Brentford clinch five-goal thriller against Bournemouth
Brentford 3-2 Bournemouth: Thomas Frank’s men came from behind to win.
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Your support makes all the difference.Yoane Wissa made it seven goals for the season as his brace helped Brentford bounce back from Monday’s collapse at Fulham and beat Bournemouth 3-2 at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The Bees needed a response after Fulham’s Harry Wilson scored twice in second-half added-time to stun them in the Premier League last time out.
And after Evanilson took advantage of a Sepp van Den Berg error to give the Cherries an early lead, Wissa’s header brought parity in west London.
Justin Kluivert’s finish from inside the six-yard box saw Bournemouth go ahead once more after the break, but a Brentford double from Mikkel Damsgaard and Wissa’s second put the match to bed.
Bournemouth had their hosts penned inside their own half in the opening stages as Andoni Iraola’s men, who deployed Milos Kerkez as an inverted left-back, dominated possession with the extra man in the central areas prior to their 17th-minute opener.
Brentford seemed to be shackled by Monday’s late defeat as they succumbed to Bournemouth’s pressure, with van den Berg gifting Evanilson an early goal.
As Thomas Frank’s side turned the ball over on halfway, van den Berg tried to alleviate pressure by playing back to keeper Mark Flekken, but his weak pass was pounced upon by the diligent Brazilian who simply rounded Flekken to tap home for 1-0.
Brentford’s tactics were by no means pretty. They struggled to find combinations up top and they resorted to their long-throw tactic in a bid to find an equaliser.
Mathias Jensen’s launched ball was flicked on in the area and, despite Bournemouth’s appeals for handball, Wissa was left free to head past the rooted Kepa Arrizabalaga (27), bailing van Den Berg out for his earlier mistake.
Bournemouth went back ahead four minutes after the break, executing a well-worked move off a corner to retake their lead. The Cherries played it short and, after they played it out to Lewis Cook on the edge of the area, an intricate reversed pass through the defence to Kluivert saw the Dutch winger produce a placed finish inside of the right post for 2-1.
Brentford had beaten Ipswich 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller in their last home match, and Saturday’s action looked to be going in a similar direction when they instantly snatched a goal for the game’s fourth. Eight-goal Bryan Mbeumo found Damsgaard on the right and despite the acute angle, his drilled 50th-minute effort caught out the poorly-positioned Kepa for the leveller.
Brentford had been far from their best but they boast quality finishers in their ranks, including the clinical Wissa who grabbed his brace to put his side in the ascendancy for the first time. Wissa held his line and was slipped in by Vitaly Janelt before a deft chip lobbed Kepa for 3-2 eight minutes after the equaliser.
Brentford avoided another late scare in stoppage-time as Bournemouth hit the bar, allowing the hosts to see out proceedings for three points.