West Bromwich Albion Under-21s 1 Brentford B 0: 10-man Bees fall to narrow Premier League Cup defeat | OneFootball

Brentford B lost 1-0 to West Bromwich Albion Under-21s in the Premier League Cup in a game which the young Bees dominated despite playing 60 minutes with 10 men.

Souleyman Mandey scored the only goal of the game early on before Gustavo Nunes was shown a straight red card towards the end of the first half.

The Bees started the game well and had their first chance on two minutes when Nunes' in-swinging cross was met by Myles Peart-Harris whose strike was well blocked. Conor McManus then rose highest from the recycled ball into the Baggies' box but miscued his headed effort.

Brentford's first effort on target came on 10 minutes when Riley Owen's clipped free-kick was flicked toward goal by a clever improvised header with his back to goal from Iwan Morgan, but Brian Okonkwo read the flight of the ball well.

The Welsh forward then had a left-footed effort fly just past the top-right corner as Sam Saunders' side dominated early proceedings.

It was West Brom who took the lead though on 17 minutes when Mandey was slipped in one-on-one by Kevin Mfuamba and finished confidently into the bottom left-corner past Julian Eyestone.

The west Londoners reacted well and almost had an excellent team goal to level the game. Romelle Donovan cut inside and switched the play to eventually find McManus who fired the ball across the box only for Morgan to be deined by a combination of West Brom bodies.

Eyestone made a good block from a fierce strike from Trialist A moments later.

On 37 minutes the Bees' task became harder as they were reduced to 10 men. Nunes was shown a straight red card for a raised arm that caught a West Brom man.

Despite the disadvantage, Saunders' side finished the half in the ascendancy; Donovan was unlucky to see his deflected effort after a mazy run hit the side netting rather than creep inside the post.

Yunus Konak almost had Brentford level two minutes after the restart when his volley from the edge of the box looked destined for the bottom corner but for the outstretched hand of Okonkwo.

Donovan and Morgan both had efforts shut down by last-ditch tackles as the game approached the hour mark before substitute Alfie Maughan whistled a strike wide of Eyestone's near post for the Baggies.

Owen, who had been excellent in the centre of the park for the Bees, was forced off with a knock on 65 minutes.

His replacement Michel Boni had a good chance almost immediately when McManus' cross found the striker unmarked in the box but the ball was slightly behind him and he couldn't adjust his body to place his header on target.

The ball simply wouldn't fall for Saunders' side; on 71 minutes skipper Josh Stephenson drove out of centre-back and fed Morgan in the box. His initial strike was well parried by Okonkwo back into his path and his second attempt was blocked on the line again.

Morgan did superbly well to clear a ball off the line acrobatically and Eyestone made an important save to give Brentford a chance in the six minutes added on for stoppage-time.

Ultimately, despite creating plenty of chances, the west Londoners couldn't find an equaliser and went home empty-handed.

The win for West Brom sees them move top of Group E and leaves the Bees in third place on six points, a point behind third-placed Exeter City, with two games to play.

Brentford Under-21s are next in action when they face Swansea City Under-21s in the Professional Development League on Wednesday 3 December.

WBA: Okonkwo, Nelson (Maughan 46), Humphries, Blackshields, Dupont (McDonald 74), Mohammed, Ntege, Mfuamba, Trialist A (Okorodudu 46), Mandey, Parker

Unused subs: Brady, Colesby, McDonald

Booked: Mandey 10, Dupont 58, Okorodudu 77

Brentford: Eyestone, Shield (Pierre 78), McManus, Stephenson, Arthur, Konak (Grey 86), Donovan, Owen (Boni 65), Morgan, Peart-Harris, Nunes

Unused subs: McKnight, Bentt

Booked: Konak 66

Sent off: Nunes 37

Saunders: I'm really proud of the performance

Brentford B head coach Sam Saunders was full of praise for his side following their 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion at The Alexander Stadium.

"The performance was good, as a team and individually. I've never had a game where the opposition coaching staff have come off and apologised for them winning before, so I think that says it all," said Saunders.

"We had 10 men for 60 minutes of the game and still dominated possession, dominated the chances and just couldn't score.

"It's disappointing that we haven't won but I'm really proud and pleased with the performance and the work ethic of the group.

"Sometimes in football you don't get what you deserve, but if you keep doing that consistently enough you get where you need to be and where you should be."