The grind to Europe continues for Brentford. A goalless west London derby with Fulham made it five league draws in succession for Keith Andrews’ side as they missed their chance to get within touching distance of Liverpool.
The saviour for Fulham was Bernd Leno with a staggering stop in the final minute of regular time, his left hand up to tip over Dango Ouattara’s close-range effort. Calvin Bassey, the hulking centre-back, was quick to hug his keeper, recognising the game-saving moment.
That was the closest either side came to winning it, with the in-form Igor Thiago – at the double last weekend against Everton – kept relatively quiet. Such is the bunched up nature of the table that a win for Fulham, who started the day in 12th, would have put them level on points with Brentford, who started in seventh. But Marco Silva’s side failed to threaten and didn’t register a shot on target, leaving them goalless in five of their last six games in all competitions.
Silva brought on five substitutes in search of a solution while Andrews stuck with his starting XI throughout. “I felt like we were in a good place overall in the second half,” said the Brentford head coach. “We still had attacking intent. I feel for the players that haven’t come on. It’s obviously not the norm, but a lot of the options that we have at the moment from the bench are either young players, clearly, or defensive cover.”
Brentford, even without recent wins, have written a defiant story this season, settling in the top half despite last summer’s upheaval. Out went Thomas Frank, the two main goalscorers and the captain, too. Up stepped the set-piece coach Andrews and the striker who had barely played in the previous campaign. Thiago remains on Erling Haaland’s tail, the Golden Boot very much up for grabs.
But the man to watch at the start was Harry Wilson, the Fulham winger who haunts the thoughts of Brentford supporters. It was Wilson who came off the bench 17 months ago to nab two goals in added time and steal the points. As a sub once again, he curled in a 25-yard winner at the Gtech last May. As a starter, he scored Fulham’s second in their 3-1 victory at Craven Cottage in September, when the Andrews effect had still yet to kick in.
Naturally it was Wilson who had Fulham’s first opportunity, cutting in from the right to shoot, but the attempt rattled off his teammate Rodrigo Muniz. Thiago tried to be a nuisance at the other end, with an early header going wide.
Fulham worked the ball neatly in the sunshine, their frontline fluid. Wilson and Emile Smith Rowe, the No 10, switched roles regularly; left-back Ryan Sessegnon surged forward into the middle as Alex Iwobi worked away on the touchline. But the closest they came in the first half was when Sessegnon booted over from inside the area. They were also disrupted by an injury: Iwobi left the field just before the break clutching his hamstring. “The moment that we lost Alex made a big impact,” said Silva. “Let’s hope it’s nothing so serious because he’s so important for us.”
Frank was in the stands to watch his former club as they, too, failed to create. Keane Lewis-Potter showed tidy feet to find space in the crowded area just before the half-time whistle but couldn’t test Leno.
Quick GuideBrentford 0-0 Fulham key facts
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• Brentford did not make a single substitution in this match, Keith Andrews (pictured) becoming just the second manager in the Premier League this season not too make a change, after Oliver Glasner in Crystal Palace’s 2-1 defeat by Sunderland in January.
• Brentford have now drawn all four of their home games against fellow London sides in the Premier League this season, one of three sides yet to lose a home London derby this season (also Arsenal and Chelsea), however, they’re also one of two yet to win one (also West Ham). Opta
Brentford’s energy increased in the second half as Mikkel Damsgaard tried to deliver a stunner. The hosts went direct: Mathias Jensen’s diagonal ball was headed down by Kevin Schade, and Damsgaard, bursting through the middle, went hunting for the top corner with a first-time hit from the edge of the area.
The thoroughly watchable Ouattara hit a cross turned shot, forcing Leno to tip it over. Wilson played the ball across goal when he should have found the target for Fulham. Leno, unlike his opposite number Caoimhín Kelleher, had work to do, denying Jensen from a free-kick – and the Fulham keeper’s finest moment was still to come.
