Brentford 2-2 Bournemouth: Bryan Mbeumo's late equaliser denies ...
Bryan Mbeumo scored a late equaliser to earn Brentford a third successive home draw and deny Andoni Iraola his first Premier League win as Bournemouth manager.
Iraola's impressive work at Rayo Vallecano - and his connections to Marcelo Bielsa - have created a sense of intrigue around Bournemouth, but the Spaniard had collected just one point from his first three league games.
That record was on course to become even worse when some haphazard goalkeeping from Neto handed Brentford an early free-kick, with Matthias Jensen then beating the Brazilian from a tight angle.
How the teams lined up | Match statsStream the Premier League and more with NOW for £26 a month for 12 monthsPremier League table | Watch free Premier League highlightsGet Sky Sports | Download the Sky Sports appBut the Bees could not build on their early lead and saw the woodwork deny them on three separate occasions - including when Keane Lewis-Potter somehow hit the post from just yards out.
Bournemouth made their hosts pay for their wastefulness, with David Brooks pouncing on an error from Rico Henry - who Thomas Frank argued should have been in this week's England squad - to add to Dominic Solanke's earlier strike.
But Brentford - who have now lost just one of their last 18 home Premier League games - refused to be beaten, with Bryan Mbeumo brilliantly turning Milos Kerkez before calmly slotting past Neto in stoppage time to ensure the points were shared.
Player ratings
Brentford: Flekken (5), Hickey (6), Pinnock (6), Mee (6), Henry (5), Jensen (7), Norgaard (6), Janelt (6), Mbeumo (7), Wissa (6), Schade (7).
Subs: Lewis-Potter (6), Onyeka (6), Ajer (n/a), Olakigbe (n/a), Collins (n/a).
Bournemouth: Neto (5), Aarons (5), Zabarnyi (5), Senesi (6), Kerkez (5), Cook (6), Billing (6), Kluivert (6), Christie (7), Semenyo (6), Solanke (7).
Subs: Brooks (7), Tavernier (7), Mepham (n/a).
Player of the match: Matthias Jensen.
Image: Bryan Mbeumo celebrates his late equaliser
Brentford had won their previous five home matches against Bournemouth and were surely confident of extending that run after dominating the opening exchanges.
Neto offered the hosts more than a helping hand with their opener, fouling Kevin Schade on the edge of his box after flapping at a cross before allowing Jensen’s free-kick to beat him from a tight angle.
Team news
Brentford reverted to a more conventional XI after the midweek Carabao Cup, restoring Flekken, Hickey, Pinnock, Henry, Jensen, Norgaard, Mbeumo and Wissa to the line-up in place of Balcombe, Jorgensen, Roerslev, Ajer, Onyeka, Yarmolyuk, Lewis-Potter and Olakigbe. Bournemouth also rang the changes after their midweek win over Swansea, bringing Neto, Zabarnyi, Kerkez, Cook, Kluivert, Christie, Semenyo and Solanke into the starting XI, with Radu, Mepham, Rothwell, Brooks, Traore and Moore dropped to the bench. Kelly, who was reportedly the subject of a failed Tottenham bid on Deadline Day, was not in the XI, while Anthony was absent after leaving for Leeds on Friday.The Cherries skipper thought he had survived his error after seemingly clawing the ball away, only for referee Robert Madley to eventually award the goal, with replays showing it clearly crossed the line.
The delay in the awarding of the strike appeared to be caused by the official’s watch malfunctioning - and similar could be said for the Bees’ finishing.
Schade was the first to hit the post with a sliding effort after being played in by Christian Norgaard, with Yoane Wissa then thumping the upright after impressively turning past Marcos Senesi.
Lewis-Potter then somehow contrived to divert the ball onto the far post with his thigh from just yards out as Brentford’s luck refused to turn.
The Bees had already seen their lead slip away when Solanke latched onto a long pass before firing the ball past Mark Flekken before Henry’s underhit backpass set up Bournemouth's second, with Brooks rounding the goalkeeper after being set up by Marcus Tavernier.
But Bournemouth could not hold out and it was Mbeumo - who had provided another contender for miss of the game when he bent the ball a huge chance wide just after half-time - who salvaged a point.
Kerkez dived in to intercept the ball but was turned by Mbeumo, who span towards goal and slid a finish past Neto to ensure Brentford remain unbeaten in the 2023/24 season.
Frank: This team never diesFrank was delighted with the way in which his side battled back to earn a late point and praised Henry after his uncharacteristic error.
“First half good, second half fantastic,” said the Brentford boss. “We ran over Bournemouth in the second half, creating chance after chance.
“The only chance I can remember to Bournemouth was the goal, which was a mistake from Rico.
“I’ve just praised Rico in [the dressing room]. He’s been unbelievable for us in that situation - and he should have been in the England squad.
“The mentality in this team is incredible. They will never die. After we equalised, we still went for it.”
Iraola: We were so close to first winIraola bemoaned the fact his side were unable to hold onto their first Premier League win of the season - and particularly the manner of Brentford’s stoppage-time leveller.
“It’s not a bad result but we were so close to taking three points,” he said. “We are probably the team that finishes less happy.
“It was a game where anything could happen. They were pushing a lot and we finished the game pretty tired. We were conceding too much space.
“It could be a fair result. The worst thing for us is the way we conceded the goal - it comes from our own goal-kick. We made two or three mistakes. We have to finish these games.”
Stubborn Brentford refuse to lie downSky Sports' Joe Shread at the Gtech Community Stadium:
"This team never dies". Thomas Frank may have seen his team held to a third successive home draw but he could not hide his delight at the way in which they collected their point.
After spurning a collection of inviting openings and striking the post three times, Bryan Mbeumo finally showed the composure he and his side had been lacking to slide in an injury-time leveller.
Brentford had piled pressure upon Bournemouth and their equaliser came as no surprise - only Manchester City and Brighton have scored more stoppage-time goals than the Bees since they entered the Premier League.
Frank's side are also unbeaten this season, while they have lost just one of their last 18 Premier League home games.
Bournemouth were just the latest team to discover how difficult it is to beat Frank's Brentford.
What's next?Brentford's first game after the international break sees them travel to Newcastle on Sunday September 17, live on Sky Sports - kick-off 4.30pm.
Bournemouth host Chelsea on the same Sunday, live on Sky Sports - kick-off 2pm.
Stream Premier League action on Sky Sports with NOW for just £26 a month for 12 months. Cancel anytime.
Opta stats: Bees strike late againSince Brentford's first Premier League season (2021-22), only Brighton (13) and Manchester City (13) have scored more goals in the 90th minute or beyond in the competition than the Bees (12).Mathias Jensen scored the first direct free-kick goal of the 2023-24 Premier League season - it was just the third direct free-kick goal that the Bees have scored in the league since attaining promotion in 2021.Dominic Solanke has now scored or assisted in three of Bournemouth’s first four Premier League games this season - he has now scored or assisted 16 goals overall since Bournemouth were promoted back to the league last year; no other Cherries player has more than 10 direct goal involvements in that time.David Brooks scored his first Premier League goal since July 2020 (vs Manchester City) - each of Brooks’ last three Premier League goals have come away from home, after each of his previous three before that had come at the Vitality Stadium.
