Brentford 2 Borussia Mönchengladbach 2: Pre-season fixture at the Gtech ends level | OneFootball

Three second-half goals saw Brentford draw 2-2 with German side Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bees' final pre-season friendly at Gtech Community Stadium before the start of the Premier League season.

Grant-Leon Ranos tapped in at the far post in the first half to put the visitors ahead, before a quickfire double from Fábio Carvalho and Mikkel Damsgaard saw the west Londoners take the lead. But a late strike from Franck Honorat saw it end all square on Friday evening.

Keith Andrews made two changes from Brentford's 1-0 win over QPR at Loftus Road last weekend: Caoimhín Kelleher and Kristoffer Ajer were replaced by Hákon Valdimarsson and Sepp van den Berg.

Carvalho had an early chance, after Damsgaard won possession in the final third and squared to the right-winger, who found himself in a central position on the edge of the box, but his shot was blocked.

The Bundesliga side's first opportunity of the game came from a set-piece, when centre-back Nico Elvedi evaded the Bees' offside trap and, despite being on his own in the penalty area, he headed over the crossbar.

Brentford tried their luck from a Mathias Jensen set-piece soon after, with Van den Berg's header forcing a brilliant save from goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas, who acrobatically tipped the ball over the crossbar.

But the German side took the lead after 30 minutes, when Joe Scally marauded into the Bees' penalty area and, after two cross-cum-shots, the ball eventually found its way to the back post, where Ranos tucked home from extremely close range.

Defender Elvedi had another superb chance inside the opening five minutes of the second half when, again, a set-piece was whipped in but, this time, his side-footed effort went just past the post.

The Bees thought they had equalised when a Jensen throw-in caused chaos inside the penalty area and, when a Gladbach player flicked it on, Damsgaard's effort inside the six-yard box was miraculously kept out by a combination of Nicolas and a visiting defender.

And, seconds later, an almost identical chance for the Danish midfielder was kept out again by the Gladbach keeper, when the attacking midfielder latched onto a knock-down from a corner before his similar-looking effort was thwarted once more.

Some good play from the hosts saw Carvalho test Nicolas again, this time from outside the penalty area, but the Bees man couldn't quite pick up the loose ball once the Gladbach goalkeeper parried it back out into the six-yard box.

And it was Carvalho who continued his fine pre-season form by equalising at the Gtech. A Jensen set-piece was headed across goal by Nathan Collins, and the Bees' No.14 slammed home his volley.

Less than two minutes later, it was 2-1 to the west Londoners. A loose pass by Nicolas was intercepted by Damsgaard, who had the relatively simple task of finishing past a hapless goalkeeper, who was well out of position.

Keane Lewis-Potter was close to making it three for the Bees, when more good work from Damsgaard saw him pick out his team-mate with an inch-perfect cross, but the winger's right-footed shot was deflected wide.

Mönchengladbach equalised with five minutes to play, when some neat play from the visitors saw Honorat pick the ball up on the edge of the box, before the No.9 fired into the bottom to level things up.

Brentford: Valdimarsson; Kayode (Hickey 82), Van den Berg (Ajer 62), Collins, Henry (Roerslev 82); Jensen (Milambo 75), Yarmoliuk; Carvalho, Damsgaard, Lewis-Potter; Thiago (Henderson 75)

Subs not used: Cox, Balcombe, Onyeka, Meghoma, Konak, Roerslev, Arthur, Donovan

Borussia Mönchengladbach: Nicolas; Scally, Diks, Elvedi, Netz (Ullrich 85); Weigl, Reitz (Castrop 85); Ranos (Hack 70), Stöger, Honorat (Chiarodia 90); Tabaković

Subs not used: Omlin, Friedrich, Neuhaus, Sander, Fraulo, Herrmann

Attendance: 11,082

Andrews: A game of two halves

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews reflected on the Bees’ 2-2 draw against Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach at Gtech Community Stadium.

“It was a game of two halves,” said Andrews.

“We started the game pretty well, looked dangerous, looked to play in behind them and caused them problems. We then became a little bit passive without the ball and didn’t play with enough energy and tempo.

“Towards the end of the first half, we swung it back in our favour and caused them issues, and in the second half, I thought we were outstanding - It felt more like us.

“I thought we reacted really well in the second half, played with a lot of passion, character, resilience and personality, which I was really pleased with.”

Jensen reflects on Gladbach draw

Mathias Jensen has given his assessment of Brentford's draw with Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday evening.

“I feel a bit mixed”, he said. “We started the game well, but then we lost some momentum.

“The pressure we worked on didn’t really work after the first 12 minutes - they did well with some good movements - and we became slightly too passive.

“But then we started to go man-man at the end of the first half and that worked very well, so we kept that for the second half and we were way better, closer to them, and made it more difficult for them.

“We were disappointed that they scored in the end, but it was a decent second half.”