Brentford 2-2 Ipswich: Bees strike twice in injury time

An incredible stoppage-time comeback saw Brentford clinch an unlikely 2-2 draw against Ipswich.

The visitors appeared to be on their way to a deserved three points before Andre Gray and James Tarkowski scored in the dying minutes to pinch a point.

A Kevin Bru strike just before half-time and another from Ryan Fraser shortly afterwards looked to be enough to settle the battle of last year's two beaten Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-finalists until the stirring fightback.

The Bees, who are undergoing a transformation under new manager Marinus Dijkhuizen, started the brighter of the two sides - keeping possession well and pegging the visitors back in their own half.

But it was the away side who went closest to scoring in the opening stages, as Freddie Sears wriggled free of Harlee Dean to place a shot narrowly beyond the far post.

Despite the hosts' snappy passing in the final third, they struggled to open up a resilient Ipswich backline for much of the half. Alan Judge's mazy run down the left wing provided their best chance of the first 45 minutes when his cross was directed goalwards by Jota, only for Bartosz Bialkowski to make an acrobatic save to deny the Spaniard.

Ipswich had their moments too, with Sears forcing Bees stopper David Button into a smart save from close range after the ball broke loose from a half-cleared corner.

The breakthrough came in the 45th minute. Fraser's 25-yard effort came back off the inside of the post and, after the move was kept alive by Josh Emmanuel, Bru converted from a few yards out.

It was 2-0 after 50 minutes when Sears was set free down the right and lured out Button before cutting back to Fraser, who converted into an empty net.

Brentford rallied immediately and Jota went within inches of pulling one back, as he failed to make full contact with an Alan McCormack cross.

After surviving the scare, Mick McCarthy's charges were in control and would have been three goals to the good but for Button's diving save to stop a rasping Bru drive from 30 yards.

The pre-match optimism among the Griffin Park regulars soon started to evaporate, as they surrendered possession too easily and there seemed little sign of the drama that was to come.

Last year's top scorer Gray was thrown on to save something and it looked to be a futile attempt until the Brentford forward beat the offside trap in the first added minute to slot home.

And in the sixth additional minute a corner bounced through to Tarkowski, who forced the ball over the line to complete the recovery.

Brentford manager Marinus Dijkhuizen:

"We put a lot of pressure on and took a lot of risks, but we got better and better in the game. There were big chances, but we couldn't get a goal. Then finally Andre (Grey) scored. You think it's too late with a few minutes left, then we sent everybody forward and we got a goal. We got a bit lucky of course, but we deserved a draw in the end."

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy:

"It's an annoying one and we should have won. We conceded two really poor goals. There were chances at both ends and we had the majority of them. We scored two, but should have scored another to put it beyond doubt. If you don't, you don't concede two goals like that.