Brentford 2-2 Bournemouth
by Layth Yousif
at the Brentford Community Stadium

BRYAN MBEUMO’S 93rd minute equaliser earned Thomas Frank’s Brentford a point after a breathless match on Saturday afternoon in West London.

The 24-year-old former Troyes attacker slotted past Cherries keeper Neto, to prevent the visitors leaving sunny West London with all three points, following a lively match that saw the home side go ahead as early as the seventh minute.

Poor play from the former Juventus and Barcelona keeper Neto led to Brentford’s opener.

First the 34-year-old lost the ball to Kevin Schade before fouling him, prior to pretending he was hurt. Then from the resulting free kick Mathias Jensen beat him at the near post.

While VAR confirmed it had crossed the line, the ball was so far over the line it could have been waiting for a train at nearby Kew Bridge railway situated behind the home end.

In a hectic match, Schade hit the post on 22 minutes, before Andoni Iraola’s Cherries started to gain a foothold in proceedings.

First, through Ryan Christie’s shot that flew narrowly wide, prior to an excellent driving run by Solanke on the half-hour mark.

The 25-year-old former Liverpool attacker powered into the box, turning Ben Mee in the process, on his way to finishing past Bees keeper Mark Flekken to equalise for Bournemouth. Leaving players and the travelling fans massed in the away end to vigorously celebrate the leveller to make it 1-1.

The impressive Antoine Semenyo nearly put the visitors ahead when Flekken misdirected a punch, but the former Freiburg keeper redeemed himself when sticking out a foot to deny the 23-year-old former Bristol City attacker.

Mbeumo should have put Brentford ahead moments after the interval, but his shot flew inches wide, while Flekken denied Christie at the near post, as the second half continued in the same entertaining vein.

Philip Billing — or according to his shirt simply “Philip” — then fired over Flekken’s bar, as both sides chased a second in the glorious September sunshine.

The warning wasn’t heeded when David Brooks slotted home for 2-1. The goal came after Bees’ Rico Henry gifted Cherries’ James Tavernier the ball, after first eating up the ground with his exhilarating acceleration to claim possession in a chase between the pair.

It was a real shame for the No 3, a loyal servant to the club since 2016, with Bees fans quickly singing Henry’s name to acknowledge his effort before his untimely error.

However, with referee Robert Madley adding six additional minutes, Brentford went hunting for a deserved equaliser.

Which came when the intelligent Mbeumo was put through on goal, to slot past Neto with aplomb to make it 2-2 as the crowd erupted.

Bournemouth manager Iraola said after the match: “It’s always frustrating when you concede in stoppage time, especially the way we concede starting from our own goal kick. We finished tired, last minute and we were struggling.”