Brentford v Ipswich player ratings

Brentford secured their first win of the season on Saturday as John Egan’s brace proved sufficient to see off Ipswich. Here’s how we rated Egan and the rest of the Bees players at Griffin Park.

Dan Bentley: 8
Solid performance, keeping his first Brentford clean sheet. Made a couple of saves in the first half and was composed in the air.

Maxime Colin: 7
A good game on his return from injury – he was strong in the tackle, put in some good crosses and did his best against Jonas Knudsen, even though he was offered little support against the attacking full-back. Went off after 67 minutes.

Harlee Dean: 8
Excellent in the air, looked generally composed and led the back four really well, against an Ipswich side with plenty of goals in their team.

John Egan: 9
Capped a fine defensive performance with the two goals that proved the difference between the sides. His threat from set-pieces was evident during his two years at Gillingham, during which time he scored 11 times – but Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy was unhappy with the lack of marking for Egan’s first.

Callum Elder: 8
A very good display from the on-loan Leicester left-back, who is growing into the team game by game. A terrific goal-saving block to deny Freddie Sears in the first half turned out to be crucial.

Nico Yennaris: 8
Not at his best in the first half hour, when Ipswich were dominating the midfield battle, but had an excellent second half. Threw himself in the way of shots and got himself involved going forward – one of his several pops on goal was parried into Egan’s path for the second goal.

Ryan Woods: 7
A quieter game by his usual standards. His passing was hit and miss, although he did pick out Josh Clarke for a chance that the makeshift right-winger missed.

Josh Clarke: 6
Struggled in an advanced role. He lost his battle with Ipswich left-back Knudsen, at both ends of the pitch, and missed a gilt-edged chance. Was involved in some neat link up play at times, though. Reverted to full-back in the last quarter of the game.

Romaine Sawyers: 7
Another one who improved markedly after the break, and looked more confident once the team were in front. He used the ball efficiently without ever looking at his most dangerous.

Lewis Macleod: 8
An excellent corner picked out Egan for the first goal and he was Brentford’s primary attacking threat in their purple patch after half-time. He was never afraid to have a shot, either – six of them in fact, three of them on target.

Scott Hogan: 7
A bit of a frustrating afternoon for the striker, who tried so hard to make things happen during the bad patch but then found himself upstaged by Egan and Macleod when the going was better. Deserves credit for his work-rate, though. 

Sam Saunders: 7
Bright when he came on midway through the second half, allowing Clarke to return to right-back.