Yoane Wissa earned Brentford a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace after Eberechi Eze’s opener was controversially ruled out following a “nightmare” refereeing call.
England winger Eze thought he had opened the scoring when his quick-thinking free-kick caught out Mark Flekken at his near post, but referee Sam Barrott had already blown for a foul by Will Hughes before it crossed the line.
The timing of his decision meant VAR was unable to intervene, while Palace had further cause for frustration when replays showed Hughes had more of a case of being fouled himself.
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Crystal Palace are denied the opening goal at Brentford when Eberechi Eze’s brilliant free-kick is ruled out for a foul in the box. Did the referee blow his whistle too early?
“The referee has had a nightmare, it is a monumental mistake,” said Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp at half-time.
Fuelled by that let-off and having been dominated to that point, Brentford took the lead four minutes later when Bryan Mbeumo cut in from the right and curled an excellent finish past Dean Henderson.
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Bryan Mbeumo fires home to put Brentford ahead against Crystal Palace
They could have doubled their advantage within moments when Kevin Schade flashed a shot just wide, before Palace regained control and finally levelled 11 minutes into the second period.
A deep cross from Tyrick Mitchell picked out Daniel Munoz at the far post and the wing-back’s nod down caught out Ethan Pinnock, who could not organise his feet in time to avoid diverting the ball into his own net.
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Ethan Pinnock’s own goal made it 1-1
Palace’s hopes of completing the turnaround were put on ice when Odsonne Edouard slotted home a second only to be denied by a narrow offside flag.
Instead, Brentford’s improved second-half performance was rewarded when Wissa poked home from close range after Henderson could only parry Nathan Collins’ shot into his path.
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Yoane Wissa taps in to put Brentford back in front
That earned the Bees a first win over their London rivals in eight attempts, and went some way to easing concerns raised by Thomas Frank’s revelation that Ivan Toney had been left out of the squad due to “transfer interest”.
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The Super Sunday pundits react to the news that Ivan Toney is left out of the Brentford side to face Crystal Palace; with rumours linking the striker to a move to Saudi Arabia.
Redknapp: Referee was rash with decisions
Speaking on Super Sunday, Redknapp said 31-year-old referee Barrott had been rash to disallow Eze’s goal before it had crossed the line, when a VAR intervention would have been able to advise on whether to overturn his decision.
He said: “Just let it breathe, the ref was a too busy and excited to get involved and in the Premier League, you have to expect the unexpected, but it was an amazing piece of play from Eze, who deserved a goal.
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Jamie Redknapp and Micah Richards both agree that the referee should have let the game breathe after Eberechi Eze’s brilliant free-kick was disallowed for a foul.
“Just let it breathe, do not be rash with your decisions as it was not even that much of a foul to worry about, it was a brilliant piece of play from Eze, who is so unfortunate.
“But the referee will learn from it and will not get too involved next time and to stay out of it, but you feel for Palace as that first 20 minutes, they were absolutely brilliant.”
