Yoane Wissa earned Brentford a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace after Eberechi Eze’s opener was controversially ruled out following a “nightmare” refereeing call.
England winger Eze thought he had opened the scoring when his quick-thinking free-kick caught out Mark Flekken at his near post, but referee Sam Barrott had already blown for a foul by Will Hughes before it crossed the line.
The timing of his decision meant VAR was unable to intervene, while Palace had further cause for frustration when replays showed Hughes had more of a case of being fouled himself.
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Crystal Palace are denied the opening goal at Brentford when Eberechi Eze’s brilliant free-kick is ruled out for a foul in the box. Did the referee blow his whistle too early?
“The referee has had a nightmare, it is a monumental mistake,” said Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp at half-time.
Fuelled by that let-off and having been dominated to that point, Brentford took the lead four minutes later when Bryan Mbeumo cut in from the right and curled an excellent finish past Dean Henderson.
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Bryan Mbeumo fires home to put Brentford ahead against Crystal Palace
They could have doubled their advantage within moments when Kevin Schade flashed a shot just wide, before Palace regained control and finally levelled 11 minutes into the second period.
A deep cross from Tyrick Mitchell picked out Daniel Munoz at the far post and the wing-back’s nod down caught out Ethan Pinnock, who could not organise his feet in time to avoid diverting the ball into his own net.
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Ethan Pinnock’s own goal made it 1-1
Palace’s hopes of completing the turnaround were put on ice when Odsonne Edouard slotted home a second only to be denied by a narrow offside flag.
Instead, Brentford’s improved second-half performance was rewarded when Wissa poked home from close range after Henderson could only parry Nathan Collins’ shot into his path.
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Yoane Wissa taps in to put Brentford back in front
That earned the Bees a first win over their London rivals in eight attempts, and went some way to easing concerns raised by Thomas Frank’s revelation that Ivan Toney had been left out of the squad due to “transfer interest”.
More to follow…
