minutes the Hatters were more determined and more forceful than their Brentford counterparts amid the often gusty conditions. It felt like that 7-0 thrashing at Griffin Park still hurt.

As the Bees struggled to get back into the game a problem with their line-up became increasingly apparent. ‘Franking sense’ ran the electronic advert round Kenilworth Road promoting a ‘mail technology’ company. As it turned out Thomas Frank had made a selection decision that didn’t make enough sense for him to stick with it for more than a quarter of the game. In place of the injured centre back Julian Jeanvier the Brentford Head coach had moved midfielder Christian Norgaard to the middle of a back three with Pinnock and Dalsgaard either side of him. It was a decision that got fans asking why if a centre back was needed Luka Racic wasn’t given the slot.

The Norgaard problem was that he clearly wasn’t very comfortable in the role, mistiming one tackle so badly he earned a yellow card that could have been a red. And not having him in midfield meant the Bees were without a central playmaker. Increasingly he was released forward, sadly to no great effect, as Brentford reformed into a 4-3-4 formation. There were chances; Said Benrahma had the best, Josh Da Silva had the most, Bryan Mbeumo had nothing much at all.  

Then, just as with Blackburn on Saturday, momentum turned into a further setback and David Raya was at the centre of it. From a Luton free kick on the right he rushed out to try to punch the ball clear but it fell to Martin Cranie, 33 and still going strong, who volleyed it into the net. Raya claimed he’d been barged in the air and as the players went off at half time moment later Brentford assistant head coach Brian Riemer carried on the argument with referee Darren England.

Within a few minutes of the second half Norgaard fell awkwardly and looked in pain. He carried on and by the 60 minute mark he’d helped Brentford get their shape back .But the struggle was too much and he was replaced by Emiliano Marcondes, the Brentford fans packed into the away end going him a sympathetic round of applause sensing it wasn’t his fault he’d started out of position. Tariqe Fosu got a chance in place of Mbeumo and so did Joel Valencia instead of Baptiste as Thomas Frank pushed for the kind of comeback from two-nil down that had brought victory at home to Millwall. Bees got one back thanks to an assist from Mads Roerslev who had another outstanding game after an impressive substitute performance against Blackburn. Ollie Watkins put him away on the right and he crossed back to Watkins who tucked it away for his 22nd of the season. Celebrations were limited as Brentford pressed for an equaliser and in the final minutes there were two more chances: Benrahma, who’d shown admirable concentration and control in difficult circumstances, curled a shot just wide then Ethan Pinnock, taking his customary corner position beyond the far post, headed the ball into a bunch of Luton bodies. Yes Bees could have got a point but when when you keep giving opponents a two goal start your luck is going to run out sometime.

Luton Town: Sluga; Cranie, Carter-Vickers, Pearson, Potts; Rea; Cornick (sub Hylton), Berry, Mpanzu, Tunnicliffe; Collins

Brentford: Raya; Dalsgaard, Nørgaard (Marcondes), Pinnock; Roerslev, Dasilva, Baptiste (Valencia ), Henry; Mbeumo (Fosu), Watkins, Benrahma

BRENTFORD 2 BLACKBURN ROVERS 2

Feb 22, 2020 | Match Reports, News

Having outplayed the visitors for much of the first half, the Bees trudged off at the interval a goal down and probably singing under their collective breath a snatch of Randy Newman’s ‘Lonely at the top’: ‘All the applause. All the parades… But it’s just a crazy game.’ Crazy it certainly was, with Blackburn on their way to a severe drubbing until Ethan Pinnock misjudged the flight of a speculative punt from goalkeeper Christian Walton, allowing striker Adam Armstrong to lob neatly over David Raya.

The Bees resumed where they had only just left off, peppering the opposition with shots that were ballooned over the bar, ricocheted around the visitor’s penalty area like a pinball or sped wide of the posts like a wayward Guy Fawkes Night rocket. Rovers bungled one other chance and home fans were allowed the consolation of looking up the possession statistic that showed Brentford so far in front that they might soon win the ball outright. We’ll get a goal soon, won’t we? Well, no, as a matter of fact.

Nine minutes into the second period a skirmish in the Brentford area ended with referee Tim Robinson judging Raya to have fouled John Buckley when attempting to reclaim a ball that had slipped from his grasp. Harsh maybe but, hardly surprisingly, Armstrong gracefully accepted the invitation to score his second, competently from the spot.  Whereupon Brentford suddenly showed signs of falling apart. With Rovers muscling their way into a game in which they had showed all the signs of being destined to finish second, the home strike force went from the finely-tuned BMW to second-hand Ford Fiesta, while the defence wobbled like a jelly on a plate.

In no game since skipper Pontus Jansson was sidelined through injury has his absence been so noticeable. Pinnock and Julian Jeanvier, struggling in the heart of the defence, more and more appeared like lonely souls (‘You’d think I’d be happy but I’m not’ – R Newman), unsure what to do other than deliver a short pass of dubious quality to someone else with a similar lack of ideas. Even stand-in captain Henrik Dalsgaard, usually so impeccable, delivered a back-pass so pathetic that he clasped hands to head as Raya somehow reached the ball and save the catastrophe of going further behind while simultaneously doubtless wishing he hadn’t left Blackburn for West London last July.

A game-changer became imperative if embarrassment was to be avoided and it came just after an hour’s play. A long ball deep into Rovers’ half from Dalsgaard was captured by an under-pressure Ollie Watkins and a fluid turn and immediate volley saw him score his twenty-first goal of the season, one of such quality it brought a tear to many an eye.

And, with substitutes in place or about to be so, Brentford resumed the bombardment seen earlier on, to little avail until Mads Roerslev, having replaced Jeanvier, bustled and bruised his way into the Blackburn area before being up-ended by a defence now verging on panic. Said Benrahma, whose finishing had fluctuated from unlucky to woeful until then, slotted home the penalty, leaving a little under twenty minutes for the home side to batter the visiting defence in search of that much-required three-pointer.

An electric afternoon and a fair result, said those of generous spirit, and one that showed the validity of the motto on Blackburn’s club crest – Arte et Labore (Skill and Labour) – is no idle boast.

‘Lots of the second,’ sniffed my mate Charlie.

Brentford: Raya, Dalsgaard, Jeanvier (sub Roerslev), Pinnock, Henry (Dervisoglu), Marcondes (Baptiste), Norgaard, Dasilva, Mbeumo, Watkins, Benrahma.

Blackburn Rovers: Walton, Buckley (Gallagher), Nyambe, Lenehan, Adarabieye, Bell, Travis, Downing, Johnson, Samuel (Bennett), Armstrong.