Toney back on goal trail with winner
Brentford’s fine start to the season continued as they negotiated a tricky assignment in the Potteries with a deal of class.
The Bees moved into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals with a mix of silk and steel as they romped into a twogoal lead before resisting a secondhalf fightback. And it is that combination which has shown why Thomas Frank’s team have adapted so well to their debut campaign in the Premier League.
Into the last eight of this competition for the second straight year, having done it for the first time in their history only 12 months ago, Frank was thrilled with his side’s performance and said: “We made eight changes, but we looked like we had played together for the last two years. That is credit to the players and the coaching staff.
“We knew we had to find the right balance – to make a few changes but still have a strong team. The selection was just perfect.”
Brentford got into their stride inside the opening two minutes, with Saman Ghoddos’s teasing ball
into the middle falling to Ivan Toney, at full stretch, who steered just wide, before Marcus Forss shot wide from 10 yards from an intelligent cutback from Mathias Jensen.
Stoke captain Harry Souttar then needed to make a fine block from Toney, before Sergi Canos’s nearpost drive was pushed behind by Stoke goalkeeper Joe Bursik.
But the goal Brentford deserved came from the resulting corner. Toney laid it back to Canos on the edge of the area and the Spaniard crashed a low drive through the crowd and into the net.
Brentford moved two goals clear five minutes before the break. The hosts lost their ball from a throw-in, and two quick passes later Toney fired in his first goal for five games.
Toney almost had his second shortly after the restart, but his athletic volley was kept out by the goalkeeper, with Mathias Jensen putting the rebound wide as he tried to completely kill off the tie.
But to their credit, Stoke improved and reduced the deficit when a corner reached ex-brentford midfielder Romaine Sawyers 18 yards out and the midfielder hit a sweet half-volley beyond Alvaro Fernandez.
Stoke substitute Abdallah Sima almost found an equaliser with a header just beyond the far post, before Bursik denied Toney and substitute Tariqe Fosu-henry at the other end.
“We were way too passive in the first 45 minutes,” said Stoke manager Michael O’neill. “We didn’t have enough belief in ourselves.”