Brentford come out on top in entertaining goal-fest against Bournemouth

Manager Thomas Frank describes win as ‘insanely good’ as west London side win another high-scoring match at the Gtech Stadium

Brentford’s ability to come out on top in goal-filled games was branded “insanely good” by Thomas Frank on a day when Kepa Arrizabalaga’s shortcomings were once again under scrutiny.
There is no doubt that the Gtech Community Stadium is the place to be for action with this success directly following a 5-3 victory over Wolves and a 4-3 success at Ipswich’s expense.
Yoane Wissa scored twice to boost his ever-growing reputation in the post-Ivan Toney era in this part of west London; Brentford have now found the net 22 times in their first 11 Premier League games of 2024-25.
“I’m a positive guy – we are a very dangerous team going forward,” said Frank, the manager. “Who has scored the most goals in the league? We must be up there. That’s incredible – we are Brentford.
“That is insanely good. People don’t understand how good it is. And even though we conceded two goals it was a step forward in terms of defending.”
Bournemouth, who twice went ahead, were unable to replicate last week’s victory over Manchester City, the first in their history, which had followed a draw at Aston Villa and a defeat of Arsenal.
Head coach Andoni Iraola decided to bring back goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who had missed the City and Villa games through injury, instead of sticking with Mark Travers.
The move backfired however; the goalkeeper Chelsea have loaned out following too many errors added another to his CV just 21 seconds after Bournemouth had gone 2-1 up. It turned out to be a pivotal moment.
“We have had great results with him this season,” Iraola insisted afterwards. “Probably the second goal he can do more but he played well in the game.
“Whatever decision I make was going to be unfair for one. I had two players playing very well. I hope I have a lot of difficult decisions because it means I have a lot of players pushing to start games.”
Bournemouth made such a slick start that Brentford’s previous habit of scoring in the first two minutes, which they managed in four successive games, seemed more urban myth than happy memory.
Keane Lewis-Potter’s deployment at left-back saw him exposed by the pace of Antoine Semenyo, whose low drive was batted away by Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
Home fans were already grumbling when Marcos Senesi, completely unmarked, blasted over from all of four yards and Bournemouth’s eventual opener was as laughable as it was preventable.
Sepp van den Berg’s undercooked back-pass was seized upon by Evanilson, who shimmied past Flekken to find an empty net.
Brentford reverted to type to draw level 10 minutes later, however, with the sort of goal Bees fans have come to savour – a smart finish following some utter chaos from a long throw.
Mathias Jensen launched it, Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez could only help it on for team-mate Tyler Adams to find himself up against Van den Berg and the equally massive Christian Norgaard and the resulting deflection went straight to Wissa to nod home.
Bournemouth began the second period impressively, with Justin Kluivert playing a one-two with Lewis Cook from a short-corner move before lashing in at the near post.
But Iraola’s side switched off themselves from the kick-off as Brentford, just as they had against Wolves, hit back within seconds. Bryan Mbeumo played in Mikkel Damsgaard on the right of the box for a shot that went through Kepa at his near post when it looked impossible to score.
Brentford’s winner was pure quality, however. Vitaly Janelt’s dummy fooled Semenyo and allowed Lewis-Potter to play him into space for a curving pass behind the Bournemouth back-line and the on-rushing Wissa dinked over Kepa.
Pure Poetry. Wissa with today’s winner 🔥🇨🇩 pic.twitter.com/23PrZcA4z0
The game ended it suitably chaotic fashion with Bournemouth substitute Dean Huijsen’s header hitting the bar and Brentford replacement Yehor Yarmoliuk racing down the other end and almost adding a fourth.