Bournemouth 1 Brentford 2
The Cherries took on The Bees on the south coast with neither side having any relegation fears going into their final games of the season. Despite this, both teams would be wanting to finish their seasons on a high after having inconsistent form during the campaign.
Brentford had the first chance of the game as Lewis-Potter cut in from the left wing to create some space to get a shot away. Travers got down well to the bottom corner of the goal to tip the effort behind for a corner. A statement of intent from the visitors.
Andoni Iraola’s side were struggling to find a foothold in the game but finally they broke the deadlock with their first attack. As Solanke received the ball in the box, he buried his shot in the back of the net, which was quickly followed up by his trademark celebration.
He was to be denied as VAR sent the referee to the monitor. He adjudged that Semenyo had handled the ball on the halfway line in the build-up and disallowed the goal. It seemed a good decision as the replay showed he did seem to move his arm towards the ball to control it.
Credit: @BrentfordFC
The former Liverpool striker was to be denied again as Flekken and his defender failed to communicate. Solanke won the ball back and clipped it into the back of the net with the keeper out of position but the official decided he fouled the player to win the ball.
The Bournemouth manager did not seem happy with either decision and felt his side should have been in the lead. He could see the funny side of things despite his frustrations and more so, could not believe what he was seeing on the pitch in front of him.
Into the second half and Toney had his first glimpse of goal. As he was just about to shoot, he was bundled to the ground and the referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot. VAR once again sent him to the monitor and once again he overturned his decision.
Having seen the replay there seemed to be a shove in the back of the striker but more importantly it certainly did not seem to be a clear and obvious error by the official. That should be the only instance where VAR gets involved, but more often they seem to want their five minutes of fame.
With only four minutes of normal time remaining, Wissa played the ball into the path of Mbuemo, who fired his shot past Travers to seemingly win the game late on for the visitors. Given that The Cherries had two goals chalked off in the game, Iraola must have been seething.
However, three minutes later a hopeful ball into the box found the head of Solanke who headed into the far corner to finally get his goal at the third attempt. The Vitality Stadium erupted as the fans thought they had rescued a point in the last minute of the game.
Credit: @BrentfordFC
Just when the drama did not seem it could get any later, nine minutes of added time was shown on the fourth official’s board. As a Bournemouth attack broke down, the visitors countered and Mbuemo fed Wissa who drilled his shot past Travers and into the back of the net.
It was a cruel blow for the hosts but clinical finishing by Thomas Frank’s side. It kept Brentford within a point of Everton in fifteenth place in the table. After worrying for their Premier League survival only a month ago, it is proving a positive end to the campaign for The Bees.
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