Defeat by Liverpool’s solitary goal – Mo Salah’s one hundredth at Anfield – and the announcement that Ivan Toney would be suspended for eight months by the Football Association, punishment for illegal gambling, was the bad news as the striker sat out games with a hamstring strain. Bill Hagerty reports on all the action, beginning with that sensational afternoon at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium…
Tottenham Hotspur
Who would have thought it? Even the cheeriest optimist would have forecast the superb second-half performance that saw Brentford overhaul a slick, if erratic, Spurs side and leave the hosts floundering only a point above them in the PL table and in grave danger of not qualifying for any of the European competitions next season.
The Bees were rarely comfortable during a first half during which Harry Kane, a standout performer throughout the season, put his side ahead after just eight minutes.
This was no ordinary goal: taken from thirty or so yards, Dejan Kulusevski rolled the ball a couple of feet for Kane then to curl a magnificent shot into the top corner to David Raya’s left. It is not recorded if Raya blinked as the ball whistled past him but, fine goalkeeper that he is, there was nothing he could do other than whistle himself, possibly in admiration.
But if this was a sign of a Spurs’ deluge to come, it turned out to be a false warning. Brentford began to ease their way into the action; not exactly punching their weight, but avoiding having sand kicked in their face by north London bullies.
As well as Kane, they had Son Heung-min to contend with, but Raya seemed determined not to experience again the indignity of picking the ball out of his net and on the one occasion when it seemed likely, Rico Henry was on hand to make a crucial goal-line clearance.
Thomas Frank must have felt grateful to reach the interval without conceding more than one goal, but then, as happens with astonishing frequency at Brentford, the resumption signalled a total game change. No longer were Spurs in control, this was now a game of one half – and it wasn’t Tottenham’s. Ivan Toney’s long-term suspension saw Bryan Mbeumo emerging from under the influence of the friend and team-mate from whom he has learned so much over their long collaboration. No offence, Ivan, but Bryan assumed the role of a leader similar to your own.
Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade responded splendidly. In midfield Mikkel Damsgaard, having been substituted for the less creative Frank Onyeka, was a thorn in the side of the home defence. Ben Mee was surging upfield with retaliation aforethought. The Brentford fans were suddenly in full-throttle vocally.
Five minutes into the half Mbeumo was away like an unleashed greyhound to collect the ball via Damsgaard, then Wissa, and to leave the defence in tatters and goalkeeper Fraser Forster in no man’s land. And, good heavens, seven minutes later Mbeumo did it again, selecting the same spot inside the far post to put Brentford in front.
Spurs never recovered from this reversal and Raya added to the stream of Spurs’ fans leaving the stadium – one-way traffic to disappointment, illustrated by placards criticising club owner Daniel Levy – by making two stunning saves.
Mbeumo had a foot in the final goal of the afternoon, supplying the pass that enabled Wissa to caress the ball wide of Forster.
And so Brentford’s season ends, almost, with a hurrah rather than the whimper that many crystal balls thought likely last August. Secure in ninth place in the League table – Fulham’s draw with Crystal Palace made it impossible for them to catch the Bees – while the results of those just above mean there is a slim chance of further advancement.
Anything can happen, said my mate Charlie. And it just might.
Brentford: Raya; Hickey (substitute Roerslev 89), Pinnock, Mee, Henry; Onyeka (Damsgaard 45), Janelt, Jensen (Baptiste 72); Mbeumo, Wissa (Dasilva 89), Schade (M Jorgensen 79).
Nottingham Forest
Travelling back in time, the report of Nottingham Forest’s visit to the Gtech Stadium needs to start with recalling five of seven dramatic added minutes. Brentford’s history is littered with do-or-die moments, when victory was snatched from the jaws of a draw.
Right foot to left foot – “Are you ready?” With thanks to Mark Fuller https://officialbfcpics.co.uk
This was a prime example, when a smash-and-grab goal from Josh Dasilva wrecked Nottingham Forest’s day and quite possibly consigned them to the Championship next season.
Dominating the game for most of the second half, registering 69 per cent possession and eight shots on target to the visitors’ three, the Bees went into the extra time like a bunch of marauding pirates.
Forest, to their credit, fought valiantly to stem the tide.
Yup, left foot ready! With thanks to Mark Fuller https://officialbfcpics.co.uk
That was until substitute Josh Dasilva, appearing to be taking stock on the left flank, advanced to find a defence gap and letting rip with a left-foot shot that clipped the inside of a post.
Goalkeeper Keylor Navas’s dive arrived a second or two late as the ball rolled over the line.
As happens not infrequently with the Bees, the home crowd exploded as if the team had won the FA Cup, although there was a prolonged wait while VAR examined if Yoane Wissa was offside and had interfered with Navas’s vision.
The tension before the goal was confirmed was hard to bear: no wonder coach Thomas Frank confessed later he never watched such moments – ‘I hope and pray,’ he said.
So back to the beginning, when a reorganised starting line-up had seen Brentford presumably trying to continue where they had left off after beating Chelsea 2-0 in the week. That didn’t exactly happen. Most of their attempts on goal quickly fizzled out and Forest, while rarely threatening, exploited some of the home side’s lackadaisical passing enough to irritate their overworked defence.
Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo lacked the cohesion that saw off Chelsea, but their supporters enjoyed the sunshine in anticipation of a goal, which duly arrived but, sadly, at the wrong end.
Inside the last minute of the half an unseemly melee in David Raya’s goal area ended with a loose ball arriving at the feet of Brazilian midfielder Danilo, who promptly despatched it into the far corner. Danilo, having arrived at the club only last January, was delighted, but less so when injury meant he left the field for the final few minutes and therefore missed the extraordinary denouement.
Forest’s attitude after the interval was determinedly back-to-the-wall, except when they hit the ground and writhed a little. Fouls numbering thirteen, against Brentford’s half-dozen, did nothing to win sympathy from the home crowd, which now again began to anticipate a goal of their own.
They had an uncomfortable time to wait, but when the Bees were awarded a free kick, central and not far from the border of the penalty area, hope increased. And hope was answered: Toney’s skill managed to propel the ball round the defensive wall and on to clip an upright and bounce from Navas’s body into the goal. Job half-done!
Languishing only just outside the relegation box, Forest must have been adjusting their ambition. After all, a point is a point.
But this is where we came in and how Josh Dasilva, whose finishing ability has hardly been tested in his not wholly successful return from injury, added to Navas’s woes and supplied Brentford with a three-point present that saw them solidify ninth place in the table.
Thomas Frank’s honest summary of the day was that it was not one of the Bees finer performances. Strange but true, he believes, that they played better against such front-runners as Man United, Newcastle and Aston Villa than teams struggling to survive in the League.
But what a sensational finish, I observed to my mate Charlie as the jubilant team completed a lap of honour.
‘Dunno – I didn’t see it’, said Charlie. ‘Thomas wasn’t the only one hoping and praying!’
Brentford: Raya; Hickey, Pinnock, Mee, Henry (Wissa 60); Damsgaard (Dasilva 60), Janelt (Dasilva 71), Jensen (Baptiste 71)); Mbeumo, Toney, Schade (Ghoddos 76).
Liverpool
When, after just 13 minutes, the Brazilian Fabinho found Virgil Van Dijk with a penetrating pass that was passed on to Salah for a close-in finish, the signs were not good for the Bees. Liverpool, chasing a place in the Champions League, had survived a patchy period that saw them lose 1-3 at the Gtech in January. At Anfield, they were a different proposition.
The Bees were never allowed to get into their stride and Toney’s near-miss free kick and a chance that Aaron Hickey failed to convert into a goal were the closest the visitors came to scoring. ‘We definitely could have got something out of the game,’ Thomas Frank was to say later. ‘We frustrated them a lot.’ Those fans who had made the long journey to Merseyside must have known just how Liverpool felt.
With thanks to Mark Fuller
https://officialbfcpics.co.uk
Salah equalling Steven Gerrard’s record 186 goals for the club was the most memorable moment for home fans, while Brentford came home with two yellow cards – for Rico Henry and Mbeumo – and precious little else other than a mild headache.
Brentford: Raya; Hickey (substitute Wissa 88), M Jorgansen, Pinnock, Mee, Henry (Schade 72); Onyeka (Dasilva 72), Jensen (Baptiste 81), Janelt (Damsgaard 82); Mbeumo, Toney.
West Ham
The afternoon of struggling West Ham’s trip across London from east to west began with a shock: Ivan Toney was not in the starting line-up. Worse, he wasn’t in the list of substitutes either. Woe was almost tangible among the home side’s supporters. But not to worry – the sorcerer’s apprentice was on hand to spearhead the Bees’ late-season bid to finish ahead of West London rival clubs in the Premier League table.
Especially Fulham, said my mate Charlie.
Bryan Mbeumo’s undoubted talent has too often been hidden by the wizardry of Toney, his up-front partner and football professor when they trained together. Against the Hammers, it was left to Mbeumo to run the show, with Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade as his willing students.
The visitors helped a bit when West Ham manager David Moyes left out a handful of his key players, including Said Benrahma, not so long ago a crowd favourite at Griffin Park. Mbeumo led their replacements a merry dance, on one occasion intercepting a high through ball in an almost balletic one-foot movement to turn defence into attack.
After twenty minutes In a first half which Brentford dominated, he also supplied the finish to excellent approach work that saw Matthias Jensen find him, unmarked and motoring towards goal. Mbeumo’s careful shot might have been saved, but keeper Lukaz Febianski, at full stretch, seemed to fumble the ball as it sneaked under him.
Febianski was constantly busy. Mbeumo shot wide – not unknown, remarked some cynics – but marshalled his troops well, so that Kevin Schade, hungry for his first Bees’ goal, and the persistent Wissa were each proving difficult to handle. Ben Mee was another irritant, having a fierce shot blocked on the goal line and deflected behind.
So the second goal came as no surprise when, just before the interval, Mee flicked on a Jensen long throw for Wissa to head the ball away from the keeper and into the net.
Moyes reacted to a threatened drubbing after the break. Almost certainly safe from relegation after a bruising season, he was now understandably worried that his team would fail to exploit their 2-1 advantage when travelling to the Netherlands for the second leg of their Europa Conference semi-final against AZ Alkmaar. So, on came Benrahma – to respectful applause – along with England international Declan Rice, Jared Bowen, and other West Ham hotshots.
Did it make any difference. You bet. David Raya, who had so far spent much of his afternoon as a spectator, suddenly found himself in a proper contest. With Rice running the Hammers’ midfield and the Bees’ defence stretched, they appeared to have clawed a goal back – much to the delight of their highly-vocal travelling support.
Sadly, for them, it was a false alarm. A goalmouth skirmish that ended with Manuel Lanzini supplying Danny Ings with the ball he managed to stab home, only for lengthy deliberation and referee Michael Oliver’s visit to the VAR video screen revealing the handball that left the score unchanged.
Of Thomas Frank’s handful of substitutes, Saman Ghoddos received an impromptu, warm response from the stands. It was announced earlier that Samman would be leaving the club at the end of the season. The attacking midfielder has featured mostly as a substitute and the crowd had always admired his spirit and enthusiasm.
Ton up for the boss! With thanks to Mark Fuller https://officialbfcpics.co.uk
But time moves on… with Frank celebrating his one hundredth victory in his time as head coach, although personal celebrating is not really his style.
‘I can remember my first win clearly,’ Frank told journalists earlier. ‘It was against Millwall at home… That first win was important. It was a good feeling and a little bit of relief, but then we lost three more”.’
He can now be proud of guaranteeing a top-ten place in the League this season, no matter what results were achieved in the interim.
A remarkable season, I observed to my mate Charlie, thanks to Ivan and the rest of the squad.
‘Especially Bryan,’ said Charlie.
Brentford: Raya; Hickey (Roerslev 85), Mee, Pinnock, Henry; Janelt, Jensen (Onyeka 70), Damsgaard (Baptiste 77); Mbeumo, Schade (Ghoddos 85), Wissa (Dasilva 77).
Bill Hagerty
Contributing editor of Bees United.