Brentford stayed in the automatic promotion hunt as they beat Stoke City, despite going behind within the first minute. 

Jacob Brown opened the scoring, but a superb striker from Vitaly Janelt and a trademark Ivan Toney goal sealed the points for the Bees. 

Brentford

Goalkeeper

David Raya: 6/10 - Made a mistake for the opener but hardly had much else to do.

Defence

Henrik Dalsgaard: 6/10 - Positionally poor in defence but got forward when needed.

Ethan Pinnock: 7/10 - Didn't put a foot wrong, as usual, forming a great partnership with Winston Reid.

Winston Reid: 7/10 - Dealt with Nick Powell's aerial threat well and could have had a goal of his own with a free header.

Mads Bech Sorenson: 6/10 - Didn't impose himself but also didn't really do anything wrong.

Midfield

Josh Dasilva: 6/10 - Rightly booked, wasn't in the game as much as he would have liked on his return.

Vitaly Janelt: 8/10 - Great goal to pull his side back into it, composed in the middle of the park.

Saman Ghoddos: 7/10 - Got forward well and tested Angus Gunn when needed.

Attack

Tarique Fosu: 6/10 - Unusually ineffective performance with just one dribble in his 59 minutes on.

Ivan Toney: 7/10 - Quiet until he scored, but eventually got the all-important winner.

Bryan Mbeumo: 7/10 - Assisted Toney's winner and made life hard for Josh Tymon in the second half.

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Substitutes

Mathias Jensen: 6/10 - Rightly put on for Dasilva, did all the basics right and played his part in the win.

Sergi Canos: 6/10 - Affected the game positively, good touches and linkup play.

Christian Norgaard: 6/10 - Solid 15 minutes, kept Stoke out well.

Emiliano: 5/10 - Brought on for fitness purposes in the closing stages.

Stoke City

Goalkeeper

Angus Gunn: 6/10 - Some good saves but another two past him away from home.

Defence

Harry Souttar: 6/10 - Commanding as usual but beaten too easily for the winner.

Danny Batth: 6/10 - Some fine last ditch play at times, looked tired in the second half though.

James Chester: 6/10 - Stellar first half, struggled with the play down the left in the second.

Midfield

Tommy Smith: 6/10 - Quick thinking for the goal, but kept giving it away in the second half.

John Obi-Mikel: 5/10 - Strong but not composed enough, positioning left gaps at times.

Joe Allen: 6/10 - Got about the pitch as always, needs to be more imposing and vocal.

Jordan Thompson: 6/10 - Probably unfairly taken off at the midway point after linking up well on the left side.

Rhys Norrington-Davies: 6/10 - Possibly lucky to not see his marching orders, also taken off at half time due to the caution despite playing well.

Attack

Jacob Brown: 7/10 - First goal gave him the confidence to get himself about well, isolated in the second half before coming off.

Nick Powell: 5/10 - Ineffective from Stoke's star man, but understandable as he played an unfamiliar role upfront.

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Substitutes

Jordan Cousins: 6/10 - Solid replacement but couldnt emulate Thompson's creativity.

Josh Tymon: 5/10 - Probably didn't expect to be thrown on at wing back, all to easy for Mbeumo to get past him at times.

Jack Clarke: 6/10 - Some good touches but it was a tough task to break Brentford down when he came on.

Sam Vokes: 6/10 - Didn't bring enough energy, tried to make things come off but to no avail.

 

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