Goals from Ivan Toney and Vitaly Janelt saw Brentford win 2-1 against Queens Park Rangers in their EFL Championship match on Friday night.
Brentford took the lead early but were pegged back by QPR striker Lyndon Dykes’ fifth goal of the season.
However, a 64th minute header from Toney was enough for Brentford after QPR had Todd Kane sent off late.
A tale of derby woe
QPR came into this game looking for their first win away at Brentford for 16 years, having lost four of the last five games against the Bees, but they did not get off to the best of starts.
They were behind in the 14th minute after Brentford fullback Rico Henry pulled the ball back to Janelt on the edge of the QPR box and the German side-footed a powerful low drive into the bottom right corner, his first goal for the club since his summer move from Bochum.
It seemed like Brentford would add to their lead in the 19th minute when QPR keeper Seng Timothy Dieng gave the ball away to Brentford midfielder Emiliano, but the Spaniard could only hit his shot from 18 yards out straight at the keeper.
QPR got back into the game in the 26th minute after a moment of magic from their star man Bright Osayi-Samuel. The Englishman received the ball in his own half and broke forward past two Brentford defenders eventually producing a wonderful cross from the right for Lyndon Dykes who fired home from 12 yards out.
It was QPR who were in the ascendancy for the rest of the first half, and there was a moment of major controversy in the 38th minute.
QPR’s striker Dykes was played in behind the Brentford defence seemingly in on goal but was shoved in the back by Mads Sørensen. The referee gave a foul just outside the area but crucially only booked Sørensen when he perhaps should have sent him off.
Yoann Barbet went close to scoring from the resulting free-kick hitting the side netting.
Dykes had a great chance to give QPR the lead going into half time after being played in by Osayi-Samuel, but he blasted the ball wide when he could have squared it to Ilias Chair for a tap in.
Frank formation change key
The second half was a completely different story to the first and much of that was to do with the changes made by Brentford boss Thomas Frank.
At half time he made two changes bringing on Pontus Jansson and Mathias Jensen for Josh Dasilva and Henrik Dalsgaard and switching to a 3-5-2 formation.
The change looked like it had paid off in the 56th minute when a lovely pass over the top of the QPR defence from Bryan Mbeumo found Toney in the box who rifled home a first-time finish, but Toney was judged to have been offside.
Replays showed that it was a very tight call, but without the benefit of VAR in the Championship the call stood.
Toney did get his goal eight minutes later. Brentford had a free kick wide right which was whipped to the near post by Emiliano and was met by Toney who flicked it on past the helpless Dieng in net. It was his 12th goal in the league this season.
From here, the result never looked in doubt. The Bees almost added a third when Rico Henry hit a wicked shot that deflected wide after some good play again from Toney.
Substitute Marcus Forss had a good chance not long after coming on when he got the ball in space 18 yards out, but he could only fire over.
The result was all but sealed in the 83rd minute when QPR defender Todd Kane was sent off, picking up his second yellow card for a high challenge on Forss.
Brentford had further chances to add a third on the counter through Marcus Forss and Sam Ghoddos, but a combination of poor finishing and heroic defending from Robert Dickie kept the score 2-1.
Warburton unhappy
QPR manager Mark Warburton was unhappy with the decision not to send off Sorensen after his foul on Dykes.
“We conceded a soft goal after 14 minutes, responded so well and scored a tremendous goal, but please explain to me how a foul is given and he is the last man.
“It’s too important a decision, at this level of the game, to get so blatantly wrong,” Warburton said.
Thomas Frank, on the other hand, was delighted to win the game, especially for Brentford fans.
“I think it was a big win for us and I know it was a big win for the fans and I really hope they take a big beer or glass of red wine tonight- I’ll definitely do that,” said Frank.
Both sides are in action Tuesday December 1. QPR host Bristol City at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium while Brentford travel to the New York Stadium to face Rotherham.
