Match report and free highlights as Brentford beat Bournemouth 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium; Yoane Wissa scored a 95th-minute winner after Dominic Solanke had cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo's strike; referee Matthew Donohue was at the centre of the action on his Premier League debut
Saturday 11 May 2024 21:34, UK
Brentford substitute Yoane Wissa scored a 95th-minute winner against Bournemouth as the visitors edged an extraordinary Premier League game at the Vitality Stadium.
Wissa emphatically rounded off a counter-attack after Dominic Solanke's 19th Premier League goal of the season (89) had immediately cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo's 50th Brentford strike in all competitions (86).
The three late goals arrived after the officials had taken centre stage on the south coast, with referee Matthew Donohue - making his Premier League debut - overturning a Bournemouth goal and a Brentford penalty after being advised by VAR Chris Kavanagh to review both incidents at the pitchside monitor.
Officiating in the top flight for the first time since his promotion from the Championship, Donohue disallowed Solanke's first-half opener because of an Antoine Semenyo handball in the build-up and reversed a second-half Brentford spot-kick won by Ivan Toney.
In a battle between two strikers competing to make England's Euro 2024 squad, it was Toney's team who came out on top but Solanke who staked a better claim to earn a seat on the plane to Germany with Three Lions coach Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink watching on.
On another day, the Bournemouth forward could have scored a hat-trick, having also been penalised for a foul on Nathan Collins before finishing past Mark Flekken minutes after he appeared to have given his side the lead.
The defeat means the Cherries missed the chance to move a step closer to securing a top-half finish for the first time since 2016/17. They drop to 11th while Brentford, who were already safe from relegation after pulling away from the bottom three in recent weeks, stay 16th.
Brentford started brightly and Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers was the first to be called into action, getting down well to keep out Keane Lewis-Potter's goal-bound low shot.
Semenyo then saw his long-range effort punched away by Brentford goalkeeper Flekken, who was also equal to a Dango Ouattara effort as the hosts began to take control of the game.
Solanke thought he had broken the deadlock in the 26th minute when he slotted past Flekken after being played through by Semenyo, but Bournemouth's joy was short-lived as the goal was chalked off with the officials deciding Semenyo had controlled the ball with his hand, even though replays suggested it was not a deliberate act.
Donohue felt the wrath of Andoni Iraola's fury and the Bournemouth boss was shown a yellow card for protesting over the award of a free-kick soon after the incident. It wasn't long before the Spaniard was raging again when Solanke had a second effort ruled out for a soft foul on Brentford defender Collins - although this time the referee's whistle had gone moments before the ball hit the net.
The main talking point of the second half before the late flurry of goals was Brentford being awarded a penalty after Toney went down under Illia Zabarnyi's challenge.
Just as Toney, who has now gone 11 Premier League games without scoring, had grabbed the ball ready to take the kick, Donohue was called over to the on-field review screen and reversed his decision after deciding the striker went to ground too easily.
Mbuemo finally opened the scoring with four minutes of normal time remaining with a smart finish after racing onto Wissa's exceptional flick-on from Flekken's long punt upfield.
The away fans were still celebrating when Bournemouth went straight up the other end to equalise three minutes later as top-scorer Solanke sent a looping header beyond Flekken from Marcos Senesi's cross.
But there was still time for more drama when Mbuemo set Wissa away before the substitute fired in his fourth goal in six matches from an acute angle to win the contest.
The victory was Brentford's fifth in the league this year, ending Bournemouth's six-game unbeaten run at home in the process. Nevertheless, it has been an outstanding season for Iraola's side, who still have an opportunity to surpass the 50-point mark when they travel to Chelsea on the final day next weekend.
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola said: "At the end you have lost the game and it is always ugly when you complain after you have lost the game. But the truth is, we should have been 2-0 up after the first half.
"Especially the first goal that VAR overturned, it was a rebound and he is not the one scoring the goal. According to the rules, it is not on purpose just a rebound and after the play keeps going there is a pass and another player scores and VAR to overturn it. I don't understand it.
"The second goal is obviously a big, big, big mistake. You whistle the foul, in two seconds there is a goal, and then you can see it in the replay there is no foul.
"Obviously, you can't give the goal because you have whistled and that is a big, big mistake that has cost us a lot.
"It's true that he [the referee] makes his [Premier League] debut. He may be very good, we don't know the level. But obviously he has had a very bad game. I don't know if it was difficult but obviously he has not had a good first game.
"Probably he is a very good referee and after he makes good decisions and has a long career in the Premier League and referees for a lot of years. But it is true his first game was not good in my opinion."
On whether Dominic Solanke should make the England squad, Iraola said: "I don't know what more he can do. He is playing very well and he scored a great header today. But it is not just about the finishing, it's about everything else he gives to the team.
"I think he's very complete and I think he will be there. He has been really consistent and proven he is a very good player."
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said: "We were very, very good in so many ways. Bournemouth are a good team, a difficult team to play against.
"When I checked it before the game, both teams had scored 52 goals, we had conceded 60 and they had conceded 63 - all respect to Bournemouth, they've done really well - but that's a good picture of our underlining performance.
"We could or should have been up there if we had converted some of our chances and avoided some of them at the other end.
"You can see that both teams are very even and it was an even game overall. I would say we still edged it, not only with the win but throughout different situations. It was a fair win.
"And we scored two unbelievable goals. Wow."
The final day of the Premier League season takes place on May 19 with all games kicking off at 4pm.
Bournemouth take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, while Brentford welcome Newcastle to the Gtech Community Stadium.
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