An afternoon that was as frustrating as they come for Brentford ended in a 1-0 defeat and the unbeaten start to the Premier League coming to a niggly end at Newcastle United.
Frustrating, in that there were plenty of chances for Brentford to win the game. Wissa with two of the best whilst Aaron Hickey on the overlap early on found himself with a wonderful opportunity. That’s football – take them when they come or miss out. Let’s not forget that Nick Pope, who stopped that initial effort from our right back, is an England ‘keeper and did well to smother a ball that had been lifted over a covering defender.
Yet it was the nature of the game’s only goal, scored by Callum Wilson from the penalty spot, that remains infuriating. That’s the polite word.
Mark Flekken in nets came rushing out to clear a touch back from Hickey that could have been hoofed to safety. There was no need for him to do so and Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon took advantage. He turned his back on the ‘keeper as he jumped in, making no attempt to play the ball and left a leg hanging as the ball went into touch. He then threw himself forward with hammy gusto the moment there was a connection with a goalkeeper who was already pulling out.
It was as blatant an attempt to take advantage as one will ever see. To con the officials or ‘cheat’ as it is more commonly known. The referee didn’t give it. Newcastle legend Alan Shearer would later say on both Twitter and Match Of The Day that it shouldn’t have been given. Yet after protests from the home team, the linesman alerted the referee to the ‘foul’ and Wilson made no mistake.
What’s the point of having a VAR system when things like this don’t get called back? Football continues to get the review process so incredibly wrong when sports like cricket, rugby and tennis all make it so simple. The only consolation being that VAR did rule out the second penalty awarded against The Bees – Bryan Mbeumo adjudged to have handled the ball with Harvey Barnes climbing all over him like a dog on heat – and the ‘goal’ that Wilson scored at 0-0 when Mark Flekken was obviously impeded attempting to clear.
Thomas Frank did wonderfully to contain himself at full time when giving the post-match interviews. Highlighting the inconsistency in the decision making process around VAR and spot kicks this season. Inconsistency that was perhaps best illustrated by the ‘fouls’ on Kevin Schade late on in our season opener at home to Spurs. Saint Eddie of Tyneside would later claim he didn’t see the incident. How convenient.
Brentford did play well and could have won it, possibly should have won it. The late cameo from Neal Maupay gave hope as to what may come in the future with one delightful through ball to Kevin Schade almost opening things up. What a shame that the loan rules will deny him an opportunity when we welcome his parent club Everton next time around.
Let’s be clear. Losing I can take. Missing opportunities is down to us and the quality of the opposition goalkeeper. Yet blatant robbery smarts. Hurts like hell… Newcastle underwhelmed and were left trying to run down the clock before celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup. To coin a phrase.
Aided by Saudi bank-rolling they have spent more money than we could even dream of (our own midfield of Janelt, Jensen and Norgaard has a combined cost of £7m) yet were ultimately reliant on a bit of Anthony Gordon cheating to make the difference. I don’t use that word lightly but there you go. Cheating.
A player who, let’s not forget, has a skillset that would later see him pick up his fourth yellow card of the season in this fifth game of the campaign.
We’ve all seen it – either there or on TV. Instead, let’s now focus on the more positive. The top five perfomances and our season long quest to find the overall player of the season. Five points being awarded for every ‘star player’ award, four for second place, three for third etc and then the totals counted up over the course of the season.
2023-24 Brentford Player Ratings from Matchweek 5 (vs Newcastle)
1st (Star Player: 5 points) – Mathias Jensen
In a game where Brentford, not surprisingly, started with an extra central defender in lieu of Kevin Schade on the bench, there was always going to be additional pressure on the creative players. Thankfully, our ‘cut price’ midfield was more than up to the task with Mathias leading the pack.
It was evident from the get go that he was having one of those games where he does everything right. The interplay with Wissa and, in particular, Bryan Mbeumo opening up the visitors and creating early opportunity. Oh, for one of them to have found a way through.
He was key to everything adventurous with the highest pass rate (50) and most crosses (7 (seven)) of any Brentford player.
Had we been that bit more clinical in front of goal then who knows what might have been but one thing’s for sure, it wasn’t down to any lack of effort or direction from Mathias. A man who led by example and, quite rightly, donned the captain’s armband for the final twenty minutes once Christian went off
2nd (4 points) – Nathan Collins
I thought Nathan was very hard done by in missing out on the first XI against Bournemouth last game – even though the reasoning (giving Ben Mee time on pitch ahead of a three man defence being deployed) – was clear. Thankfully, it didn’t impact his performance at Saint James Park.
If anything, Nathan bounced back at his imperious best. One clearance midway through the first half from Bruno Guimarães, after Flekken had already blocked an initial effort, stopped an almost certain goal on the line. It was typical of an afternoon where he barely put a foot wrong.
As much as anything, was Nathan’s role as the outlet. His pass stats were above even Ethan’s as he enjoyed more of playmaker role in building the ball out of defence. Had Brentford been given the roll of the dice, he’d have had another clean sheet to his name. It was a towering performance that deserved more than being robbed blind.
3rd (3 points) – Ethan Pinnock
Ethan is very much our consistency factor this season. The only game he’s missed out on the top five was Fulham away and even that one, in retrospect, was perhaps a poor call from yours truly.
It was another game where he did nothing wrong, everything right and so to come away with nil points probably smarts on him and Nathan more than anybody. To shut out this most expensive galaxy of stars, in that most raucous of atmospheres (say what you want but Newcastle United have home support the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United can only dream of ), is no mean feat.
It’s not the size of the price tag but the talent in the boots and Ethan showed, once more, just how hard his are to fill.
4th (2 points) – Aaron Hickey
Forget the penalty. Yes, Aaron was involved but we all know that the officials made a decision that was weaker than a cup of PG Tips made with a four time recycled tea bag.
On an afternoon where much of the play was more central, Aaron’s role as an outlet down the right was as vital as Mathias through the middle. He almost scored early on. He linked up beautifully with Mathias, Bryan and Wissa throughout. All this before he had to switch over to the left flank.
The horrible looking injury to Rico Henry (everybody has fingers crossed it looked worse than it may transpire to be) meant another change in defence. Aaron back to the left and Mads Roerslev in on the right.
His versatility was key and meant we avoided – with complete respect to the Iranian Messi – Saman Ghoddos having to fill in. It is a role he has played in an emergency but here it could have been tough. Thankfully, Aaron was on hand to do his thing
5th (1 point) – Bryan Mbeumo
I liked what Bryan did. He’s played as part of a front three all season and is our leading scorer (only Erling Haaland had more Premier League goals than Bryan going in to this game) but this game found having to exercise much more of a creative vent.
Had we scored in the first half, most of what was created came through him and that right hand side, it would have been a different story. Obviously.
Instead, one to put in the file marked ‘if only’ and then perhaps forget about. At least, until May 19th when Newcastle visit the Gtech for the final game of the season…
2023-24 Brentford Player Ratings – Top 5 Players Overall (after Matchweek 5)
All of which means that we now have a clear leader at the top of our table and a total of seven players contesting the top five.
1st – Ethan Pinnock (14 points)
2nd – Bryan Mbeumo (12 points)
T3rd – Nathan Collins, Mathias Jensen (10 points)
T5th – Christian Norgaard, Rico Henry, Kevin Schade (7 points)
Follow Nick on Twitter @NickBruzon
