Brentford let a two-goal lead slip as they failed to close the gap to Chelsea with a 2-2 draw against Wolves.
The Bees have been one of the season’s stories under Keith Andrews, rising into the mix for European places. Michael Kayode opened the scoring with a powerful header after Brentford started on the front foot. Igor Thiago then doubled the lead, rolling the ball into an empty net after slick play from Dango Ouattara — Thiago had just earned his first Brazil call-up.
Wolves pulled one back just before half-time through Adam Armstrong, a goal clouded by controversy. Twenty-eight seconds earlier Ladislav Krejci passed back to goalkeeper Jose Sa, who collected and played on; Krejci’s pass was contested by Ouattara, who may have clipped the ball. PGMOL said they could not intervene because the incident was not in the same attacking phase, and the goal stood.
That strike changed the momentum. Armstrong had already struck the post earlier, and in the second half Tolu Arokodare — introduced as a substitute — completed the comeback with a header four minutes after coming on; he nearly added another when his header hit the bar shortly after.
Reiss Nelson missed a late chance to win it for Brentford. The draw leaves Brentford three points behind Chelsea (instead of one) and keeps Wolves bottom, but they trimmed the gap to 19th-placed Burnley to three points.
Team news
– Brentford made four changes from the side that lost to West Ham on penalties, with Sepp van den Berg and Mathias Jensen returning.
– Wolves brought in Jose Sa, Ladislav Krejci, André and Adam Armstrong after they missed the starting XI in the Liverpool defeat.
Reactions
– Keith Andrews: “I think the fact that I’ve been in three interviews now and I’ve been asking everyone about it would suggest that it probably was. We can’t really affect that, and we can affect a lot of other things tonight that we didn’t. I don’t really want to go down the route of polluting my thoughts with it. I saw it clearly.”
– Thierry Henry (on MNF): “A bit of controversy? I can tell they don’t deem it a deliberate back pass, because they gave the goal. There is a little touch from Ouattara, but what else is he trying to do there? Of course it’s a back pass.”
– Rob Edwards: “The goal did change our half-time plan a little bit. We were playing really well, they went 2-0 up but I felt like it was our fault. That goal allowed us to keep the same shape and the same plan, there was just a little adjustment personnel-wise. We were right in the game and it proved to be the right thing at half-time, the second-half performance was excellent.”
Player ratings (selected)
– Brentford: Kelleher 5; Kayode 7; Thiago 7; Ouattara 6; Schade 4. Subs: Yarmoliuk 5; Ajer 6; Nelson 5.
– Wolves: Sa 6; Tchatchoua 7; André 7; J. Gomes 8; Armstrong 8. Subs: A. Gomes 6; Tolu Arokodare 7.
Player of the Match: Adam Armstrong.