Brentford 2-0 Burnley: The Warmdown as Bees fly by Clarets

It was a deserved three points for the west London side on Saturday. 

Brentford 2-0 Burnley: The Warmdown as Bees fly by Clarets
Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
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By Luke Williamson

Brentford got their revenge against Burnley after an Ivan Toney double left The Clarets one point from safety.

To add salt to the wounds, Nathan Collins was sent off in second half stoppage time after conceding a penalty for bundling Toney over which The Bees striker converted.

Burnley weren’t without their chances, but couldn’t find the net as they succumbed to their third straight defeat.

  • Brentford buzzing again

Rightfully so, too.

Two wins on the spin has taken The Bees somewhat out of danger, now sitting nine clear of 18th placed Burnley.

They were on good form all around and played like a team with confidence.

Christian Eriksen dazzled with his unwavering class, Sergi Canos’ deliveries tested the visiting defence but one man stole the headlines.

Ivan Toney has become a fantastic Premier League striker.

Not just in terms of his finishing - the placement on the header for the opener was delightful - but his all around play as a front man.

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He gets his teammates involved by holding the ball up, using his strength and fight to fend off defenders.

He is direct, always looking to score or get into the box.

And his penalties. He might be the best penalty taker in the world, it is not too far fetched to say so.

He moved to 11 for the season with his fifth goal in two games which have been vital to dragging his side away from the bottom three.

England call up coming? Wouldn’t be wrong to say he deserved it.

  • Clarets left to rue misses

Dwight McNeil had a great opportunity with the scores at 0-0 but lacked any sort of direction on his header from no more than ten yards out.

As he stumbled to his knees in an attempt at a diving header, the ball just bounced away

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Maxwel Cornet also had a great chance after finding himself bearing down on goal, only to scuff his effort into David Raya.

Jay Rodriguez rattled the bar from 25-yards out but, in terms of efforts on goal, that was as good as it got Burnley.

And just isn’t good enough when you are fighting for your lives at the bottom of the table.

To miss two guilt-edged chances and then have to resort to long range strikes as your only attempts simply won’t do.

Not to mention the team you are playing are a serious relegation rival, too.

Burnley were strong defensively, they have had a little resurgence in that sense.

But, that won’t win you a game against a rival at the bottom of the table.

The hosts would have had more confidence going into the game after beating Norwich City last weekend whereas Burnley had lost their last two before the game in west London.

The Clarets really should have gone for it a bit more, like they did in the home game of this fixture earlier this year.

Because seven shots with just a single shot on target is in no way good enough, especially when playing a team you’re supposed to be fighting for survival against.

  • Confidence was key

For whatever reason, whether that be selection choices or overall poor performances, Burnley have gone right off the boil in the past three games.

They were flying before that with seven points from a possible nine before losing the next three on the bounce, and without really putting up much of a fight.

However, since Brentford’s name has been banded around in the relegation debate, they have turned on the style again.

Yes, a poor Norwich and lacklustre Clarets aren’t difficult games, but you need to beat the teams at the bottom to stand a good chance of staying up.

And Thomas Frank’s side had the confidence which inevitably took them past Burnley.

Brentford travel to Leicestershire to take on Brendan RodgersLeicester City on Sunday at 2pm.

Burnley will welcome an enforced break due to Southampton’s FA Cup involvement against Manchester City who, incidentally are Burnley’s next opponents in three weeks time at Turf Moor.