19 April 2025
Brentford 4 Brighton 2
Brentford are proving to be quite the anomaly this season. At the start of their campaign, their home form was so good, they had the best record in the Premier League and at one stage in Europe. However, at this point they were woeful on the road. They seemed to have addressed that now as they broke a club record for successive away wins but their home form has fallen off a cliff.
The Bees welcomed Brighton to the Gtech Community Stadium, looking for their first win in eight games in front of their own fans. Both of these teams had seen inconsistency cost them dearly and this was the epitome of a mid-table clash. However, both managers knew if they could find some form between now and the end of the campaign, that could all change.
Thomas Frank’s side had celebrated Christmas and New Year since they last won a game in West London. Against a dangerous opponent, they needed to start making this somewhere teams fear travelling to. They almost made the perfect start as Schade slotted a perfectly-weighted pass into Wissa. He should have scored, but his poor effort was saved by the feet of Verbruggen.
However, he was to be bailed out by his attacking partner. Lewis-Potter threaded a pass through the middle and Mbuemo got away from van Hecke. As Verbruggen looked to make himself big, the Brentford danger man slotted into the far corner, giving the keeper no chance of denying him. The ground erupted in the spring sunshine as they broke the deadlock.
If you speak to any Brentford fan, they will soon get onto the subject of how their manager does not the credit he is due for what he has done with The Bees. The reality is, they are completely right in what they are saying. Just look at how the newly promoted sides go straight back down and he has turned this team into Premier League mainstays, never mentioned in relegation chatter.
The Seagulls started to venture forward more and could have been on level terms when Minteh headed wide at the back post. The travelling fans did not have to wait long for a reason to celebrate as Wieffer crossed and picked out Welbeck at the back post. He used his strength to hold defenders off before heading into the bottom corner of the goal with the last kick of the half.
After the interval, Wissa and Mbuemo linked up again. He rolled it in front of him before looking to bend one in the far corner. His shot took a deflection off Dunk, which perfectly placed it into the bottom corner. Verbruggen was at full-stretch and would have no doubt saved the initial shot but the touch from the Brighton defender took it past him.
As an attack for the visitors broke down, Damsgaard played a superb long pass out wide for Mbuemo. He looked up and returned the favour to his strike partner, who was busting a gut to get into the middle. He had the hunger to ensure he was first to the ball but his shot took another deflection off a Brighton player, sending the ball the opposite way to where the keeper had dived.
Both second-half goals for The Bees had come off Dunk. If the goals panel had a cruel streak, the Brighton captain would have had a brace for the hosts by now. As The Seagulls lumped the ball forward it was easily dealt with by the Brentford centre-backs. Collins fell to the floor clutching his face. In the modern game we resist making rash decisions until replays are shown as players love to make the slightest contact seem worse than it is.
On this occasion, all they showed us was a moment of madness from Joao Pedro. He threw his elbow into the face of the Brentford defender and after review was shown a straight red card. A bad day at the office was getting far worse for Fabian Hurzeler’s side, now two goals down and reduced to ten men for the remainder of the match.
The Seagulls huffed and puffed as Mitoma sent a close range shot over the target. The Japanese winger did not have to dwell on the miss for long. Moments later, he was played in and finished superbly with his left-foot, shooting back across the keeper into the far corner of the goal. Suddenly, it was the hosts who were looking like their backs were against the wall.
Due to the numbers advantage, when they did come forward, Brentford had plenty of space to utilise. A free-kick was swung in from the touchline and Norgaard headed home to restore the two-goal lead for Thomas Frank’s side. His goal five minutes into added time surely put this game to bed for the hosts as they broke their poor run of form in the capital.
For The Seagulls, this was a day to forget. There was a clash of heads towards the end of the game that left van Hecke in a bad way, having to be stretchered off the pitch. All thoughts are with the defender and that he makes a complete recovery. Reports suggest he went straight to hospital and was discharged later that evening. Times like this put sport into context with the bigger picture.
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