Bournemouth came back from a goal down and so nearly took all three points from their trip to west London on Saturday, only for Brentford to strike in stoppage time to rescue a point and remain unbeaten.
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Brentford got off to a fast start again on Saturday, going ahead on Mathias Jensen’s free kick in the 7th minute. Jensen stood over the ball to the side of Neto’s penalty area, and the Danish midfielder must have felt the goalkeeper was cheating too far toward the back post, as he whipped the ball hard at the near post. Neto palmed it away, but not before the whole of the ball had crossed the line.
Bournemouth weren’t at the races early, but they quickly found their way after falling behind. Dominic Solanke finished expertly after Marcos Senesi found him with a clever ball in the 30th minute.
That didn’t, however, stem the tide of Brentford pressure. The Bees racked another 3.29 xG on the day, with 2.56 of it coming in the second half as they chased a second goal to retake the lead. Instead, they overextended themselves on a long throw, were caught on the counter-attack and made a critical error for the game’s third goal. Rico Henry’s back pass got nowhere near its intended destination, and Marcus Tavernier pounced quickly, sliding the ball to David Brooks who touched the ball around goalkeeper Mark Flekken and put it in the empty net.
Defeat looked to be on the cards for Brentford, until Bryan Mbeumo took matters into his own hands in stoppage time. Nathan Collins hit a long ball to the Cameroon international, and Mbeumo took it from there. He didn’t have much to aim at, but Mbeumo placed the ball in the bottom corner and sent the west London faithful into raptures relief.
The “yeah, but…" with Brentford
The unbeaten tag comes with a bit of an asterisk, though, as Thomas Frank’s side has drawn three of their four games thus far, to go with the fact they held a lead in all three draws and failed to get over the finish line. Coming into matchweek 3, only three-time defending Premier League champions Manchester City (+1.73) had a better xGD per 90 minutes than Brentford (+1.43) this season. Three games is a small sample size, but we know that gaudy xG numbers are simply part of the furniture at Brentford these days.
Bournemouth hit them for 2.02 xG on Saturday, though, and that’s where they had been much improved to begin the 2023-24 season. Going ahead so early in the game played a part, but it’s quite clear that Brentford are pushing too many numbers forward into attack to compensate for Ivan Toney’s absence. Still, it speaks volumes that a thrilling 2-2 draw is seenas a downright disappointment for Brentford.
Brentford vs Bournemouth, final score: 2-2
Goalscorers: Mathias Jensen (7'), Dominic Solanke (30'), David Brooks (77'), Bryan Mbeumo (90' +2)
How to watch Brentford vs Bournemouth live, start time, stream link
Kick off: 10am ET
TV channel: Peacock Premium
Online: Watch online via Peacock Premium
From our friends at FotMob.com…
Ready for action 🟡🔵 pic.twitter.com/4zLzR8m3EM
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) September 2, 2023
Your Bees to take on Bournemouth 🐝#BREBOU pic.twitter.com/vKLsnxYDZz
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) September 2, 2023
Brentford should have Ben Mee back from a calf injury, which is a big boost. Ivan Toney is suspended until early 2024, so Mbeumo and Wissa will continue in attack with Schade coming in off the left.
Josh Dasilva (thigh) and Shandon Baptiste (shoulder) are out until the end of November and October respectively as Brentford have a bit of a depth issue in midfield.
The Cherries still have a host of injuries to key players which has hampered Andoni Iraola early on.
Dango Outtara, Ryan Fredericks are still out, while new signing Alex Scott (knee) will be out a while longer.
Marcus Tavernier, Tyler Adams (hamstring) and Adam Smith are all likely to return just after the international break.
Jaidon Anthony, David Brooks and Hamed Traore could all start this game as Bournemouth look to get the correct balance in attack.
