| Brentford 4 v 3 Ipswich Town FA Premier League Saturday, 26th October 2024 Kick-off 15:00 |  |
Brentford 4-3 Ipswich Town - Match Report Saturday, 26th Oct 2024 17:16 Brentford came from two goals down to beat much-changed 10-man Town 4-3 at the Gtech Community Stadium in a game which swung one way and then the other throughout. Sammie Szmodics and George Hirst gave Town a two-goal lead before Yoane Wissa and a Harry Clarke own goal made it 2-2 at the break. Bryan Mbeumo made it 3-2 from the spot on 51, before Clarke was dismissed for second bookable offence. Liam Delap looked to have claimed a point for the Blues four minutes from time but Mbeumo scored deep, deep into injury time to grab all three points for the Bees. Town made six changes with skipper Sam Morsy, who has a hamstring injury which is not expected to keep him out behind today, Jack Taylor, who also has a knock, and Omari Hutchinson, who is ill, joining an already lengthy injury list featuring Axel Tuanzebe (hand), Ben Johnson (thigh), Massimo Luongo (ankle) and Jacob Greaves (hamstring). Harry Clarke came in at right-back for his full Premier League debut with Dara O’Shea moving into the centre alongside Cameron Burgess with Luke Woolfenden on the bench. In midfield, Jens Cajuste, who came close to joining Brentford in the summer, and Kalvin Phillips started with Conor Chaplin skippering as the number 10, while ex-Bee Chiedozie Ogbene was on the right and Szmodics on the left and Wes Burns and Jack Clarke on the bench. Hirst was handed his full Premier League debut as the central striker in a tactical move with Delap among the subs along with Christian Walton and Cieran Slicker, Town naming two keepers illustrating the lack of fit outfield players. Striker Ali Al-Hamadi, who is continuing to have groin problems, is also on the bench. Brentford made two changes from the team which lost 2-1 at Manchester United last week with Wissa returning to the XI following an ankle injury with Kevin Schade dropping to the bench, while Mads Roerslev came in for Kristoffer Ajer, who was missing from the squad. Ahead of kick-off, both sides took a knee in support of the Premier League’s No Room For Racism campaign. Unlike three of Brentford’s other recent opponents, the Blues managed to survive the opening minute without conceding, the Bees having kicked off. And unlike Wolves, Town repelled the Bees during the second minute. From there, the Blues had the better of the early exchanges, taking the game to the West Londoners and winning a couple of corners with the Town support away in the corner at the other end making plenty of noise. The Bees, however, began to take charge and on seven Christian Nørgaard and then Mbeumo saw efforts blocked. As the clocked ticked past 14, there was a minute’s applause for 14-year-old Brentford fan Holly West, who recently died of cancer. The Bees were seeing most of the ball but without threatening until the 19th minute when Nørgaard flicked a near-post header from a corner on the left which struck a Town player before Aro Muric blocked and then claimed at the second attempt. Neither side had created another opportunity before the Blues went ahead in the 29th minute. Phillips played a ball forward to Hirst between Brentford’s centre-halves, the striker turned away, then fed Szmodics, who was breaking towards the area to his left and the former Blackburn man confidently curled his shot beyond Mark Flekken and into the corner of the net. The Town fans were still celebrating their side’s opening goal when they scored their second. After Ogbene had tussled with a defender just over halfway, Chaplin picked the ball up, took it forward and to the left before playing a superb pass between two Brentford defenders to Hirst on the right of the box and the ex-Leicester striker deftly clipped the ball past Flekken. While the celebrations for Town having established a 2-0 lead for the first time this season were continuing, Ogbene underwent treatment having pulled or perhaps torn a muscle in the build-up. The Irish international eventually left the field on a stretcher and Wes Burns took over. Three minutes after the goal, the Blues, who were now well in the ascendency, weren’t too far away again, Burgess looping a header from a corner to Flekken. Soon after, Leif Davis shot well over. Town went even closer to a third goal in the 39th minute when Szmodics stole the ball from Nørgaard following a goal-kick on the edge of the area and took it into the box but Flekken saved well with his feet. On 42, Davis was booked for taking too long over a throw-in and two minutes later, the Bees pulled a goal back. Keane Lewis-Potter rode challenges down the left before feeding Vitaly Janelt, who cut it across to Wissa, who had got away from Davis at the back of the box, and the DR Congo international beat Muric to claim his fourth goal of the season. And two minutes later, a minute into time added on, the Bees levelled. Mikkel Damsgaard played a ball from the right in behind Burgess for Wissa, who stabbed it under Muric, who slowed it up, and Clarke behind him inadvertently diverted it over the line as he sought to clear. After a VAR check for offside, the home fans’ roar signalled their side were back on terms, Clarke having been credited with an own goal. That was the last action of an at times pulsating half. Town had started positively before Brentford had seen most of the ball prior to the Blues going in front and then doubling their lead three minutes later. Town had chances to increase their advantage further before the Bees’ late sucker punch at the end of the half, scoring two goals in two minutes. The Blues started the second half on the front foot, Chaplin coming close to finding Szmodics with a low ball from the left of the box but a defender’s toe intervened. Similarly, a Davis cross on 47 was cut out. Two minutes later, the Bees were awarded a penalty. Lewis-Potter got behind Clarke and the Town defender pulled him back. Referee Lewis Smith initially gave a free-kick and booked Clarke but after a VAR check, a spot-kick was given. It looked very debatable with Clarke’s challenge having started outside the area. Mbeumo took a slow run-up before hitting the ball into the roof of the net virtually down the middle with Muric diving to his right. Brentford went looking for a third and in the 56th minute, they went close when Muric by Cajuste with a back-pass but Phillips was on hand to clear. Moments later, Sepp van den Berg headed to the Town keeper. The Blues created their best chance of the half in the 58th minute when Cajuste advanced further forward than earlier in the game and played in Hirst on the left of the box. The striker might have shot from a tight angle but instead opted to cut back, however, there was no Town player there with Szmodics still to arrive. But the Bees were on top with the Blues largely unable to get themselves out of their final third with passes going stray all too frequently when they were in possession. On 65, Keane-Potter crossed from the left and Nørgaard headed over at the far post. Three minutes later, Wissa was sent away on goal via a pass from the right but Muric did well to stand up and block. A minute later, Town were reduced to 10 men. Keane-Potter brought the ball towards the area down the middle and Clarke tried to stab it away from him and looked to have got the ball However, referee Smith decided otherwise and showed a second yellow and then red card, much to the former Arsenal youngster’s frustration, his full Premier League debut having yielded an own goal, a penalty concession and his second Town dismissal. Damsgaard’s free-kick clipped the top of the bar, before the Blues made a triple change, Woolfenden, Delap and Jack Clarke replacing Chaplin, Hirst and Szmodics. Brentford had been on top even prior to Town being reduced in number and with the man advantage they looked to make it count. On 76, Muric saved sharply down to his right from Damsgaard. The Bees made their first changes a minute later, swapping Damsgaard and Nørgaard for Kevin Schade and Mathias Jensen. In the 81st minute, they made another change, Fábio Carvalho replacing Lewis-Potter, who had tormented Town and particularly Harry Clarke throughout. Town kept looking for an equaliser despite the lack of numbers, Burgess nodding down a Davis cross following a free-kick but with no one there to add the final touch to a promising chance. But most of the play was still at the other end, Phillips making a superb block from a Schade shot in the 84th minute. However, two minutes later, the Blues got back on terms. Burgess played a pass to Davis down the left and the full-back whipped over a low cross towards Delap, who got between the Brentford centre-halves to flick it across Flekken and into the net to send the Town support in the corner, who had kept their noise going despite the second-half frustrations, into raptures. Conor Townsend was handed his Blues league debut for Cajuste as the game moved into seven additional minutes as Town switched into a 3-5-1 system as they sought to hold onto the point, the former West Brom man taking up a left-sided central midfield position with Jack Clarke on the right and Phillips in the middle and Davis and Burns as wing-backs. Brentford came very close to winning it in the 93rd minute when a corner from the left was nodded down by Ethan Pinnock to Nathan Collins but the Irish centre-half blazed over from six yards out when it looked easier to hit the target. But two minutes later, the home side were celebrating a winning goal. Mbuemo crossed from the right, the ball avoiding everyone and O’Shea leaving for Muric, who reacted late as it nestled in the corner of his net. This time it was the home fans who went wild. There was still time for Town to get close to another equaliser, Delap turning away from his man and smashing a superb shot which beat Flekken but struck the outside of the post. As Brentford looked to seal it with a fifth, referee Smith ended an afternoon during which the emotions swung backwards and forwards for Town supporters. After going in front, Blues fans were dreaming of that elusive first Premier League win but after the Bees two goals just before the break, the third in the second half and Harry Clarke’s red card, another defeat looked all but certain. However, Delap’s excellent goal looked to have seen the Blues to another important away point but another error at the back saw the Bees claim all three at the last, before Delap for a split second gave hope of a fourth goal. For spirit, the much-depleted Town side certainly deserved something from the game and for a period in the middle of the first half played as well as they have all season. But once again they were made to pay for mistakes at the back and also might well have netted a third goal when in front and Szmodics will be rueing not taking his second opportunity as clinically as his first. A ninth game at the start of a top flight season without a win for still-17th Town, a new club record, with Leicester, 14th, visiting Portman Road next week. Brentford: Flekken, Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, Van den Berg, Nørgaard (Jensen 77), Janelt, Damsgaard (Schade 77), Mbuemo, Wissa, Lewis-Potter (Carvalho 81). Unused: Valdimarsson, Meghoma, Mee, Konak, Trevitt, Yamoliuk. Town: Muric, H Clarke, O’Shea, Burgess, Davis, Cajuste (Townsend 91), Phillips, Ogbene (Burns 35), Chaplin (Woolfenden 73) (c), Szmodics (J Clarke 73), Hirst (Delap 73). Unused: Walton, Slicker, Townsend, Broadhead, Al-Hamadi. Referee: Lewis Smith (Wigan). VAR official: Peter Bankes. Att: 17,109.
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