EDERSON RETURNS FOR CITY BUT HAALAND ON BENCH
Ederson is back between the sticks for City, while Cole Palmer, Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez are also all named in the starting line-up. Only Rico Lewis, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez started in the draw with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Ake, Laporte, Gomez, Lewis, Phillips, Palmer, Mahrez, Foden, Alvarez.
Brentford became the only Premier League club to do the double over champions Manchester City this season, with Ethan Pinnock’s late goal the difference in west London.
Pep Guardiola made seven changes to his City side and it showed, with the visitors far from their fluid best as they struggled to create any chances. The best opportunity fell to Cole Palmer early on, but David Raya palmed away his low shot.
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Yoane Wissa hit the post for Brentford, although he was marginally offside when played through on goal so it would not have counted, while Ben Mee also had a snap-shot saved before the interval.
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The Bees thought they should have had a penalty amid their best spell of pressure, with Mee first kicked by Sergio Gomez as they vied for a loose ball and then Rico Lewis clearly handling a miscued shot, but one was not awarded. Manager Thomas Frank was booked for his protests.
Yet the Bees still had a sting in their tail and scored a deserved winner five minutes from time as Pinnock smashed home from a Bryan Mbuemo knockdown.
The win means Brentford end the season with 59 points in ninth place, with City on 89 at the top of the table.
More to follow.
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Brentford became the only Premier League club to do the double over champions Manchester City this season, with Ethan Pinnock’s late goal the difference in west London.
Pep Guardiola made seven changes to his City side and it showed, with the visitors far from their fluid best as they struggled to create any chances. The best opportunity fell to Cole Palmer early on, but David Raya palmed away his low shot.
Yoane Wissa hit the post for Brentford, although he was marginally offside when played through on goal so it would not have counted, while Ben Mee also had a snap-shot saved before the interval.
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The Bees thought they should have had a penalty amid their best spell of pressure, with Mee first kicked by Sergio Gomez as they vied for a loose ball and then Rico Lewis clearly handling a miscued shot, but one was not awarded. Manager Thomas Frank was booked for his protests.
Yet the Bees still had a sting in their tail and scored a deserved winner five minutes from time as Pinnock smashed home from a Bryan Mbuemo knockdown.
It was announced earlier in the day that Pinnock had signed a new four-year contract with Brentford, so he was a fitting scorer.
City did create one goalmouth scramble as they pushed for an equaliser, but Palmer saw two close-range shots blocked as Brentford held firm.
The win means Brentford end the season with 59 points in ninth place, with City on 89 at the top of the table. Other results did not go Brentford’s way, meaning it was not possible to qualify for the Europa Conference League.
Europe was not to be for Brentford, but it has still been a brilliant season for the Bees and this win ties a bow on it nicely. It is their highest league finish since the 1937-38 season.
Brentford’s progress has gone under the radar this campaign, perhaps down to a combination of their good showing last season and a top-four shake-up which has attracted much attention, but Frank is continuing to do an excellent job on one of the division’s smallest budgets. All the while still using many of the players who helped Brentford reach the Premier League, including Pinnock.
Phil Foden of Manchester City is challenged by Bryan Mbeumo of Brentford
Image credit: Getty Images
That they are the only team to do the double over City this season is testament to Brentford’s quality and adaptability.
Against his old club, Mee made his presence felt at both ends. Julian Alvarez had a torrid after in large part because of Mee, although all members of Brentford’s backline played well.
Brentford: Raya 6, Hickey 7, Pinnock 8, Mee 8, Jorgensen 7, Henry 8, Janelt 6, Onyeka 7, Damsgaard 6, Mbeumo 7, Wissa 6. Subs: Schade 7, Dasilva 7, Baptiste 6, Ghoddos 6, Roerslev 6.
Manchester City: Ederson 6, Walker 6, Ake 7, Laporte 6, Gomez 4, Phillips 4, Foden 6, Lewis 6, Palmer 5, Mahrez 5, Alvarez 5. Subs: Charles 6.
RAYA SAVES 4′ – Palmer gets a slice of luck as the ball ricochets his way, allowing the youngster to dribble into the box, and he digs out a low shot which Raya parries wide.
WISSA HITS POST 10′ – Wissa runs off Ake’s shoulder, receives a through ball to go one-on-one with Ederson and curls a shot onto the post from a tight angle. An offside flag belatedly went up, so it would not have counted had Wissa found the net.
MEE SHOT KEPT OUT 36′ – A long throw-in comes to Mee, who stops it dead, spins and shoots, but Ederson saves.
BRENTFORD LEAD 85′ – Schade gets around the outside on the right, crosses to Mbuemo at the back post and his knockdown is right in the path of Pinnock, who hammers home. Brentford on to do the double over City!
CHANCE FOR CITY 90′ – Palmer has two close-range efforts blocked – one by Pinnock, one by a team-mate – as City come agonisingly close to drawing level.
Brentford have done the double over City for the first time since the1937-38 season.
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SPURS REVERT TO FOUR AT THE BACK
Caretaker manager Ryan Mason appears to have switched to a back four, making four changes to the team beaten by Aston Villa. Arnaut Danjuma makes a first league start for Spurs, with Dejan Kulusevski also coming into what looks an attacking line-up. Davinson Sanchez starts in central defence and Yves Bissouma is added in midfield.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cristian Romero are out of the squad altogether but Pedro Porro and Richarlison make the bench.
Tottenham Hotspur: Forster, Royal, Sanchez, Leglet, Davies, Skipp, Bissouma, Danjuma, Kulusevski, Son, Kane.
Brentford stunned Tottenham Hotspur in a match with big ramifications in the race for Europe, with Bryan Mbuemo scoring a brace as the Bees came from behind to win 3-1.
Spurs, having switched to a back four, initially looked back to their free-flowing best and Harry Kane opened the scoring in the eighth minute, crashing home from more than 30 yards after Dejan Kulusevski rolled a free kick into his path and away from the wall.
Emerson Royal had a header cleared off the line as the hosts searched for a second goal, while Son Heung-min also came close but was denied by a super Ben Mee block.
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Tottenham were made to pay for their wastefulness shortly after the break when Mbuemo was given time to manoeuvre between two defenders and pick his spot. It was Brentford’s first shot on target and fizzed past Fraser Forster.
Mbuemo rolled another shot past Forster and into the far corner to complete the turnaround 12 minutes later, having been set free by a lovely Aaron Hickey pass.
Yoane Wissa put the cherry on top of a famous Brentford win on 88 minutes, teed up by Mbuemo after Oliver Skipp was robbed of possession deep inside the Tottenham half.
The win lifts Brentford to 56 points and while they stay ninth, hopes of European qualification remain alive. Spurs stay seventh, with 57 points, but other teams have games in hand so they no longer control their own destiny.
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KLOPP NOT HOPEFUL ON TOP FOUR, EXPECTING TOUGH GAME TODAY
Brentford represent “a really difficult game” for Liverpool, according to Klopp. “You can control the whole game theoretically, not that it’s already written in stone, but you could and one set piece can kill you,” he warned.
“They are really good in counter-attacking, set-up, all these kind of things. Throw-ins are great, the corners are great, free-kicks are great, the players are great and the manager is fantastic. So, that’s a really difficult game.”
Meanwhile the Liverpool boss has maintained “other teams are in much better positions” to secure Champions League football. The numbers back him up.
“We have 59 [points], United has 63,” Klopp said before this game. “So, we can get 71 maximum. United needs for that eight points in five [games] from 15 points. I think they will do that, to be honest. If they win three games of the rest then that’s it for us.”
A Mohamed Salah goal saw Liverpool beat Brentford 1-0 to make it six wins in a row and keep their hopes of Champions League qualification alive.
Anfield was close to unanimous in booing the national anthem before kick-off on the day of the Coronation, but the home fans were soon showing their adulation the man nicknamed the Egyptian King as Salah opened the scoring in the 13th minute.
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Salah bundled the ball over the line after being teed up by Virgil van Dijk when Brentford could not clear their lines – the goal was Salah’s 100th at Anfield.
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Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo both missed great opportunities to double Liverpool’s lead, while Brentford posed a consistent threat and at one point thought they had equalised but Bryan Mbeumo was offside.
Victory lifts Liverpool to 62 points and they are now just one off a Champions League berth, although fourth-placed Manchester United have two games in hand. Brentford, with 50 points, remain ninth.
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Brighton & Hove Albion demolished Wolverhampton Wanderers 6-0 on Saturday in the Premier League, with Brentford beating relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest 2-1 with two late goals.
The south coast side will stay in eighth spot in the table despite the three points, but they have moved to just a single point behind Liverpool in seventh, and only two behind Tottenham in fifth.
Roberto de Zerbi’s men have two games in hand of the north Londoners, and impressed at the Amex.
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Denis Undav opened the scoring on six minutes, scoring his first Premier League goal, and grabbed another an hour later.
Before then Pascal Gross made it two, and then three, with a brace of his own.
There was a third Brighton player who finished with two goals at full-time: experienced striker Danny Welbeck. He made it 4-0 with a header just before half-time, and soon after the restart added another after a defensive error from Julen Lopetegui’s men.
Wolves are likely safe given they are eight points clear of the drop zone, but with the end of the season closing in, they can ill afford to be complacent.
In the day’s other afternoon kick-off, Nottingham Forest looked to have secured three points after Danilo struck in first-half injury time, with no quick response from the home side.
However, Ivan Toney popped up on 82 minutes to give Brentford at least a share of the points, before a lengthy spell of added-time allowed Josh Dasilva to strike for the winner.
Forest are just a point and league position clear of the bottom three having played a game more than their rivals, while Brentford are ninth, two points behind Brighton.
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TEAM NEWS
CHELSEA XI: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Mateo Kovacic, Enzo Fernandez, Cesar Azpilicueta, Conor Gallagher, N’Golo Kante, Raheem Sterling.
BRENTFORD XI: David Raya, Ben Mee, Ethan Pinnock, Zanka, Rico Henry, Mads Roerslev, Vitaly Janelt, Frank Onyeka, Mathias Jensen, Yoane Wissa, Ivan Toney.
Chelsea recorded their fifth consecutive loss in all competitions after a Cesar Azpilicueta own goal led to a 2-0 defeat against Brentford in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge.
It was a relatively uneventful first half with both teams struggling to create quality attacking chances.
After Chelsea’s best spell of the match, Brentford won a corner which saw Mathias Jensen’s cross flicked goalwards by Zanka. The ball then hit Azpilicueta and went past Kepa Arrizabalaga to give the visitors the lead.
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Frank Lampard opted to make some changes at half-time bringing on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mykhailo Mudryk, and opting to revert to a back-four. Chelsea came out after the break a completely different side, with several chances falling to Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling, and Aubameyang, whose looping header in the 55th minute beat David Raya and landed on top of the goal.
The hosts though were unable to take any of their chances, and after a triple change from Thomas Frank, Brentford rediscovered their defensive stability and were able to match Chelsea’s intensity.
The visitors were patient without the ball, and reaped the rewards by scoring their second in the 78th minute after Bryan Mbeumo carried the ball from the half-way line before cutting inside past Wesley Fofana and firing the ball into the back of the net, with a deflection leaving Arrizabalaga stranded.
Up next for Chelsea will be another London derby as they take on Arsenal at the Emirates while Brentford will look to build on their win against Nottingham Forest.
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