Bournemouth 1 Brentford 2: Wissa and Nørgaard on target as Bees secure fifth straight away win | OneFootball

Yoane Wissa and Christian Nørgaard were on target as Brentford came from behind to beat Bournemouth 2-1 in an entertaining encounter at Vitality Stadium.

A Vitaly Janelt own goal gave the Cherries an early lead, but Wissa’s header saw the sides go in for the break on level terms. Nørgaard struck midway through the second half to earn the Bees a fifth straight away win in the Premier League.

Thomas Frank opted for the same side that lined up against Aston Villa last time out; defender Sepp van den Berg was named among the substitutes having recovered from a knee injury.

Milos Kerkez’s low drive was comfortably held by Mark Flekken during a high-tempo start on the south coast.

Evanilson then tried his luck from a tight angle having burst into the box, but the ball flew well wide of Flekken’s right post.

The Cherries took the lead on 17 minutes. Having worked the ball from right to left, Antoine Semenyo fed Kerkez who had made an overlapping run, and the full-back’s teasing cross was inadvertently turned into the net by Janelt.

The half-hour mark saw Brentford burst into life. Mikkel Damsgaard won a corner, which was whipped into the box by Bryan Mbeumo, and Wissa rose highest to beat Huijsen and Kepa Arrizabalaga to the ball and brilliantly head home his 14th goal of the Premier League season.

The Bees immediately went in search of a second. Mbeumo received a perfectly weighted pass from Nørgaard, raced to the edge of the area and lashed just wide with his left foot.

Moments later, another Mbeumo corner led to pinball in the Bournemouth box. Damsgaard hooked back into a dangerous area after the Cherries had half cleared their lines, Kristoffer Ajer headed the ball on, and Kevin Schade turned narrowly wide on the swivel.

Then it was Bournemouth’s turn to attack. Huijsen strode forward and whipped a cross to the back post, which was met by Evanilson and clawed off the line by a back-pedalling Flekken.

The first half continued at a frantic pace. Janelt blazed over the bar having been picked out by Ajer from the byline, while no Brentford player was able to meet Schade’s inviting low cross from the right.

Ryan Christie, teed up by Semenyo on the edge of the area, flashed a well-struck effort narrowly wide of the far post in the final action before the break.

Bournemouth made a bright start to the second half. Justin Kluivert had time and space to deliver from the right flank and Semenyo’s powerful header rattled the crossbar.

At the other end, Mbeumo cut in from the right and let fly from 20 yards, but Kerkez’s block took the sting out of the shot and Arrizabalaga gathered with ease.

Shortly after the hour mark, Evanilson got the better of Keane Lewis-Potter to latch on to Kluivert’s ball up the channel and deliver low from the left, but Flekken got down quickly to smother the cross with Semenyo waiting to pounce. Marcus Tavernier’s first-time effort then narrowly missed the top corner.

Having soaked up Bournemouth’s pressure, Brentford delivered a sucker punch. Kevin Schade’s long throw from the right bounced through to Nørgaard at the front post and the skipper blasted beyond Arrizabalaga from close range.

David Brooks almost made an instant impact but shot straight at Flekken having been found in space by fellow substitute Luis Sinisterra.

Tavernier’s long-range effort bounced just in front of Flekken and the Brentford keeper got down to his left to push the ball to safety.

Semenyo’s deflected effort was held by Flekken as the Bees stood firm during the closing stages to earn their 50th Premier League victory. No club has reached that milestone faster since 1995.

Bournemouth: Arrizabalaga; Cook, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Christie (Sinisterra 66, Dango 86), Adams (Hill 79); Tavernier, Kluivert (Brooks 78), Semenyo; Evanilson

Subs not used: Dennis, Scott, Soler, Jebbison, Winterburn

Brentford: Flekken; Ajer (van den Berg 72), Collins, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter; Nørgaard, Janelt (Yarmoliuk 72), Damsgaard (85); Schade (Konak 85), Wissa, Mbeumo

Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Maghoma, Ji-soo, Morgan, Fredrick

Frank pleased to edge 'even' game

Thomas Frank reflected on Brentford’s 2-1 win over Bournemouth on Saturday evening.

“It was a good first half, I was very pleased with the way we performed; we scored the own goal and Evanilson had a chance but, besides that, we were okay.

“It was an open game, where a lot of situations could happen, and we scored a great goal from a corner. We then had six top moments, where we should have got something from it.

“Second half, Bournemouth were better in the opening 10 minutes, but we grew into it and scored a great, ugly goal from a long throw!

“From then on, we were in control, we defended well, and we saw the game out. It was an even game that we edged - we haven’t done that at times this season, so I’m really happy.”

Nørgaard: I was in the right place at the right time

Christian Nørgaard praised Brentford’s fighting spirit against Bournemouth and reflected on his match-winning goal at Vitality Stadium.

“It was a scrappy game, very even, and maybe they were a bit better than us during the second half,” said the Bees captain.

“But we hung in there, we kept going, and we got the three points.”

On his finish, Nørgaard added: “It was a good feeling. Even though I’m a holding midfielder, it’s a feeling you cannot get tired of.

“I had the pleasure of scoring late against [Man] City as well, and this was even better because we got the three points.

“It’s nice to be able to contribute even if it’s not my main job. I was in the right place at the right time.”