Alas, it wasn’t to be a fourth league win in a row for Brentford.
A 3-0 away defeat at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday afternoon means The Bees head into the international break sitting 11th in the Premier League table. Chelsea’s 95th minute equaliser at home to Manchester City in the day’s final game meaning the Stamford Bridge outfit overtake us by the narrowest of goal difference margins. Both teams locked on sixteen points, four off a Newcastle United side occupying the final European berth.
The break comes at the right time for our patched-up Bees. Those in the treatment room now have a fortnight to get closer to availability. Shandon Baptiste the most likely to be seen next. Hopefully by the time we are back Christian Norgaard will also be fully fit. Not that there was anything wrong with him per se, although it was close to being awful after a studs up challenge from Endo early in the second half saw the Liverpool man survive a VAR review for possible red card.
It was a moment Thomas Frank was philosophical about at full time. Noting that in his eyes it wasn’t a red but, equally, based on current VAR decisions then it was. Curtis Jones and Marcus Rashford amongst a list of players he reeled off that had suffered the ultimate sanction in such a circumstance.
VAR inconsistent? Who’d have thought it. Then again, the system had already saved Brentford twice by this stage. Darwin Nunez denied twice when steering home from an offside position. The first, in particular, very tight and the second coming after Mark Flekken in nets had pulled of a world class save at point blank range from Virgil van Dijk.
Stuart Atwell got both decisions correct and, despite a lot of heart in mouth, scores remained level. Brentford surviving not once but twice and then with, perhaps, the clearest chance of the game. Vitaly Janelt, restored to midfield (with Mads Roerslev playing left back), released Mathias Jensen in our own box. A delightful ball out of defence and down the flank fell perfectly into the path of the onrushing Bryan Mbeumo. It was the fourth goal against Manchester United levels of exquisite all over again.
Holding off Trent Alexander-Arnold, he was clean through with only Alisson between him and the goal. Surely… surely…
Ooh, Bryan Mbeumo. Well, it would have been dreamland for Brentford. His dinked finish not quite having enough power and the goalkeeper was able to get a hand to the ball, guiding just clear of the goal. So near, but so far. A glorious chance gone. The calibre of the opposition shown again.
With that, the inevitable. Who else but Mo Salah with a brace either side of half-time to make things safe? The first, the ball given away in midfield by Wissa and the reds broke. Nunez was able to release Salah and form that range there was no chance for Flekken. A tracer bullet of a finish from one of the best in the business.
A goal down at half-time and the lead doubled just on the hour. This time Tsimikas playing in a ball that would have caused Mikel Arteta to engage his inner Kevin Keegan, given how far over the line it looked. Salah didn’t even need to move. Having eluded the defence, he held his position as the ball fell perfectly on to his head for the simplest of finishes. Simple that is, if you are him. He made directing it into the net look the easiest of tasks and, to be fair, in this instance it probably was. A brief check for Mr. Atwell to confirm that the edge of the ball was still hanging over the line and the goal stood. 2-0 and a mountain to climb.
If it wasn’t game over then it was all up on 74 minutes. Diogo Jota absolutely leathering one past Flekken from distance. Again, the ‘keeper no hope as the ball swerved away from him in front of the home fans. Even they woke from their slumbers for this strike. One North stand observer noting on the way back to London that, “Genuinely, Slough Town have a better atmosphere. They cheered for the goals, otherwise it was indignant whining”.
All true but the result is all that matters. Regardless of whether the game is played out in a mausoleum or a cauldron of noise. Despite a late flurry from the Bees it remained 3-0. Liverpool worthy winners on chances created (which is how football works) but Thomas Frank pleased overall with the way his team had played.
On another day perhaps things might have been different. Not this time, though. Brentford drawing a Premier League blank for only the second occassion this season (Newcastle away being the other time). No complaints from this side. It wasn’t to be although with just three points dividing the top five clubs – including third placed Liverpool – it shows just how strong that breakaway group at the summit is.
All of which means Brentford ended the day with nothing tangible although put in as positive a performance as one could hope. The tactic of packing the defence at the front end, one which worked at Chelsea, not quite coming off this time.
Instead, let’s cut to the top five. Our ongoing 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 38 games.
2023-24 Brentford Player Ratings from Matchweek 12 (vs Liverpool)
1st (Star Player: 5 points) – Bryan Mbeumo
How Bryan keeps on running I have no idea.
In a game where Brentford set up to defend – Vitaly’s return to midfield meaning Thomas was able to play Ethan Pinnock, Nathan Collins, Ben Mee, Kris Ajer and Mads Roerslev at the back – the other five had to work all the harder to make chances.
Bryan was front and centre in all of that. Obviously, there was ‘that’ chance. It was the sort of opportunity that would have gone down in Brentford legend had he pulled it off. Flashbacks to 1989 and Richard Cadette (for those of us that little bit longer in the tooth) were clear. Sadly, the end result was similar and the hosts survived.
In a game where any hope of taking anything from the visitors needed even more input than normal, it was Bryan who looked the most likely source and never gave up.
2nd (4 points) – Mark Flekken
There was a question hanging over this one as to whether Mark would even be available, following his substitution half-way through the defeat of West Ham last week.
Thankfully for The Bees, he was declared fit and put in the sort of performance to show why the Brentford recruitment team selected him as our new number one.
There was nothing any ‘keeper could have done for any of the goals conceded. The first was laser sharp, the second saw the defence go awol against one of world football’s deadliest finishers whilst Jota’s shot could have ended up anywhere from the back of the net to the back of the Kop.
Yet it was everything else that went on around this that kept the scoreline close. That kept Brentford in the game for so long. He was on it from the get go, with the aforementioned save from his countryman denying the hosts a much earlier lead. Had that gone in the floodgates may well have opened.
Instead, he was as strong then as he was the rest of the game
3rd (3 points) – Nathan Collins
We’ve got tough calls from here on in, albeit in a good way – rather than scratching around to fill the final three berths.
For me, Nathan is next up. As strong as the back as we have seen him this season, he got desperately close to almost turning out Salah’s opener whilst his tackle on Darwin Nunez, with the Liverpool man clean though just prior to half-time, deserves way more credit. Nathan doing brilliantly to whip it off his toes as he closed in on Flekken with no question of even coming close to a foul.
It was just one of many vital interceptions from a player who saw only Christian Norgaard play more passes through to his team mates in an attempt to open up the hosts.
It wasn’t to be, this time, but further highlights the positive selection problems for Thomas should he decide to play three up top next time – the small matter of our visit from Arsenal
4th (2 points) – Ethan Pinnock
Like Nathan, another solid, solid game.
It may seem odd to have two centre backs and a goalkeeper selected in a game that was lost 3-0 but such was the dominance of Liverpool, had it not been for these three performances it could have been a lot more of a painful afternoon for The Bees.
After all, the hosts still had 10 shots on target (out of 17 attempts) and close to 60% possession but it was the performance of our backline that kept hopes alive for so long. Ethan was integral to all of this. Again.
Indeed, but for a slightly sharper finish he could even have opened the scoring in our favour after initially freeing up Vitaly. The man gets everywhere.
5th (1 point) – Christian Norgaard
Mathias Jensen? Ben Mee? Another teasing cameo from Yehor Yarmolyuk (I can’t wait to see Thomas unleash him earlier). We’ve all got our views on who the top five should be but, for me, it was another of those performances where Christian gave so much for so little actual reward. A nice collection of stud marks aside.
As noted, Brentford’s most fluid passer of the ball whilst may even have had a goal in that late flurry.
2023-24 Brentford Player Ratings – Top 5 Players Overall (after Matchweek 12)
All of which means that our player of the season contenders remain the same, with the top five breaking clear and Bryan Mbeumo clear at the top. For now
1st – Bryan Mbeumo (31 points)
2nd – Ethan Pinnock (28 points)
3rd – Mathias Jensen (21 points)
4th – Nathan Collins (18 points)
5th – Christian Norgaard (15 points)
Follow Nick on Twitter @NickBruzon
