LAST PROMOTION PLACE UP FOR GRABS
BRENTFORD handed the promotion advantage back to West Bromwich Albion in another of those unexpected twists that are a Championship speciality.
Lee Gregory’s winner not only confirmed Leeds as champions and secured Stoke’s own safety, but it may also have killed the Brentford dream of top-flight football for the first time since 1947.
Eight wins in a row and West Brom’s defeat at Huddersfield on Friday had put the Bees on the cusp of promotion with only four points required from their two remaining games. But now destiny is back in Albion’s hands.
A home win against QPR on Wednesday would guarantee Slaven Bi lic’ s men Premier League football, while Brentford, at home to Barnsley, must pray for another slip or prepare for the play-offs.
Perhaps the weight of expectation affected Thomas Frank’s side because they lacked their usual cutting edge until mounting pressure in the final few minutes.
Star men Said Benrahma and Ollie Watkins, who has scored 25 goals this season, did not have a clear sight of goal, while at the other end, goalkeeper David Raya made an uncharacteristic and costly error after 38 minutes. He palmed out a Sam Clucas shot straight to Gregory and the Stoke forward, who had not netted in 17 matches since New Year’s Day, gratefully prodded the ball home.
‘That is the roller coaster of football,’ said Frank, their Danish head coach. ‘It would be a lie to say we’re not emotional right now, we’d love to have gone into the final game with everything in our hands.
‘But I’m proud of the players. The experts may say we didn’t cope but it’s difficult against a team with 11 players behind the ball who have something to hang onto.’
Brentford had chances as they frenetically pushed forward in the closing stages.
Josh Dasilva stabbed wide from Watkins’ pass and there were gasps when nobody got a finishing touch to a cross from Sergi Canos that swept across the six- yard box.
Stoke keeper Adam Davies saved well from Emiliano Marcondes, and then again in injury-time when Ethan Pinnock’s shot was bound for the bottom corner.
Pinnock felt aggrieved in the first half when Stoke defender Bruno Martins Indi appeared to yank him back by the shirt inside the penalty area, while Watkins also claimed a nudge from James McClean in the second half. Referee Geoff Eltringham was unmoved both times.
Stoke, with experienced defender Danny Batth masterminding the rearguard, held on to their clean sheet. Avoiding a second relegation in three seasons is a success for manager Michael O’Neill, who was drafted in midseason to steady the ship. Without his two most influential players, midfielder Joe Allen and defender Ryan Shawcross, they have had to scrap to get the points to take them over the line.
O’Neill, the former Northern Ireland manager, said: ‘ There is always relief to get it done. I’d not experienced this before as a manager, fortunately there isn’t any relegation in international football.
‘Avoiding relegation isn’t something to celebrate, though. We want to move on from this and look higher up the table.
‘The club were in the Premier League for 10 years and opponents didn’t like coming to Stoke. We have to get back to that.’