Brentford ran out winners away at Newcastle in dramatic fashion despite conceding first and throwing away the lead late on.
The Bees have done it again. For the second consecutive match, they defeated a (in theory) superior opponent away from home. First Aston Villa and now Newcastle.
It looked like the good form from before was about to leave them after unlucky losses against Chelsea and Nottingham Forest. But Keith Andrews’ men have picked themselves back up and are now 7th in the Premier League table.
How did Brentford beat Newcastle?
Against the run of play
It was an odd game at St. James’ Park in which most of the main events went against the run of play.
The Bees started off better and saw a controversial decision of no penalty go against them early on. Suddenly, Sven Botman’s awkward header found the back of the net in a corner kick to put the hosts ahead.
While Newcastle settled down after scoring and took control of the match, they still conceded the equaliser. It was a lapse in concentration between transitions forwards and backwards that cost them.
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The lead-up to the goal started in a Brentford corner that they successfully cleared away. The whole team started moving forward and the Bees used that momentum against them and accelerated down the left. It led to a 3v3 inside the box with Igor Thiago and Vitaly Janelt between Newcastle defenders and Keane Lewis-Potter charging free at the back post. Janelt scored but it could have been any of the other two.
Keith Andrews’ men took control back down the stretch and managed to turn things around before the break. A Jacob Murphy handball sent Igor Thiago to the spot and he made no mistake.
Eddie Howe changed things up at half-time and made attacking changes to start the second half. Brentford accepted their dominance and retracted as well, turning the game into a one-sided affair.
For around 25 minutes it actually took the Bees out of the game. They were trapped inside their own half and had no escape. And just as it looked like they had started to adjust, Michael Kayode accidentaly ran into Bruno Guimaraes and took him down in the box. The Brazilian sent Caoimhin Kelleher the wrong way to make it 2-2.
The goal brought the Magpies fans into the game and it was all shaping up to be an even more dominant Newcastle side to end the match. But one long ball undid all their hard work as Dango Ouattara scored just five minutes later to give his side the three points.
Keith Andrews’ tactical tweak
Brentford lined up in a 4-2-3-1 in possession that shifted into a 4-4-2 off the ball. Mathias Jensen took a step forward instead of staying aligned with Janelt and Jordan Henderson. Ouattara started on the right and Lewis-Potter down the left.
Lewis-Potter managed to get in dangerous positions but it never materialised into anything truly concrete. Ouattara made some deep runs on the opposite wing but Lewis Hall dealt well with his presence.
Around 30 minutes in, Keith Andrews swapped them both. It’s a simple change but it had great effect on the match.
It was Ouattara’s run and cross down the left that served Janelt for the equaliser. Kieran Trippier never closed the gap to him and allowed him space and time to whip the ball into the box.
And then the Burkinabe sprinted towards the penalty area as a left forward late on in the second half to score the winner.
Direct play and second ball specialists
Brentford lead the Premier League in long balls attempted (55.7) and completed (23.3) per game. It’s their well established style of play. And today they exceeded their average of attempts (68, with just 21 completions).
But their ability to win second balls in promising positions never ceases to amaze me. It was their main source of danger early on when they started off better and Newcastle took a while to adjust.
And it’s what led to the third goal when Igor Thiago battled in the air with Sven Botman and Jensen found Ouattara unmarked between Malick Thiaw and Trippier – who once again was too far away from the play.
The Bees also have a triangle shape in their forwards when the team is being suffocated at the back. Igor Thiago, who is always playing on the last shoulder, fakes a run in behind and drops deep to receive the ball with his back to goal with more space.
Ouattara aligns with him in close proximity and one of the midfielders – usually Mathias Jensen – stays behind between them, closing the triangle. The lead-up to the penalty started like that. A long ball from the back to get the team out of their own defending third, Thiago battling in the air and a sudden 3v3 fast break.
It’s a great way to target forwards in long balls but there are ways to manufacture space and time to operate.
Brentford might not be the prettiest watch in the Premier League. And some of their games really aren’t easy on the eyes. A lot of long balls, long throws and set pieces carrying a lot of their attacking load.
But there is so much attention to detail and mechanisms to generate the proper context for those ‘rudimentary’ plays that is really amazing to see. Credit to Keith Andrews and his staff for taking a leap in such short time and replacing Thomas Frank who had been there for seven years.