Brentford prove they can do it without Ivan Toney as Thomas Frank gamble pays off against Crystal Palace

Evening Standard

·18 August 2024

Brentford prove they can do it without Ivan Toney as Thomas Frank gamble pays off against Crystal Palace

Star striker left out of Premier League opener in surprise decision

The return of Premier League football to the Gtech Community Stadium did not mean a return to Brentford action for Ivan Toney after a summer away at Euro 2024 with England.

OneFootball Videos

Thomas Frank omitted Toney from the Bees’ matchday squad due to transfer interest in him, including from Saudi side Al Ahli. The Dane was vindicated, as Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa again stepped up — just as during Toney’s betting ban — to deliver the goals in a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

“A lot of things are going on with Ivan”, Frank explained. It remains to be seen whether Toney will ever don a Brentford shirt again.

In the meantime, all Brentford could do was focus on this London derby to begin the new season. Three points showed Toney’s situation was no crippling distraction.

Mads Roerslev and others were guilty of a few sloppy passes in the opening 20 minutes, and that allowed Palace space to exploit. When they did attack, they did so at a pace not matched by the Bees’ own attacks. Eberechi Eze went close early on, his run and shot only thwarted by a block on the edge of the box.

Eze came closer, still, to giving the Eagles the lead when he rolled a close-range free-kick round the wall but just past the upright. And closer even than that when referee Sam Barrott blew for a foul by Hughes a split-second before Eze struck another free-kick past Mark Flekken, off the post, and over the line. No goal and a tough one for Eze to accept. A half-second later with Barrott's whistle and VAR would have been allowed to overturn the decision.

Brentford soon went up the other end and made it 1-0 when Bryan Mbeumo — comfortably the best player from either team in the first half — cut in from the right and curled through the bodies and into the net off his left foot.

Jean-Philippe Mateta was replaced at the break by Odsonne Edouard for Palace and, despite losing their Olympic silver medallist, they remained a threat.

Particularly key to that was Adam Wharton, who fired a number of long-distance strikes on goal. Mark Flekken was equal to each one.

Palace needed a little help to get their equaliser over the line, and it came from Brentford defender Ethan Pinnock who toed past his own goalkeeper when Daniel Munoz headed the ball onto his foot after a cross from Tyrick Mitchell.

Oliver Glasner’s side were buoyed by that leveller for a short while but, in truth, always looked suspect when defending Brentford breakaways. One duly regained Frank’s men the lead when Nathan Collins found himself in the Palace box, swivelled and shot on goal. Dean Henderson could only claw the ball against Yoane Wissa’s shin and in.

Palace responded to falling behind again by introducing Cheick Doucoure and debutant Ismaila Sarr, and with Glasner signalling to his players to finish the game in a 4-4-2.

The closest they came to hauling themselves back level again was Eze’s late strike, which deflected off Roerslev towards the top corner but was expertly tipped over by Flekken at full stretch.

The second equaliser never did arrive, ensuring this was not the start to the season Palace had been bargaining for. Brentford, meanwhile, showed once more that Frank is right. They can cope without Toney.