Late Mbeumo goal earns Brentford 2-2 home draw with Bournemouth

Updated: Sep 2, 2023, 06:19 pm

Bryan Mbeumo scored a late goal to rescue a 2-2 draw for Brentford at home to Bournemouth on Saturday, as the visitors were denied their first win of the Premier League season.

The added-time equaliser perfectly capped off the end-to-end action on an entertaining afternoon at the Community Stadium, with both teams combining for 33 shots.

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"It was a tight game as we expected we created enough to take the lead. To deliver (score) further chances we need to be honest, we had few opportunities, it is a bit frustrating," Mbeumo said.

"They played very compact and they knew what to do we could have done a bit more."

Brentford took the lead in the seventh minute when Mathias Jensen caught goalkeeper Neto unawares at his near post with a free kick from a tight angle.

Neto had appeared to have kept out the effort with a scrambling save, but goal-line technology ruled that the ball crossed the line.

Bournemouth drew level in the 30th through Dominic Solanke, who raced on to a long ball from Marcos Senesi, before cutting inside on his right foot and scoring with a tidy finish into the bottom corner.

The hosts upped the intensity after the break and twice came close to scoring in the first three minutes of the second half, as Mbeumo fired wide from close range and Vitaly Janelt's tame header was comfortably claimed by Neto.

As they continued to pile on the pressure, Brentford were denied a goal-of-the-season contender by a margin of inches, with Yoane Wissa's finish rattling the woodwork after an intricate team move.

Bournemouth then grabbed a goal against the run of play in the 77th as Marcus Tavernier pounced on a poor back pass from Rico Henry before playing in David Brooks to make it 2-1.

Just as all hope seemed lost for the home side, Mbeumo salvaged a point in the 93rd when he shrugged off his marker Milos Kerkez and calmly slotted in his fourth league goal of the campaign - making up for his earlier miss.

"I think it is very important for a striker to help the team, today it was to take the draw, I could have scored to taken the lead earlier in the game," Mbeumo said.