Eriksen makes debut but Newcastle beat 10-man Bees
Brentford’s slide towards the Premier League’s relegation zone continued with a tame defeat at the Community Stadium, where Josh Dasilva was sent off and Christian Eriksen made his debut.
Thomas Frank’s side now lie 15th in the table, just three points above the bottom three – and they were comprehensively outplayed by Newcastle United who could have won by a much bigger score line had it not been for the goalkeeping feats of David Raya.
Brentford got off to the worst possible start when Dasilva was red-carded in the 11th minute. The Bees midfielder went in late with a raised boot to foul Matt Targett on the edge of the penalty area.
Newcastle began to take advantage and Raya pulled off the first of several excellent saves, from a close-range Chris Wood header on the Magpies’ counter-attack.
Eventually, the visitors opened the scoring on 32 minutes. In a well-worked move, Ryan Fraser – who was a constant threat on the left – directed an inviting cross, and Joelinton climbed above Kristoffer Ajer to power home a header from six yards.
Two minutes before the interval, Eddie Howe’s men doubled their lead in fine fashion.
With Brentford caught high, Fabian Schar drove forward, nudged past the challenge of Rico Henry before finding Joe Willock unmarked. Charging into the penalty area, Willock clipped a superb shot into the roof of the net.
Frank sent on Eriksen for his first Brentford appearance shortly after half-time.
And the Denmark international very briefly boosted the Bees as they strived to reduce the deficit, with Christian Norgaard curling a lovely shot just over the crossbar.
Fit-again striker Ivan Toney then came on for Brentford, but the hosts still struggled to make any impact, with Newcastle comfortable in possession.
This latest loss is the Bees’ seventh in their last eight outings, ahead of a trip to relegation-threatened Norwich City next Saturday.
Brentford: Raya, Jansson, Henry, Pinnock, Ajer (Canos 71), Norgaard, Jensen (Eriksen 52), Dasilva, Janelt (Toney 61), Mbeumo, Wissa
