Brentford 3-0 Burnley: Bees overcome 'strange' VAR call to earn first home win of the season

Brentford overcame a controversial VAR decision to beat Burnley 3-0 and earn their first home win of the season with Bryan Mbeumo and Saman Ghoddos scoring stunning goals after Yoane Wissa's opener.

Brentford thought they had taken an eighth-minute lead when Neal Maupay finished off Nathan Collins' pull back from a free-kick only for the goal to be disallowed for offside.

The decision went to VAR but, despite Collins clearly being onside the goal was ruled out because Kristoffer Ajer, who was in an offside position but a few yards away from Collins, was deemed to be interfering with play. The decision was labelled "strange" by former Premier League referee Mike Dean on Soccer Saturday.

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It was later explained by the PGMOL that Ajer had been given offside as he was obstructing Lyle Foster. Brentford boss Thomas Frank said afterwards he believed the goal was "very borderline".

VAR's blushes were spared, though, when Wissa gave the Bees a 25th-minute lead as he tapped in at the back post from Mbeumo's ball across the box.

Mbeumo then turned goalscorer in the second half as he curled a wonderful first-time effort from outside the box to double the home side's lead in the 62nd minute.

Burnley's hopes of a comeback were effectively ended in the 78th minute when defender Connor Roberts was sent off for a second yellow card for bringing down Wissa.

The visitors' day then went from bad to worse as Bees substitute Ghoddos scored a stunning third late on to inflict a seventh loss in nine league games on Burnley, who remain in the relegation zone after making their worst start to a top-flight campaign since 1888.

Meanwhile, Frank's side ended a six-game winless league run to move six points clear of the drop zone.

Bees take sting out of 'strange' VAR call

Frank decided to hand Maupay his first start since rejoining the club on a season-long loan from Everton and it nearly paid off after just two minutes.

Mathias Jensen's quick free-kick released an unmarked Maupay in the box only for the Frenchman to drag his shot wide of the far post.

But just minutes later the VAR controversy ensued to deny Maupay his first goal since returning back to the club following the decision to call Ajer offside in the build-up.

It was another VAR issue for Darren England to deal with on his return to officiating duties following his blunder to incorrectly disallow Liverpool's goal at Tottenham last month.

England was the fourth official at the Gtech Community Stadium and took an earful from Frank following the decision made by VAR Stuart Atwell.

But Maupay shrugged off that call to have a hand in Brentford's 25th-minute opener as he released Mbeumo who then squared for Wissa to easily tap home at the back post.

Maupay should have then made it 2-0 three minutes later as he went through one-on-one only to produce a weak finish that squeezed under the body of Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford and trickled towards goal, where it was cleared off the line by Dara O'Shea.

Trafford then made a string of good stops including a fine one-handed save to tip over Maupay's powerful shot on the swivel inside the box.

Burnley's only shot on target in the first half came in stoppage time as Mark Flekken saved well from Zeki Amdoui's effort.

Following the half-time introduction of Luca Koleosho, Burnley started the second half much brighter but Brentford stood firm to then double their lead through a sensational Mbeumo strike in the 62nd minute.

Just a minute after the Cameroon international went down with an injury he picked himself up to get on the end of Maupay's nice lay-off to wonderfully curl past Trafford from around 20 yards out.

Koleosho missed a glorious chance to pull one back for Burnley in the 75th minute as he remarkably put wide of an open goal from Foster's square ball.

Then just three minutes later any hopes of a Burnley comeback were ended as Roberts was sent off for a second booking for hauling down Wissa after a ball over the top.

Brentford substitute Ghoddos took full advantage to add a tremendous third in the 87th with a superb half-volley from distance to earn a much-needed win for the home side and give Frank the perfect present to celebrate five years in charge of the Bees.

Frank: I'll celebrate anniversary win with a 'glass of red and tapas'

Frank admitted his five-year anniversary celebration meal will taste a lot better after the 3-0 win.

The Dane, who took charge of the Bees in October 2018, said in his post-match press conference: "I'm just privileged and happy to have been here almost seven years and five years as head coach.

"It's definitely better to celebrate with a win. I will be having a good glass of red and a bit of tapas, I think."

He added: "It was very good performance, a completely well-deserved win.

"The first half was maybe our best performance this season. We should have probably been 3-0 up - that's the only negative.

"That's us at home, having attack after attack, high intensity. A very strong performance. In the second half, Burnley got a little bit into the game but 2-0 killed them off."

Kompany: We weren't good enough

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany admitted their performance was below par in his post-match press conference:

He said: "Simple. Overall, not good enough.

"In the first half, losing 1-0 was flattering to us. In the second half, I thought we came out and looked like we should have done in the first half.

"We played really well for that spell, but moments we don't take - and they did take - put the game past us. But you can't have 45 minutes like that in the Premier League."

Opta stats: Bees record their joint-most shots in a PL game

• Brentford had 23 shots against Burnley, 10 of which were on target, their joint-most in a Premier League game (also 10 v West Ham in May).
• Brentford have won consecutive matches in all competitions against Burnley for the first time since December 1996, while it's the first time they've ever done so without conceding (also 2-0 in the previous win).
• Burnley have lost seven of their opening nine matches (W1 D1) in a top-flight league campaign for the first time since 1888-89 (W2 L7).
• Bryan Mbeumo both scored and assisted in the Premier League for the third time at the Gtech Community Stadium, as often as all other Brentford players combined in the competition (Mathias Jensen, Ivan Toney and Mads Roerslev all once).

What's next?

Brentford are back in action next Saturday when they make the short trip to Chelsea in the Premier League; kick-off 12.30pm.

Meanwhile, Burnley are also on the road next Saturday when they travel to Bournemouth; kick-off 3pm.

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