Resounding win for Bees at their new home
Brentford 3 Huddersfield 0
Goals from Josh Dasilva, substitute Marcus Forss and Bryan Mbeumo gave Brentford a comfortable victory in their first Championship game at their new stadium.
The trio all struck in the second half to finally pierce a hard-working Huddersfield side, after the Bees had earlier gone close on a number of occasions.
Thomas Frank’s men merited the points, despite losing a little of their characteristic rhythm at times in the second half.
With no fans, unfortunately, permitted to attend the impressive west London venue at the moment, Brentford were nevertheless bright in what was an intense start to the game.
And Mbeumo almost opened the scoring on seven minutes only to turn the ball just past the post from close range, following a low assist from the left by Sergi Canos.
The Bees’ new striker, Ivan Toney, carried a determined, physical presence as he continues to settle in as the replacement for the departed Ollie Watkins, now with Aston Villa. #
Linking up neatly with Dasilva on the edge of the Terriers’ penalty area, the £5m man drew a smart save from Ben Hamer in the 22nd minute, before sliding another shot inches wide as Brentford flexed their collective muscle.
Mbeumo, continuing his momentum from last season, when the Bees reached the play-offs, curled an appealing left foot shot from the edge of the penalty area, which went agonisingly wide.
The visitors, meanwhile, showed little threat in the first half with home keeper Luke Daniels rarely called into action – that was, until a minute before the interval, when he tipped over a fierce angled shot by Isaac Mbenza.
The contest carried on in much the same clustered vein at the beginning of the second half – until, finally, Brentford grabbed the goal they deserved in the 57th minute.
The move started at pace down the left with Canos supplying the raiding Rico Henry, whose low cross found Dasilva in sufficient pace to calmly drill past Hamer into the corner of the net.
Huddersfield rallied for spells, however, and they nearly levelled when Juninho Bacuna looped a header which touched the base of the post from an Alex Pritchard corner.
Brentford made matters safe when Forss netted a casual second goal with five minutes left.
The Finn, who had replaced Toney earlier calmly tucked home from around six yards when he found himself unmarked from an intricate pass by the Mbuemo.
Finally, Mburmo savoured a moment his impressive display deserved, with a superb goal at the climax. The Frenchman created enough space on the right hand side of the Huddersfield penalty area, before despatching a wonderful left foot shot into the far corner of the net.
Overall, a very deserved win to get Brentford’s new era off to a fine start.
Brentford: Daniels, Henry, Pinnock, Jansson, Dalsgaard, Norgaard, Marcondes, Canos (Fosu 68), Dasilva (Baptiste 80), Mbuemo, Toney (Forss 71)
