Sky Sports were treated to Brentford’s first away clean sheet of 2021, as a controversial penalty within the opening ten minutes of the game sealed Rovers’ first defeat in two as the London club returned to the Championships automatic promotion places.
After Rovers were held to a controversial 1-1 home draw by Swansea City last time out, Tony Mowbray only made one change to the starting side, with Ryan Nyambe coming in for Joe Rankin-Costello who dropped out of the team altogether. In Nyambe’s place on the bench, came Jarrad Branthwaite who had recovered from an illness in order to be part of the squad, whilst top scorer Adam Armstrong remained sidelined. There was a celebration for Darragh Lenihan, however, as the Rovers skipper was set to make his 200th Rovers appearance.
Following the synchronisation of watches between referee Geoff Eltringham and the Sky Sports cameramen, it was Rovers who got the game underway at 7:45pm as they looked to try and continue their upturn in form by overcoming the division’s highest scoring team.
The game started rather slowly, before controversy again reared its head at Ewood Park for the second game running as the away team were again given a spot-kick on the 9th minute. Tariqe Fosu picked the ball on the edge of the area before dropping a shoulder and getting into the box before a barely noticeable clash of knees with Blues skipper, Darragh Lenihan saw Mr. Eltringham point to the spot almost instantly. Consequently, the division’s top-scorer, Ivan Toney notched his 26th goal of the season as he coolly slotted his penalty into the bottom right-hand corner of the net, as he sent Thomas Kaminski flying to his left, as the Bees took the lead at 1-0.
A quiet contest soon got it’s next opportunity on the 31st minute as a long throw into the box was cleared only as far as Matias Jensen who tried his luck from 25-yards out, but the Dane’s attempt lacked the required accuracy.
Eight minutes after Jensen’s attempt, Rovers managed a rare foray forwards as a long diagonal ball from Lenihan found the run of Sam Gallagher. The forward, who had cut inside from the left, did brilliantly to bring the ball down on his chest, before pressure from Henrik Dalsgaard saw him balloon his volley high and wide of David Raya’s goal.
Rather surprisingly, given that both sides were at one point, joint top-scorers in the Championship, the game lacked any real goalmouth action that wasn’t a penalty, as after only one added minute of time, as rather – for want of a better word – boring first-half was brought to an end.
Tony Mowbray would have been furious during the break as his side had lacked any of the quality or intent that they had shown over the past two games. The boss would have been looking to make changes during the break, whether in personnel or in the gameplan as they looked to react to a rather timid first period.
Thomas Frank, on the other hand, would have been pleased with how his side had managed to take the lead, but would have been annoyed that they couldn’t make their dominance of the game count for more. The Dane would have been further encouraging his side and flooding them with confidence as he has done in the past, as he would have been reminding them of the quality they possessed within their side, but also recapping the events of the previous meeting which saw Rovers grab a late equaliser.
Brentford restarted the second-half looking to consolidate their lead and return to the Championship’s automatic promotion spots, but not before Rovers made two changes at the break. Joe Rothwell and Harvey Elliott both came on to replace Ben Brereton and Sam Gallagher, as Rovers looked to change their style from a more direct outfit, into a more passing and pace-heavy side.
After Rothwell showed flashes of his quality early in the second-half, he was nearly able to claim an assist to a Bradley Dack finish on the 52nd minute, but for a David Raya save. The substitute used his pace and ability to skip past a few challenges as he combined well with Elliott, before the former Oxford United man played Dack through. Dack’s run, which split the Bees defence saw him take a snapshot at goal that edged narrowly wide, however, despite replays showing former ‘keeper Raya tipped the ball wide, Mr. Eltringham and his assistant signalled for a goal-kick.
Rovers’ third change of the night came in the 54th minute as Lewis Travis came on for Tom Trybull.
Ivan Toney nearly capped off goal number 27 for the season with an outrageous effort from just after halfway. The former Peterborough United forward’s quick thinking saw him try his luck with an early piledriver in an attempt to try and beat the roaming Kaminski, but luckily, the Belgian’s blushes were spared as the ball dropped onto the roof of the net.
Following a clash with Christian Nørgaard, Lewis Travis was forced off with an impact injury only minutes after coming on. Despite only being on the field for a couple of minutes, Rovers were forced into a fourth change, which saw Bradley Johnson replace the substitute.
Tyrhys Dolan tried his luck from 20-yards out in the 62nd minute, but David Raya proved equal to the effort.
A minute later, Joe Rothwell had a go of his own, but again the former Rover was on-hand to deny his former teammate.
The 69th minute saw Joe Rothwell come alive in the box, but David Raya was again on-hand to deny the substitute. A Ryan Nyambe low cross saw the ball drilled into Harvey Elliott who managed to get the ball out of his feet quick enough to find Rothwell. The half-time changes combined well as Rothwell’s attempt, which lacked the required power proved easy to stop for Raya.
The 71st minute saw Brentford make their first changes of the evening as Sergi Canós and Emiliano Marcondes replaced Tariqe Fosu and Mathias Jensen.
The game’s first booking materialised on the 75th minute as John Buckley was cautioned for hauling down Ivan Toney.
Buckley’s night didn’t last any longer as only 60 seconds later, he was withdrawn and replaced by Elliott Bennett, in Rovers’ final change. Brentford, meanwhile, also made a change of their own as Saman Ghoddos replaced Christian Nørgaard.
The 79th minute saw the game’s second yellow, as Bryan Mbeumo was booked for dissent after he kicked the ball away.
Two minutes later, Rovers were denied what looked to be a clear penalty as Ryan Nyambe was hauled down inside the penalty area, by Mads Bech Sørensen, but the referee again, controversially waved play on.
Sergi Canós tried his luck from distance, moments after play was waved on, but Thomas Kaminski did well to palm the ball clear, before Rovers cleared.
The final Brentford change came in the 85th minute as Bryan Mbeumo saw Marcus Forss come on in his place.
30 seconds after the change, Forss’ impact proved instant as he skipped down the left-hand side before being bulldozed by Darragh Lenihan, who was booked for his troubles.
After the free-kick brough pinball to the Rovers penalty area, a cross back into the box saw Forss outjump his man and nod the ball towards goal yards away from the goalline. Somehow, Thomas Kaminski managed to pull off an incredible save to deny the Finn, but the follow-up by Toney was smashed into the side-netting.
As five minutes of added time were added onto the end of the game, Mads Bech Sørensen found himself in the book.
A set-piece in added time saw Rovers float the ball into the box before Raya claimed the ball off a Lenihan header, as Bradley Dack flew into the Blackburn End, at the back-post. Dack’s movements proved to be key, as whilst Raya picked up the ball and took his time as he looked to clear, Dack began a slow process of sneaking behind his former teammate, before Raya clocked him at the final moment which saw the pair clash, with Dack coming off worst, with the playmaker landing on his left-knee. Despite the outrageous call to again, not give Rovers a penalty, added time was allocated onto the added time, as Dack was tended to by the Rovers medical department before he was hauled off on stretcher in harrowingly similar circumstances to his first ACL injury which he suffered against Wigan in December 2019 – which ironically, was also a game broadcast live on Sky…
The 96th and 99th minute saw Rovers’ substitutes and former Norwich City boys, Elliott Bennett and Bradley Johnson both booked for a combination of poor tackles and dissent after the pair’s frustrations got the better of them as they hurled some abuse at the referee.
The set-piece by Brentford following Johnson’s foul proved to be the game’s last chance as the official brought an end to a game that was poor, but also full of controversy.
Right, although there’s a lot to digest, the sombre ending to this game won’t see this segment turn into a dissertation. It’ll be as short and sweet as possible.
First of all, we all hope that Bradley Dack’s injury isn’t as bad as the requirement of the stretcher might make it seem and we hope he’ll be back quicker than he was last time.
Secondly, as Neil Warnock said last week after his Middlesbrough side were robbed of all three points against Swansea City: ‘The referees just want celebrity status’, and that’s what seemed to be the case tonight, as Rovers were denied ‘one and a half’ penalties after Mads Bech Sørensen pulled down Ryan Nyambe, despite not looking at him, and Raya clattered into Dack in added time. Although there are arguments to suggest that Brentford’s penalty was deserved, due to the clash of knees between Tariqe Fosu and Darragh Lenihan, the impact of the collision was nowhere near the same as the two Rovers appeals, which leaves Rovers again bemoaning the lack of luck from the officials. A final point on the officiating – and probably the most bizarre of the incidents – was the David Raya save from Dack in the second-half, which saw the officials come to the conclusion to award Brentford a goal-kick, despite Raya clearly pulling off a fine save to deny his former teammate.
Finally, whilst Rovers improved in the second period, their overall performance was nowhere near the standards they had set, either earlier on in the campaign or in the two previous games against Millwall and Swansea City. Although Brentford were good, they weren’t at their scintillating best, which leaves Rovers and their fans wondering ‘what might have been’ with there being a clear opportunity to go at the Bees, given the scoreline and the game – in the second-half – was as close as it was.
Rovers’ second defeat in their last five games leaves them in 14th place ahead of the rest of the Championship fixtures at the weekend. After 36 games, the side have totalled 44 points whilst their goal-difference has dropped to +8, despite it still remaining positive.
The one positive about playing on Friday night, is that Rovers now have some extra time to rest ahead of their Wednesday night clash against Bristol City, which will be on 7:45pm, on St. Patrick’s Day. After that clash, the side travel to Carrow Road to face leaders, Norwich City on Saturday 20th March at 3pm. Once that game is complete, an international break kicks-in before Rovers return to action on Good Friday, as Tony Mowbray’s men travel to Adams Park to face relegation-threatened Wycombe Wanderers at 3pm.
