Brentford 4 Ipswich Town 3 – Bryan Mbeumo scores 96th-minute winner as Blues let two-goal slip before being stung by Bees after Harry Clarke sees red
Ipswich Town let a two-goal lead slip and conceded a stoppage time winner to lose 4-3 on their first ever trip to the Gtech Community Stadium and remain winless in the Premier League this season.
Bryan Mbeumo’s goal deep into added time proved to be the winner, just moments after Town thought they had snatched a point through Liam Delap’s fifth goal of the season.
Mbuemo’s penalty early in the second half and Harry Clarke’s red card turned the game on its head after Town raced into a two-goal lead through Sammie Szmodics and George Hirst’s first Premier League goal.
Town’s position of superiority was clawed away when Yoane Wissa scored and forced an own goal before the interval to level the match.
The Blues, who are still outside of the relegation zone, remain winless in nine Premier League matches this season and have lost three straight league games for the first time in four and a half years.
Town boss Kieran McKenna said he had been dealing with injury problems this week and was forced into making six changes from the defeat to Everton last weekend, including an entire new front four.
Szmodics, Conor Chaplin and Chiedozie Ogbene came in for Jack Clarke, Omari Hutchinson and Wes Burns, with Town’s record signing missing from the matchday squad through illness.
Top scorer Delap was only named among the substitutes, with Hirst coming into the team at the top end of the pitch.
Sam Morsy was absent without suspension for the first time in 17 months with Jens Cajuste back from a knee problem to take his place in midfield, allowing Chaplin to taking the captain’s armband.
The final change was another first Premier League start for Harry Clarke, who replaced fellow Ipswich-born defender Luke Woolfenden.
Jack Taylor was also missing from the matchday squad with third-choice goalkeeper Cieran Slicker and Ali Al-Hamadi coming onto the bench.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank was handed a boost with the return of striker Wissa, who was one of two changes from the Bees’ defeat to Manchester United last Saturday.
Mads Roerslev also came into the side, with Kevin Schade and Kristoffer Ajer dropping out of the starting XI.
Having survived the first two minutes of the game, the Suffolk side started brightly and won two early corners before the home side began to control possession with two blocked shots.
Aro Muric was tested for the first time on 19 minutes as Christian Norgaard’s flick from a corner took a deflection before the Kosovan gathered at the second attempt.
The Blues’ new forward line was beginning to click and they soon had their rewards on 28 minutes.
Kalvin Phillips was able to bring the ball forward and Hirst turned his man brilliantly and played through Szmodics, who curled a first-time effort beyond Mark Flekken to give Town the lead.
They did not stop there as McKenna’s side entered dreamland three minutes later when they doubled their lead with Hirst at the heart of it once more.
He was on the receiving end of a delightful ball this time from Chaplin, before clipping beyond Flekken with equally as impressive deft finish to mark his first Premier League start with a goal to go with his assist.
Former Bee Ogbene pulled up in the build-up to the goal and was forced to be taken off on a stretcher, with Burns his replacement wide on the Blues’ right.
The Blues were all over the Bees at this point, Cameron Burgess seeing a header held before a golden opportunity arose to go three in front.
The hosts were caught playing out from the back as Norgaard was robbed in possession by Szmodics, but the Republic of Ireland international’s shot was excellently saved by the feet of Flekken, who has been the busiest goalkeeper in the league this season.
That caused the home crowd to become extremely restless, but Brentford responded shortly before half-time to reduce the deficit moments after Leif Davis was booked for taking too long over a throw-in.
Some excellent work from Keane Lewis-Potter to evade multiple challenges allowed Vitaly Janelt to play across to Wissa, who rolled home and sparked some attacking life into Frank’s side.
The Blues’ two-goal lead would be wiped in a matter of minutes in first half stoppage time with Wissa continuing his fine form in front of goal in west London.
Mikkel Damsgaard’s through ball for the Congolese forward was timed to perfection, and the finish somehow managed to creep under Muric and the sliding Harry Clarke on the goal line.
Clarke was credited with the own-goal in what was the final meaningful chance of an all-action first 45 minutes.
Town, who had previously led for only 29 minutes in the Premier League this season, saw a two-goal lead wiped from within their grasp in just two minutes.
Things got even worse for the Blues within minutes of the second half as VAR got involved to award Brentford a penalty.
Harry Clarke misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing Lewis-Potter to burst towards goal. After hauling the winger down, Clarke was booked for a foul outside the penalty area, but the video technology deemed the offence to have happened inside the box.
Mbeumo duly dispatched from the spot for his seventh goal of his prolific campaign and continued his run of scoring in every home match this season to turn the contest completely on its head.
The Bees’ new home has been a hive for goals so far this season and that trend continued as Lewis-Potter was unfortunate not to score himself when his shot was blocked from close range.
Midway through the half, Wissa had a big chance to increase the lead but his poked effort was kept out by the onrushing Muric.
Moments later, Harry Clarke’s afternoon capped off his disastrous afternoon with a red card as he was given his marching orders by referee Lewis Smith for tripping Lewis-Potter, who had caused the right-back problems all afternoon, on the edge of the box.
Damsgaard took the resulting free-kick, which just clipped the top of the crossbar on its way behind.
Changes were then made, as Chaplin, Szmodics and Hirst made way for Woolfenden, Jack Clarke and Delap.
Damsgaard and Kevin Schade were denied as Brentford looked to build on their lead, but Town shocked the home crowd with a goal out of nothing with 86 minutes on the clock.
Davis’s creativity was at the source as the full-back whipped a cross from deep into the penalty area towards the onrushing Delap.
Town’s in-form centre-forward pounced and guided a flick into the far corner of Flekken’s goal to spark a frenzy among the away supporters in the corner.
Conor Townsend was introduced for a league debut in place of Cajuste for the seven minutes of stoppage time.
The Blues were dealt with a huge let-off as Nathan Collins slammed over from a matter of yards out after a loose ball at dropped at his feet from a corner.
But Brentford were not to be denied as they snatched victory in the sixth minute of added time.
Mbeumo’s cross was attacked by nobody in the penalty area and the ball trickled all the way into the corner of the net beyond a static Muric.
There was still time for Delap to hammer against the woodwork from range in a frantic end to the contest, but the points remained in west London as the Blues came away empty-handed intheir first-ever trip to Brentford’s new home.
Brentford (3-4-1-2):Flekken; Pinnock, Collins, van den Berg; Lewis-Potter (Carvalho 81), Janelt, Norgaard (c) (Jensen 77), Roerslev; Damsgaard (Schade 77); Mbeumo, Wissa. Subs: Valdimarsson, Mee, Yarmoliuk, Meghoma, Konak, Trevitt.
Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1): Muric; Davis, Burgess, O’Shea, H. Clarke; Phillips, Cajuste (Townsend 90); Szmodics (J. Clarke 73), Chaplin (c) (Woolfenden 73), Ogbene (Burns 35); Hirst (Delap 73). Subs: Slicker, Walton, Al-Hamadi, Broadhead.
Booked: Davis, H. Clarke (2).
Sent Off: H. Clarke.
Referee: Lewis Smith (Lancashire).
Attendance: 17,109.
SuffolkNews Man of the Match: George Hirst.What turned out to be a frantic afternoon could have been very different had the Blues been able to build on the work of Hirst, particularly in the first half. The striker took his first start at this level well, holding the ball up well, playing a lovely assist for Szmodics and scoring himself with a lovely finish.
