Bournemouth 1-2 Brentford: Wissa wins it after frantic finish

Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo starred in a frantic finish as Brentford emerged with a dramatic 2-1 away victory against Bournemouth.

Saturday’s match was goalless after 85 minutes and it looked like visitors Brentford had snatched victory when a fine pass by Wissa allowed Mbeumo to open the scoring.

But Dominic Solanke headed in an equaliser for the hosts with one minute of normal time remaining.

That was not to be the last of the drama, though, as Mbeumo turned provider and Wissa scored the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Defeat means Bournemouth are 11th in the standings, behind Brighton on goal difference, while Brentford are 16th, now just one point behind Everton.

The Cherries thought they had opened the scoring midway through the first half via top scorer Solanke, but following a VAR review, referee Matt Donohue disallowed the strike after checking the pitch-side screen. Donohue, taking charge of his first ever Premier League game, adjudged that Antoine Semenyo handled the ball before providing the pass to Solanke.

In a game of few quality chances, Keane Lewis-Potter came close for the away side on the hour-mark. After good build-up play, captain Christian Nørgaard slipped in the 23-year-old midfielder, but he was unable to make clean contact with the ball and Mark Travers in the Bournemouth goal was able to gather.

It took until 65 minutes for Bournemouth to win their first corner of the afternoon, and it led to their first serious chance of the second period. The Cherries have already scored 11 goals from corners in 2023-24, more than in any previous Premier League campaign, but Lloyd Kelly’s header narrowly missed the target, rolling just wide of the post.

Ivan Toney thought he had won a penalty in the 71st minute after falling to ground under pressure from Illia Zabarnyi. Referee Donohue originally awarded the spot-kick, but another VAR intervention saw him reverse his decision after it was deemed that contact was not sufficient to warrant the penalty. 

Eventually, a mad spell of three goals in nine minutes saw Brentford come out on top.

Mbeumo thought he had won the game for Brentford with just three minutes left to play, racing on to Wissa’s pass to finish well past Travers, but Solanke’s header looked set to win the home side a point.

It was left to Wissa to win the game for Thomas Frank’s side in the fifth minute of injury time, slamming high into the net from an Mbeumo assist. 

Perfect Partners Seal Three Points for Bees

This was the fifth Premier League game this season than both Mbeumo and Wissa have scored for Brentford, after previous double acts versus Spurs and Fulham in August, Burnley in October and Aston Villa last month.

With 20 goals between the two forwards overall in the competition this season, their partnership has been crucial to Brentford’s survival in the Premier League – even more so with Toney’s recent loss of form in front of goal. 

The England international extended his run to 11 successive Premier League appearances without a goal in this match, equalling his all-time longest run in league football from 2013-14 at Northampton Town.

Solanke Stakes Claim for Euro 2024 Selection

He may have ended the afternoon on the losing side, but Solanke scored yet again for Bournemouth.  

With 19 goals in the Premier League this season, only Cole Palmer (21) has more goals than the Cherries striker among all English players. 

Next week offers him the chance to reach 20 league goals in 2023-24 against his former club, Chelsea. Should he manage that, he’ll join a list of just 23 English players to manage at least 20 goals in a single Premier League season.