Watkins’ late goal gives Bees dramatic victory
Brentford 3 Middlesbrough 2
Ollie Watkins shot Brentford to a dramatic late victory at Griffin Park to boost their promotion push.
Thomas Frank’s men went ahead via Julian Jeanvier in the 25th minute and Bryan Mbuemo made it 2-1 after Boro had levelled twice through Lewis Wing and Ashley Fletcher.
Finally, however, Watkins – who had a quiet game by his standards – drove the ball home with three minutes left, to keep all the points in west London. It is a result that sets Brentford up well for Tuesday’s home clash against high-flying Leeds United.
The Bees, unchanged from last Saturday’s superb 5-1 away win at Hull City – arguably their finest outing of the season so far – still awaited the return of Pontus Jansson from injury, so Ethan Pinnock was offered another opportunity to impress at centre-back.
They were facing a Boro side who had drawn three and lost one of their past four Championship games, which helped explain their disappointing 18th place status amid a taxing campaign.
Brentford had a slight edge of the early skirmishes without cutting the visitors open. It took until the 21st minute for their first major chance, when Josh Dasilva nodded the ball towards goal from close range, only for the Boro rearguard to clear off the line with claims the ball had gone over.
Fuelled, arguably, by a sense of injustice, Said Benrahma lashed the ball inches over from 16 yards, before the opening goal.
As both sets of players got involved in a desperate melee following a Mathias Jensen corner, Jeanvier was most alert to hook the ball home.
Brentford settled into a steady rhythm and were seldom threatened across the first half, other than a reasonable low shot by Boro striker Marcus Tavernier which was smothered by home keeper David Raya. Yet the hosts were occasionally profligate in front of goal, with Mbuemo rifling well over on one occasion.
The second half started brightly with Mbuemo setting up Dasilva who fired wide from an angle before Lewis Wing tested Raya at the other end.
However, Wing had his moment, with a surprising, skidding strike of ferocity from 25 yards that shocked the Bees in the 58th minute.
There had been few hints of Boro’s intent – but to Brentford’s credit they hit back just two minutes later.
Middlesbrough defender Harold Moukoudi could only manage to turn a drive by Mbeumo into his own net, a slice of fortune for the Bees.
The Bees were then were caught in a moment of complacency in 62 minutes. Fletcher rose unchallenged to power home a header from six yards from Tavernier’s corner.
In what was turning out to be a concerning spell for Brentford, Britt Assombalonga should have put the Teessiders ahead, but the substitute somehow managed to turn the ball over from a dangerous cross by Paddy McNair. Benrahma responded by clipping both a free-kick and a side-footed effort just over late on, but the Algerian had been well shackled for the most part.
The Bees were looking at dropped points on a feisty afternoon – until Watkins intervened.
The unmarked striker kept his cool and measured a low shot from around 15 yards out with the Boro defence giving him space for virtually the first time during the whole game.
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