Brentford made light of Ivan Toney's absence to start their 2024-25 Premier League campaign with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace, as Yoane Wissa netted a second-half winner. (More Football News)
Bees talisman Toney was left out of the hosts’ squad for Sunday’s game at Gtech Community Stadium, with Thomas Frank confirming before kick-off that decision was made due to transfer interest in the striker.
But his absence was not felt as Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark, cutting onto his favoured left foot to stroke into the bottom-left corner.
However, Palace – who saw strikes from Eberechi Eze and Odsonne Edouard disallowed in either half – came on strong in the second period and levelled through Ethan Pinnock’s own goal.
The Eagles were caught out as the game became stretched, though, with Wissa converting from close range 14 minutes from time to seal the points for Brentford, moving them up to fifth in the early standings.
Data Debrief: Mbeumo and Wissa fill Toney-shaped hole
Frank's pre-match admission that Toney could leave in the final weeks of the transfer window will surely concern Brentford's supporters, with the England international's 36 Premier League goals for the Bees being a club-record tally.
However, the next two players in the club's Premier League scoring charts, Wissa (27) and Mbeumo (23), appeared to relish the freedom of playing in a fluid front three and stepped up in Toney's absence.
Wissa recorded a goal and an assist for the third straight Premier League game after doing do against Bournemouth and Newcastle United to end the 2023-24 season. He is the first player to achieve that feat since Riyad Mahrez did so for Manchester City in December 2021.
Mbeumo, meanwhile, maintained his knack of troubling Brentford's London rivals. Since the start of 2021-22, only Bukayo Saka (12 goals, 14 assists) has bettered Mbeumo's 17 goal involvements (11 goals, six assists) in Premier League London derbies.
