Brentford vs Sheffield Wednesday. Sky Bet Championship.
Griffin ParkAttendance12,273.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Griffin Park
Saturday 7 March 2020 19:29, UK
Brentford strengthened their Sky Bet Championship promotion push with an emphatic 5-0 win over troubled Sheffield Wednesday.
A Josh Dasilva double and goals from Tariqe Fosu, Emiliano Marcondes and Bryan Mbeumo ended the hosts' five-game winless run in some style.
Dasilva gave the Londoners an early lead when he swept home from 12 yards after Said Benrahma cut in from the left and his blistering drive was parried into his path by 'keeper Cameron Dawson.
The Bees made it two eight minutes later when a half-cleared ball dropped for Marcondes, who fired over the 'keeper and into the far corner with an unstoppable dipping drive from 20 yards.
The hosts stretched their lead just after the half-hour, Marcondes playing a slide-rule pass into the path of Mbeumo, who put the burners on to outpace his marker and coolly slot home in the far corner.
Wednesday battled back after the break, but Brentford weathered the storm and exerted their dominance again in the 73rd minute when Dasilva was played in by Benrahma and slotted under the keeper for four.
Brentford were running riot and some intricate passing around the box slipped Fosu in and he fired an angled drive past Dawson into the far corner to complete the rout.
It was no more than the promotion chasers deserved after a bright start that left the Owls chasing shadows for the first 10 minutes until they got a foothold in the game.
Top scorer Ollie Watkins could have opened his side's account after just seven minutes, but his half-volley from a clever Christian Norgaard cross smashed to safety off the bar.
The visitors had their moments though during lulls in the game and half-time could easily have arrived with the scoreline at 6-2.
Jacob Murphy almost caught Bees keeper David Raya out at his near post but the Spaniard deflected his speculative effort wide with a flailing leg.
Steven Fletcher saw a header from a superb Barry Bannan cross loop just over with the score at 2-0, but it was all a little half-hearted from Wednesday, who looked leggy after their midweek FA Cup match against Manchester City.
The Owls appeared to be sharper after a half-time talking-to and former Brentford loan man Kadeem Harris brought spark to the side, testing Raya with a sharp drive at his near post.
Murphy should have done better just after the hour mark but fired a volley straight down the throat of Raya, but the visitors' attacks lacked any real conviction.
With the game heading for stoppage time, Wednesday had arguably their best chance to ruin the Bees' clean sheet, Bannon's free-kick finding Tom Lees, whose header was tipped over by the Bees stopper.
Bannon was the only Wednesday player to emerge with any credit from a one-sided affair which ended with the travelling fans calling for the board's sacking.
The win keeps the pressure on the Championship's top two and leaves Wednesday with just one win from 10.
Brentford's Thomas Frank: "We have drawn a few too many recently and some of that may have been down to the fine margins, but I hope this will mean we have turned the corner. Our success is built on four main pillars of top attitude, hard work, performance and attitude and we showed all four from start to finish.
"Last season we knew the biggest thing to work on was our desire to defend. We had a February where we conceded some strange goals but today there were some fantastic blocks to protect our goal. That was as pleasing as seeing three or four of our players getting forward with real desire when we were four and five goals ahead near the end."
Sheffield Wednesday's Garry Monk: "That was the most embarrassed I've ever felt in football. It was inexcusable. I've defended the team before but we were hiding today. We have responsibilities in terms of what we face on a football pitch but the one thing you need is heart and we didn't show any of that. I can only apologise to the fans behind the goal because they don't deserve this.
"Every time we take a step forward we take two steps back. I have said the boys train well and hard and a lot of it you don't see coming, and then you get that on the pitch. There is a leadership problem and I share responsibility for that. I have to lead that team and those players on a daily basis, but I'm clearly not getting a response.
"I understand that but I can only do what I can physically do. I have done all I can and it's not had the response that's needed. We were nowhere near it today. There's a culture here that will never ever be successful. We don't have enough desire, determination and character and if you want to be successful there has to be desire beneath you. There is not enough of that at this football club. It's not an individual thing. It's the whole team and there are deep rooted issues here for everyone to see. I am tired of saying it.
"The system wouldn't have mattered because if you don't play with heart you will be punished. We did well until Christmas but we've had a huge drop off since then and trying to find a way through it to rediscover that consistency is proving a very difficult thing to do. But I'm not a quitter and I've had to fight for everything in my career and I will also fight to turn this round until someone tells me otherwise."
