Bees well beaten by Sheffield Wednesday

Sheff Wed 2 Brentford 0

Brentford were comprehensively outplayed as they suffered an eighth away Championship defeat of the season.

The Bees held out until just before the break when Steve Fletcher ran onto Barry Bannan’s cute pass to put Sheffield Wednesday ahead.

Fletcher headed a second as the hosts continued to dominate on the resumption and they eased to a win which means Thomas Frank’s Brentford side have only managed one away league success in 16 attempts this season.

Before Fletcher’s 40th-minute opener Bees keeper Daniel Bentley had already made a fine fingertip save to stop Fletcher’s 18-yard strike, while the striker was narrowly off target with two other attempts and both Fernando Forestieri and Tom Lees had also gone close.

The best Bees chance fell to Sergi Canos but his shot, after some good approach play by Henrik Dalsgaard, was well saved by keeper Kieren Westwood.

Fletcher’s goal rewarded the home side’s dominance and they continued to have the upper hand after the break.

Experienced Scotland international Fletcher made it 2-0 when he converted Adam Reach’s cross.

And only another fine save from Bentley, who kept out a Rolando Aarons effort, prevented the Owls from adding to their lead.

Brentford, who had to make a late change by including Josh McEachran when Kamohelo Mokotjo was taken ill during the warm-up, rarely looked like getting back into the match until the closing stages when Neal Maupay and Said Benrahma both had decent opportunities.