Brentford twice came from behind to stay unbeaten at home in the Premier League in a pulsating 3-2 win over Bournemouth at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Bournemouth had been on an impressive run, beating title challengers Manchester City and Arsenal in their last three games, but came unstuck in west London despite leading through Evanilson’s opener and then Justin Kluivert from a set-piece routine.
Yoane Wissa scored twice against Bournemouth, his second proving to be the winner and the third goal in a frantic 10-minute period in the second half that saw Brentford equalise just 21 seconds after the restart following Kluivert making it 2-1.
Yoane Wissa makes it 3-2 to Brentford
Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert (right) celebrates scoring their second goal of the game
Mikkel Damsgaard scored that equaliser, beating Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga at his near post on a shaky afternoon for the Chelsea loanee, raising eyebrows about Andoni Iraola’s decision to drop Mark Travers after two impressive stand-in displays.
Bournemouth scored the opener after Sepp van den Berg’s poor backpass was pounced on by Evanilson, the club-record signing rounding goalkeeper Mark Flekken to score a career-best third goal in three games after netting against City and Aston Villa.
Evanilson celebrates scoring the opening goal of the game
Brentford were second best until the opener but fought their way back into the game by becoming more physical, equalising through Wissa’s header at the back post after a long throw-in. His second, in the second half, was a lovely, chipped finish.
Thomas Franks’ side, who move one place above Bournemouth into 10th, had to cling on to maintain their unbeaten home record, with substitute Dean Huijsen striking the bar late on, as they bounced back from defeat at Fulham on Monday.
Iraola: There was a clear penalty on Evanilson
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Andoni Iraola said it was frustrating as he felt Bournemouth controlled the game and deserved to win the match
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was disappointed to lose at Brentford, in a game he said went largely as they had planned for, and bemoaned the officials failing to give a penalty for a challenge on Evanilson in the second half.
“It’s a hard one for us, because I’m very happy with the performance, especially in the first half. In the second half, we couldn’t make the difference.
“In the second half, we had less rhythm. The game become more stop-start, there were more set-plays. Probably the key moment is when we conceded after going up 2-1.
“More or less, the game was what we expected. We have to manage these situations much better and they punished us, but our performance deserved much, much more today.”
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, he added: “For me there is a clear penalty on Evanilson in front of the goalkeeper.”
Frank on ‘insanely good’ Brentford goal return
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Thomas Frank praised his players for their ‘bounce-back’ mentality after coming from behind to beat Bournemouth
Brentford boss Thomas Frank praised his side’s free-scoring start to the season – they have the joint-most goals in the Premier League on 22 – but acknowledged the need to improve defensively after conceding two or more for the fifth game running in the league.
“The bounce-back mentality was unbelievably good. Maybe even more impressive than if we just had won 3-0 because we actually played bad the first 20 minutes. Bournemouth were better than us.
“We gave them clearly the first goal and then one or two other chances. But after that goal we stepped up and we found some of that great bounce-back mentality. The rest of the half was very even. Maybe slightly up for us and we scored a fine goal.
“Second half we are clearly the best team on the pitch. It was well laid on the short corner from them and then they had that lofted cross in the end. Besides that, I think we gave nothing away in the second half and we are very dangerous going forward.”
Asked about conceding seven goals in their last three league games, Frank said: “I am a positive guy. So I am more focusing on the positive. And the positive is that we are a very dangerous team going forward.
“We must be up there [as a team that’s scored the most goals]. That is incredible. We are Brentford. I think that is insanely good. I think people don’t understand how good it is.
“But of course, I am also very ambitious and I would love us to win 3-0 today.”
Travers banging on door for Kepa’s job
Bournemouth’s last two impressive results, a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa and the 1-0 home win over champions Manchester City, were in part thanks to the fine goalkeeping of deputy Travers, standing in for the injured Kepa.
But his player-of-the-match performance at Villa Park and a point-blank stop to keep out Erling Haaland in added time were not enough to convince Iraola to keep him in the side at Brentford, with Kepa once again available after returning to fitness.
Iraola’s change, perhaps predictably, knowing Kepa’s frailties at dealing with crosses and Brentford being one of the most direct teams in the Premier League, shone an unwanted spotlight on the goalkeeping situation at Bournemouth with the Spaniard struggling.
Kepa flapped at crosses throughout the game, and it was his inability to hold on to a ball into the box that led to Brentford getting the throw-in from which Wissa headed in a first-half equaliser.
But the most glaring of errors on a difficult afternoon for the Chelsea loanee, signed for a world-record £71.6m fee for a goalkeeper from Athletic Bilbao in 2018, was his failure to cover his near post for Damsgaard’s equaliser in the second half.
Iraola defended his goalkeeper in his post-match press conference, in which Kepa was the most asked about topic, but even the head coach acknowledged he could have done better for Brentford’s second equaliser.
The Bournemouth boss will have plenty of time over the international break to consider how he handles this situation moving forward. But there is a decision to make with Travers, now 25, likely to be seeking more game-time and Kepa’s future beyond this season unclear.
Travers is banging on the door for Kepa’s job, and it is becoming harder and harder to ignore.
The restart kings reign supreme
Brentford made headlines earlier in the season for scoring in the first two minutes for four Premier League games running. They repeated their party trick, mid-game admittedly, against Bournemouth, equalising to make it 2-2 just 21 seconds after the restart.
No sooner had Bournemouth taken the lead through a wonderfully-worked set-piece goal finished off by Kluivert than they were picking the ball out of their own net. It was a killer blow, one that likely decided the game, turning the momentum on its head.
Iraola was frustrated after the game because his side knew what was coming but could not stop it. “We know. Everyone knows. They score a lot of goals after kick-offs. They go back and then go long on the left. You have to be better than them.”
Bournemouth, on this occasion, were not. Others have tried and failed to stop Brentford, the Premier League’s restart kings. Man City, Tottenham, West Ham and Wolves fell victim to this earlier in the season. Likely others will follow, too.
Opta stats: Brentford’s throw-in threat pays dividends
● This is the first time Bournemouth have lost a Premier League game in which they have led twice, while it’s now three defeats in their last four league matches on the road (D1).
● Brentford have scored eight goals from throw-ins in the Premier League since their first season in the competition in 2021-22, more than twice as many as any other side.
● There was just 80 seconds between Justin Kluivert’s goal to put Bournemouth 2-1 up (48:16) and Mikkel Damsgaard’s equaliser for Brentford (49:36).
