Brighton stopped Brentford from going ahead of them in the table with a goalless draw at the AMEX, despite Fabian Hürzeler’s side dominating the majority of the game.
Just minutes into the game, Brighton were knocking at Brentford’s door, but despite many big chances, the Seagulls just could not find the back of the net, and the only ‘goal’ in the first half was an offside effort from Yoane Wissa. The home side looked like they should’ve been three or four goals up – but both sides were at a stalemate after 45 minutes.
The entertaining affair carried onto in the second half with Brighton yet again looking stronger, but Brentford still had a strong spirit about them and were looking sharper in the final third than they did in the first 45.
All the action in the game ultimately led to nothing, however, as both sides had to settle for a point in a cold night down in Sussex.
As it happened
Brentford kicked off the game on the South Coast, but it was the hosts who were first to come close. Just minutes in, João Pedro had a pass played into him with his back to goal, a quick layoff to Julio Enciso saw the young Argentine strike the post with a curling effort.
Fabian Hürzeler’s side were ruthless, testing the Bees‘ keeper, Mark Flekken, multiple times in the opening 10 minutes of the game, yet nothing was hitting the back of the net. Enciso had another big chance following a pinpoint cross in Kaoru Mitoma, but despite being free in the box, his header was soft and directed into Flekken’s hands.
Embed from Getty ImagesStraight from Enciso’s big chance, Brentford launched a quick counterattack down the right-hand side, a perfectly placed ball into the middle finding Yoane Wissa who buried the ball into the top left corner. It was a letoff for Brighton, however, as after a check from VAR, Wissa was deemed to stray offside, and the score remained level with Brentford giving the Seagulls a warning.
The home side were earning chance after chance, and midfielder Matt O’Reily had his turn to force a save from Flekken after skipping past a few Brentford defenders. Another save from the Bees’ shotstopper following a deflected cross from Mitoma kept the hosts at bay – but while Brentford’s Dutchman was having a strong day in goal, he unfortunately picked up an injury and was forced off with Icelandic keeper Hákon Valdimarsson taking his place.
Embed from Getty ImagesDespite all of Brighton’s chances and the five additional minutes at the end of the half, the scoring remained goalless going into the break. Brentford were well on the back foot, and despite grabbing an offside goal, the away side only managed to register two shots at the AMEX in the first 45.
Friday night’s hosts emerged from the break on the front foot yet again, but still nothing was going their way despite the numbers in attack. Brentford had a bit more attacking intent coming out from the break, but their final ball was letting the away side down.
With 20 minutes to go in the affair, Brighton made a triple substitution in their attempt to push for the opener; lively winger Mitoma looked utterly disappointed coming off. Brentford had yet to make a tactical change, but they were pushing well with the side they had out.
Both sides were pushing in the closing stages of the match, trying to force anything through to grab a later winner, but nothing was to be, and the full-time whistle blew with the two sides settling for a point a piece.
Brighton stay put in 10th ahead of their away trip to Villa Park on Monday, while Brentford move up to 11th and will now break until Wednesday, when they’ll host title fighters Arsenal.
The lineups
BHA: Verbruggen; Estupinan, Dunk, van Hecke, Veltman; Quomah Baleba, O’Reily; Mitoma, Enciso, Gruda; Pedro
BRE: Flekken; Lewis-Potter, Mee, Collins, Roerslev; Damsgaard, Norgaard, Janelt; Schade, Mbuemo, Wissa
FEATURED IMAGE: TWPhotography