Brentford come from behind to beat Bournemouth in five-goal thriller
Martin Allen and Sean O’Driscoll were the opposing managers the last time the south-coast side defeated Brentford in London, but the Cherries set about ending their 19-year wait from the off. Antoine Semenyo forced Mark Flekken into a fine low stop after 10 minutes, before Marcos Senesi missed a great opportunity, blasting over from less than six yards out after being left completely unmarked from a Ryan Christie cross.
Eventually, Brentford complacency gifted the visitors a deserved lead, as Sepp van den Berg’s woeful backpass allowed Evanilson to scamper onto the loose ball and glide past Flekken with ease before tapping into an empty net.
It took 21 minutes for the home side to register their first shot at goal, yet just five minutes after that Vitaly Janelt strike the Bees grabbed themselves an equaliser.
Bournemouth failed to clear a long Mathias Jensen throw-in, and Yoane Wissa got on the end of a high, looping flick-on to head beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga.
That proved to be the last real action of an entertaining first half, but there was much more to come in a spectacular second.
Just two minutes after the break, Bournemouth were back in the lead after a well-worked corner saw Lewis Cook play in Justin Kluivert, and the Dutchman blasted his shot into the back of the net. However, immediately from the restart, Brentford restored parity for a second time, with Mikkel Damsgaard finding a gap between Kepa and his near post.
It got even better for Thomas Frank’s men just before the hour mark, too, when Janelt smart dummy and excellent through ball played in Wissa, who dinked it over Kepa to grab his second goal of the game.
Brentford had previously failed to win from leading positions on four occasions this season, most notably falling to two stoppage-time goals against Fulham on Monday, but they bossed the remaining half an hour here.
Bryan Mbeumo should have continued his record of scoring in every home game this season as he blasted over a great chance from 12 yards out. Ultimately, though, it was a miss he would not regret as the home side held out to leapfrog their opponents and enter the top half of the table.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, have just one away win this term, which is in contrast to their home form that has seen them beat both Manchester City and Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vitaly Janelt (Brentford)