Toney at the double as Bees bounce back to blitz Boro
BRILLIANT Brentford fought back from a nightmare start as striker Ivan Toney bagged a brace to inspire a stunning away win.
His goals helped the Bees stretch their unbeaten league run to
20 games and reclaim second spot.
Middlesbrough’s first goal in five hours and
13 minutes came courtesy of Brentford keeper David Raya after only three minutes.
But Toney took his season’s goal tally to 22 with his double and midfielders Vitaly Janelt and Mathias Jensen also struck to delight Thomas Frank.
The Bees boss made a point of praising Raya for atoning for his own-goal with a string of superb saves.
Frank said: “Our keeper is one of the best in the division – maybe the best. I thought it could be a long afternoon.
“Yes, David needed to be better on the first goal but look at his mentality after that.”
Boro were celebrating initially when left-back Marc Bola whipped a ball in and Raya missed his punch, the ball deflecting off him before defender Ethan Pinnock got the final touch.
But Brentford equalised seven minutes from the break after Toney chested down a long ball and took a squared return from Tariqe Fosu-Henry to finish calmly.
Boro almost restored their lead soon afterwards when Sam Morsy saw his shot touched on to a post by Raya.
The second half began with more drama as Raya brought off two stunning saves in quick succession. First, he made an astonishing point-blank block to deny Britt Assombalonga and then, when George Saville knocked the ball back into the middle, Raya reacted smartly again after a ricochet off Janelt.
But it was Janelt who guided the ball in the right direction when he stroked home on
58 minutes, before Paddy McNair’s slip on halfway six minutes later left Jensen in the clear to round keeper Marcus Bettinelli and slot home.
Raya came up with another mega-stop to foil George Saville, who followed up by heading wide.
But Toney netted again 10 minutes from time when he nodded in after left-back Rico Henry’s effort had been diverted on to the woodwork by Bettinelli.
It was a fourth successive Riverside defeat for Boro, who had Neeskens Kebano making his debut after his loan arrival from Fulham and fellow winger Yannick Bolasie making his home bow on loan from Everton.
Boro boss Neil Warnock said: “I don’t think I’ve ever been as satisfied with a 4-1 defeat.
“With what we’ve got now, I’m quite excited.
“The season is starting now with
MIDDLESBROUGH: Bettinelli 6; Fisher 6, Dijksteel 6, McNair 5, Bola 7; Howson 6; Kebano 6 (Spence (69th) 5), Morsy 6, Saville 6, Bolasie 6 (Watmore 81st); Assombalonga 5 (Akpom (69th) 5)
BRENTORD: Raya 8; Dalsgaard 6, Pinnock 5, Bech Sorensen 6, Henry
7; Ghoddos 7 (Reid 83rd), Janelt 7, Jensen 7; Fosu-Henry 6 (Zamburek
(72nd) 5), Toney 9 (Forss 83rd), Canos
6 (Mbeumo (67th) 5)
MAN OF THE MATCH: REFEREE: D Bond