Match ends, Brentford 0, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.
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Brentford 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion: Ivan Toney draws seventh straight blank in dull draw
Ivan Toney’s run without a Premier League goal extended to seven games as Brentford and Brighton played out a dull draw.
Toney was denied by Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen with his best chance and has now failed to score for Brentford since 17 February.
The 15th-placed Bees are winless in eight league games and six points above the relegation places.
Brighton produced few chances of their own despite dominating possession and stay ninth in the table.
While the Seagulls saw much more of the ball, the hosts created the better opportunities at Brentford Community Stadium.
Yoane Wissa flashed a shot wide of the near post following a slick team move down the left, before Toney turned his man in the area but could not get the power on his left-footed shot to trouble Verbruggen.
The biggest talking point came in first-half stoppage time, when the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) called on-pitch official Andy Madley to the monitor after Wissa appeared to pull down Brighton captain Lewis Dunk in the box.
In a rare occurrence, however, Madley stuck with his original call and gave no penalty – much to Dunk’s disbelief.
The second half provided no breakthrough either, with Danny Welbeck denied by a fine last-gasp block from Kristoffer Ajer before the Brighton striker poked a shot narrowly wide.
A point still left Brentford with a chunky gap above the relegation zone following Luton’s defeat at Arsenal, while Brighton missed the chance to move up to seventh and into a European place.
Toney short on goals and confidence
While Brentford are continuing to put points between themselves and the bottom three, they are doing so slowly and unconvincingly and are now winless in five home league games.
A major factor in their poor form has been a lack of goals from Toney.
While he continues to play a key role in building their attack and forming a flowing partnership with Wissa, here the England international seemed uncharacteristically short of confidence in the opposition box.
Toney also continued to struggle after the break, blazing a free-kick well over from a promising position.
Brentford will hope their main man can rediscover his scoring touch before the end of the campaign – as will Toney himself, with a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad at Euro 2024 on the line.
A spark for the Bees comes in the return to fitness of Bryan Mbeumo, who came off the bench here. The Cameroon forward has not started a match since suffering an ankle injury in the fixture at Brighton in December.
Pedro return can’t spark Seagulls
Brighton also lacked a goal threat, despite the return from injury of top scorer Joao Pedro.
That the Brazilian has missed the last six games yet remains their leading marksman with eight league goals, is an indicator of the absent cutting edge that has kept the Seagulls on the periphery of European qualification.
Most of Brighton’s best attacking moments came through Pedro, who forced home keeper Mark Flekken into a sharp near post save late in the first half.
A draw does represent some improvement for Brighton, however, as they avoided losing five away matches in a row across all competitions for the first time since 2006.
Line-ups
Brentford
Formation 3-5-2
- 1Flekken
- 13M Jorgensen
- 20Ajer
- 22Collins
- 30Roerslev
- 33YarmoliukSubstituted forDamsgaardat 64′minutes
- 27JaneltBooked at 76mins
- 8JensenSubstituted forOnyekaat 86′minutes
- 23Lewis-PotterSubstituted forReguilónat 73′minutes
- 11WissaSubstituted forMbeumoat 73′minutes
- 17Toney
Substitutes
- 7Maupay
- 12Reguilón
- 14Ghoddos
- 15Onyeka
- 19Mbeumo
- 21Strakosha
- 24Damsgaard
- 26Baptiste
- 36Kim
Brighton
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Verbruggen
- 34VeltmanSubstituted forModerat 86′minutes
- 29van Hecke
- 5Dunk
- 3dos Santos de Paulo
- 13GroÃ
- 20Baleba
- 40BuonanotteBooked at 53minsSubstituted forWelbeckat 74′minutes
- 14LallanaSubstituted forEncisoat 64′minutes
- 24AdingraSubstituted forLampteyat 74′minutes
- 9João Pedro
Substitutes
- 2Lamptey
- 10Enciso
- 15Moder
- 18Welbeck
- 23Steele
- 30Estupiñán
- 42Offiah
- 44Peupion
- 55OâMahony
- Referee:
- Andy Madley
- Attendance:
- 17,024
Live Text
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Second Half ends, Brentford 0, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.
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Foul by João Pedro (Brighton and Hove Albion).
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Nathan Collins (Brentford) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt missed. Danny Welbeck (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Julio Enciso with a headed pass.
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Attempt missed. Danny Welbeck (Brighton and Hove Albion) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Pascal Groà with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by Zanka.
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Attempt blocked. João Pedro (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
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Attempt blocked. Tariq Lamptey (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Danny Welbeck.
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Attempt blocked. Jakub Moder (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Danny Welbeck.
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Attempt saved. João Pedro (Brighton and Hove Albion) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
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Attempt blocked. Danny Welbeck (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by João Pedro with a through ball.
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Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Jakub Moder replaces Joël Veltman.
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Substitution, Brentford. Frank Onyeka replaces Mathias Jensen.
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Offside, Brentford. Ivan Toney is caught offside.
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Attempt saved. Julio Enciso (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Pascal GroÃ.
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João Pedro (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Mathias Jensen (Brentford).
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Attempt missed. Igor Julio (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Pascal GroÃ.
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João Pedro (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Player of the match
João PedroJoão Pedro
Brentford
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Squad number24Player nameDamsgaard
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Squad number17Player nameToney
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Squad number1Player nameFlekken
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Squad number11Player nameWissa
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Squad number20Player nameAjer
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Squad number8Player nameJensen
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Squad number30Player nameRoerslev
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Squad number22Player nameCollins
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Squad number19Player nameMbeumo
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Squad number27Player nameJanelt
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Squad number33Player nameYarmoliuk
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Squad number13Player nameM Jorgensen
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Squad number12Player nameReguilón
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Squad number23Player nameLewis-Potter
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Squad number15Player nameOnyeka
Brighton & Hove Albion
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Squad number9Player nameJoão Pedro
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Squad number5Player nameDunk
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Squad number29Player namevan Hecke
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Squad number1Player nameVerbruggen
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Squad number40Player nameBuonanotte
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Squad number20Player nameBaleba
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Squad number13Player nameGroÃ
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Squad number34Player nameVeltman
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Squad number2Player nameLamptey
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Squad number3Player nameIgor Julio
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Squad number24Player nameAdingra
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Squad number18Player nameWelbeck
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Squad number10Player nameEnciso
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Squad number14Player nameLallana
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Squad number15Player nameModer