Two Championship promotion-chasing sides played out an exciting, yet controversial affair on Tuesday night, as 10-men Brentford drew 1-1 at Watford.
The Vicarage Road clash saw two penalties within three minutes as Troy Deeney fired Watford on the hour mark ahead when Brentford’s Ethan Pinnock was sent off for bundling over Ismaila Sarr in the box. However, Brentford equalised shortly afterwards when Ivan Toney equalised with a spot-kick.
This was to be one of the last games with fans allowed into stadiums, with tier three restrictions coming into effect from Wednesday preventing spectators from attending.
Both sides came into this match in similar form, with the Bees picking up 11 points from their previous five games and the hosts 10.
The two sides were separated by just two points before kick-off, with Vladimir Ivic’s men sitting in fourth on 33 points after a narrow win at Birmingham City on Saturday. Brentford meanwhile, sat just inside the play-offs on 31 points after a strong away win at Nottingham Forest.
Despite Sarr forcing a low save out of David Raya early on, Thomas Frank’s side controlled the entirety of the first half and were kicking themselves for not finding a way past Ben Foster in the Watford net.
Brentford striker, and the Championship’s top scorer, Ivan Toney headed a Bryan Mbeumo cross just past the post, before smashing the frame of the goal with a superb strike from 25 yards. Mbeumo also fired over a chance of his own as the Hornets rode their luck massively.
The half-time whistle couldn’t have come sooner for the hosts, who were mightily lucky to still be level.
Watford came out for the second half looking much brighter, and in the 58th minute came the first moment of controversy.
Jeremy Ngakia played a ball through to Sarr, who ended up one on one with Raya, before a tussle with Pinnock saw the Senegalese man go down. A penalty was awarded, after not being initially given, when the linesman persuaded referee James Linnington to change his mind.
To compound matters for Brentford, Pinnock was shown a straight red card, after the referee originally sent off Mads Bech Sorensen mistakenly.
Replays showed Sarr was perhaps slightly offside when Ngakia’s ball was played, and the challenge itself was somewhat soft too. Nevertheless, the decision stood, and it was down to Deeney to step up. The Watford captain made no mistake, powering the ball straight down the middle – despite Raya’s best efforts.
It seemed that Brentford were going to rue their missed chances in the first half, however that was not the case as just three minutes later, the visitors were awarded a penalty of their own.
But unlike the Watford spot-kick there was no doubt about this decision. Mathias Jensen’s cross was blatantly handled by Christian Kabasele, and Linnington wasted no time and hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Toney showed why he is the Championship’s top scorer as he confidently strutted up and sent Foster the wrong way to level the scoreline and secure his 16th goal of the season.
Watford piled on the pressure and Tom Cleverley saw his shot deflect wide off of his team-mate Sarr. Later on, the latter then saw his deflected cross headed home by Stipe Perica but he was deemed to be offside. However, replays showed he was level with the last defender and therefore onside – to spark more controversy.
Then in one last search for a winner, Kabasele saw his header drift wide of the post in the last action of the match.
Defeat would have been harsh on Brentford who put up an excellent showing – particularly in the first half and when they went down to 10 men.
This result sees the Hornets move up to third on 37 points – and three off top spot – while the Bees remain sixth on 32 points.
Both sides are back in action on Saturday as Brentford face another tough test at home to fifth-place Reading, while Watford travel to the John Smith’s Stadium to take on Huddersfield Town.
By Josh Mann
