A fiesty Wolves vs Brentford clash saw the 10-man Bees swarm and surge to victory at Molineux, as the west London club continued their fine start to life in the Premier League.
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The brilliant Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo each scored in the first half, while Wolves never really got going as Shandon Baptiste was sent off with 25 minutes to go but Brentford eased to victory despite being down a man.
That led to plenty of boos at half time and full time from Wolves’ fans.
Thomas Frank’s Brentford have now picked up eight points from their first five Premier League games, while Wolves have three points and have lost four of their first five games under Bruno Lage.
Wolves vs Brentford final score, stats
Wolves 0, Brentford 2
Goals scored: Toney 28′, Mbeumo 34′
Shots: Wolves 11, Brentford 9
Shots on target: Wolves 0, Brentford 3
Possession: Wolves 62, Brentford 38
3 things we learned from Wolves vs Brentford
1. Toney, Mbeumo a great partnership: They caused havoc in the first half and their telepathic understanding was the difference. Toney and Mbeumo are relentless and the way they run off each other and work in tandem caused Wolves so many problems. Toney had two goals disallowed (one of which Mbeumo set up) in the first half, Mbeumo should have had two others in the second. Toney set up Mbeumo for his goal and they are the reason why a hard-working Brentford side will be clear of relegation trouble this season.
2. Predictable Wolves attack lacks confidence: On the flip side, Wolves’ attack looks stale and lacking in confidence. Perhaps that is understandable after Adama Traore spent a lot of time on the bench last season and Raul Jimenez has only just returned from his horrific head injury. But still, they have very talented players in attack if you add in Trincao and Daniel Podence too. Bruno Lage’s side have failed to score in four of their five Premier League games so far and they kept doing the same thing over and over, going wide and crossing it in more than hope than belief. It was predictable and easy to defend against.
3. VAR getting better: We all hammered VAR over the last few years in the Premier League, but this season it has been much better. It seems the success of how it was used at EURO 2020 has really had an impact on how the system is used in the PL and for Brentford’s penalty kick and a disallowed goal, it worked perfectly and relatively quickly. That has been the case throughout the PL so far this season too.
Man of the Match: Ivan Toney – Goal, assist and two other goals ruled out. He was an utter menace and his sensational form continues. What a talisman who sets the tone from the front for Brentford.
Bees buzz early
Brentford thought they had taken the lead as Bryan Mbeumo set up Ivan Toney to slot home off the far post, but the offside flag went up belatedly, and correctly.
Toney then won a penalty kick as Marcal held on to him from a corner kick and dragged him to the ground. Referee Darren England made the correct call, as Brentford’s striker picked himself up and slotted home the spot kick to put the Bees ahead.
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Soon after it looked like it was 2-0, as Janelt’s shot was saved by Jose Sa and the rebound fell to Toney who controlled and flicked home. VAR checked for an offside, which didn’t come, but Toney handled the ball as he controlled and the goal was ruled out.
Lackluster Wolves fail to create chances
Adama Traore then smashed the crossbar with a deflected effort, but then Brentford did double their lead as Toney beat Max Kilman out wide and crossed superbly for Mbeumo to slot home.
Hwang Hee-Chan came on at half time for Wolves but right at the start of the second half Brentford should have been 3-0 up. Ruben Neves lost the ball just in front of his own box, but Mbeumo smashed a glorious chance wide.
Adama Traore then clipped a cross over which almost dropped in, while Brentford were reduced to 10 men as Shandon Baptiste picked up two quick yellow cards.
Aside from a fine last-ditch block from Kristoffer Ajer and Raul Jiemenz nodding wide, Wolves never really looked dangerous and it was Brentford who looked more likely to score another on the break as Mbeumo rattled the bar.
