Brentford vs Watford. Premier League.
Gtech Community StadiumAttendance16,861.
Report and free highlights as Bryan Mbeumo's 95th-minute penalty gives Brentford late 2-1 victory over Watford; Emmanuel Dennis' first-half header cancelled out by Pontus Jansson six minutes from time before last-gasp winner
Saturday 11 December 2021 06:16, UK
Two goals in the last six minutes capped by Bryan Mbeumo's last-gasp penalty earned Brentford a stunning late 2-1 comeback win over Watford on Friday Night Football.
Mbeumo left Claudio Ranieri stony-faced on the sidelines as his side crumbled late on to throw away three points which would have lifted them six points above the drop zone.
Instead, wins for any of Norwich, Newcastle or Burnley this weekend could now leave them inside the bottom three, with the Hornets boss left questioning whether his side were "ready to do battle" after the final whistle.
The Hornets took a first-half lead as they made the most of the absence of two of the Bees' first-choice back three, with Dennis left unmarked to nod home Tom Cleverley's corner just before the half-hour mark, with the hosts out of sorts with a number of their key players unavailable.
Among those missing was top scorer Ivan Toney, and in his absence Mbeumo's first-half curler was the only time they tested Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann until the 74th minute, when Vitaly Janelt cut in off the right and forced him into a full-length save.
But as Thomas Frank urged his players forward they finally found a way through with six minutes to go, when a half-cleared corner was returned to the box and Jansson, whose last goal had come for Leeds in February 2019, scored from close range.
And deep into injury time, William Ekong's sliding challenge on Saman Ghoddos left the substitute on the floor and Michael Oliver pointing to the spot, from where Mbeumo beat Bachmann from 12 yards to move Brentford ninth in the table - and 10 points clear of the bottom three themselves, with a victory labelled "a huge win" by Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher.
Injuries have threatened to derail Brentford's fairytale debut Premier League season, with one win from eight games coming into their Friday Night Football showdown with Watford and the joy of early-season results against Arsenal and Liverpool turning to concern about their top-flight safety.
They had another absence to add to the list as Frank confirmed Ethan Pinnock had become the latest player struck down by Covid. The manager may have wondered whether his powerful defender may have done a better job in marking Dennis than those who did play from Cleverley's corner, with the Nigerian left totally free to nod in past a helpless Fernandez.
Perhaps Toney, too, would have made a difference at the other end, with Brentford enjoying more than 60 per cent of first-half possession without finding the right pass to open up the Watford defence and test Bachmann, bar one well-struck effort from Mbeumo who forced him into action from distance.
They had improved on a poor opening 45 minutes at Leeds last weekend but it was more of the same after the break from the Bees, until they finally pulled a save out of the Austrian with 16 minutes to go as Janelt, pushed forward from his role as a makeshift centre-back, turned inside Jeremy Ngakia and forced him to palm away his driven effort.
Within moments Josh King could have doubled the lead in a Cucho Hernandez-inspired break but fired straight into Fernandez's body.
The sheer numbers of bodies piled forward by the Bees promised chances as time went on and so it proved for the equaliser. Janelt's half-cleared corner was returned to the box by the German and Forss' flick powered home by Jansson, who had to sit through a nervy VAR offside check before his goal was confirmed.
The momentum, and the crowd, were both fully with Brentford by now and it seemed only the full-time whistle would stop them finding another way through, until Ekong's moment of madness.
With Ghoddos going nowhere fast, the defender's needless slide invited him to go to ground and Oliver had little hesitation in giving the hosts the chance to seal a last-gasp victory from the penalty spot.
Mbeumo kept his cool to send Fernandez the wrong way and roll his spot-kick into the far corner, lifting Brentford into the top half and Watford facing the reality that they could end the weekend inside the relegation zone.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville lauded the atmosphere at the Brentford Community Stadium after another dramatic win for the newly-promoted side.
"I absolutely love coming here," he said. "It's absolutely amazing. We thought we were going to get a 1-0 Watford win but there's always something special.
"This crowd wants to get involved. You see these fans singing at the end of the game. It's their first season in the Premier League and they've brought a real energy and spirit. It's a fantastic place to be."
Jamie Carragher, meanwhile, talked up the significance of the victory, which moved Brentford up to ninth and put them 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
"That was a huge win. I think I mentioned with 10 or 15 minutes to go, how the other teams, certainly in the bottom three, would be feeling.
"They would have all been desperate for a draw but that's a big gap now between Brentford and that bottom three.
"When you're down there in the bottom, it's difficult to get on a run of games where you're winning. You think how long it would take them to get up near Brentford now, so it does feel like a big win for them.
"Thomas Frank knows that's a big win without his best players. The top teams in the league struggle without their players. You think of Liverpool without Mo Salah - that's what Ivan Toney is to this Brentford team, so that is a huge victory against one of your rival sin the league."
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank: "We work so hard to try to achieve these moments. It was cruel against Leeds and this is the opposite. The feelings inside all of us are crazy, also the way the game went. Fantastic mentality from the players.
"I don't think everything was fantastic today. I think in the first half we lacked decisive quality. We tried but it never came off. We talked in half-time that we needed more tempo, more energy, more presence.
"We knew if we kept going that maybe something would come. After we equalised, we never settled for a draw, we tried to go for the win, always, and that came off, which is fantastic."
Watford head coach Claudio Ranieri: "It's unbelievable because we were winning 1-0 and we had the chance to score the second goal and finish the match, but of course Brentford pushed a lot. At the end, we made three mistakes for the penalty. It's unbelievable. We have to say Brentford deserved to win. Well done to them.
"We can learn but I wanted some points. We missed a lot of opportunities today and we know it was an important match but maybe the Brentford team were ready to do battle and some of my players no. Some yes, some no. We have to understand the Premier League is fight and quality. You have to be smart in every situation."
Given the unenviable task of dealing with Watford's powerful, pacy front three of Emmanuel Dennis, Josh King and Cucho Hernandez Janelt stuck to his task well, and ended up influencing the game most at the other end.
He was one of few players to ask any real questions of Daniel Bachmann and delivered the cross leading to the Bees' equaliser. Only Jeremy Ngakia won more defensive aerial duels across the 90 minutes (7), and he made more clearances (5) than any other Brentford player.
Brentford now host Manchester United in the Premier League at 7.30pm on Tuesday, while Watford are at Burnley at 7.30pm on Wednesday. Watch free highlights from both games shortly after full time on Sky Sports.com, the Sky Sports App and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
