LONDON :Brentford picked up their first home win in nine games on Saturday in an eventful 4-2 victory against 10-man Brighton & Hove Albion, aided by two goals and an assist from Bryan Mbeumo.
The loss dented Brighton’s hopes of qualifying for European football next season and left them in 10th position in the Premier League on 48 points, now just two ahead of Brentford in 11th.
Mbeumo opened the scoring in the ninth minute before Danny Welbeck clawed a goal back for Brighton just before halftime.
Mbeumo netted again early in the second half – his 18th league goal of the season – before finding Yoane Wissa for Brentford’s third in the 58th minute.
The Seagulls struck back via Kaoru Mitoma in the 81st minute despite having Joao Pedro sent off 20 minutes earlier. They looked intent on equalising but Brentford captain Christian Norgaard put the game beyond them with his side’s fourth goal five minutes into extra time.
“It was a very big win,” Brentford manager Thomas Frank said. “To win at home again, it was about time.”
Brighton are now winless in five league games, making them one of a number of teams to stumble in the chase for European football in the late stages of the season.
They went behind early when Keane Lewis-Potter pushed forward and sliced open the opposing defence, finding Mbeumo who surged forward and curled the ball beyond Bart Verbruggen into the bottom left corner.
The first half looked set to end 1-0 before Brighton pinched one back. Yankuba Minteh made a nuisance of himself in Brentford’s area, pulling the ball back for Mats Wieffer to cross in to Welbeck who headed home.
Brentford came out after halftime with intensity and regained the lead in the 48th minute when Mbeumo picked up the ball in the right-hand side of the box and found the net via a heavy deflection. The goal put him equal with Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood in fourth place in the scorers’ table.
Ten minutes later, Mbeumo was once again hurtling towards the box and cut back to Wissa whose shot picked up another deflection on the way in for Brentford’s third.
The red card for Pedro – for flicking his hand into defender Nathan Collins’s face in the 62nd minute – looked as though it had left Brighton with too much to do.
Yet they found some energy, helped by the introduction of Mitoma, who made it 3-2 with a smart finish after being played in by Jack Hinshelwood.
“We showed a good reaction,” Brighton manager Fabian Huerzeler said, although he added that “it was a fair result”.
Brighton had their opposition on the back foot but ultimately Brentford were able to use the extra man to their advantage, sending the fans home happy after Norgaard headed in from a Mathias Jensen free kick.
Both Brentford and Brighton could still achieve European football next season although Frank refused to talk up his side’s chances.
“We do what we can to try to win as many games as possible and then we’ll see where we end,” he said.
