Croatia
Indonesia
Nigeria
South Africa

Luton1 - 5Brentford

sportsmole.co.uk, 20 April 2024, 16:00
Brentford have moved closer to safety with a 5-1 win over Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, handing a crushing blow to the hosts' survival efforts in the process.

Yoane Wissa's two first-half strikes sent the visitors into half time two goals to the good, with the Bees topping off a fantastic afternoon with a further three after the break.

The result leaves Brentford looking extremely likely to stay in the Premier League for a fourth successive season, taking them 10 points clear of the drop zone.

On the opposing end, the heavy defeat deals a potentially crushing blow to the Hatters' survival efforts with this being deemed as one of the biggest opportunities to pick up points in their remaining fixtures.

Relegation rivals Burnley's victory at Bramall Lane leaves them just a point behind Luton, while Nottingham Forest and Everton, who are one and two points better off respectively than the Hatters, are set to face off on Sunday.

The first half saw Rob Edwards's men dominate the possession, holding 57% of the ball, but the best chances largely went Brentford's way.

Keane Lewis-Potter should have opened the scoring in the eighth minute when he was played through into the Luton box, but the forward sliced through the ball on his weaker left foot, missing the target altogether.

Just minutes later Luton had their best chance of the first half, when Tahith Chong's effort was deflected back into the path of Alfie Doughty, with his fiercely-struck shot stinging the gloves of Mark Flekken.

The visitors found their rhythm after that chance, giving the hosts very little space to create any real opportunities while also managing to continually exploit the Hatters on the break.

Sergio Reguilon's dipping cross was met by Lewis-Potter once again, but his headed shot was unbelievably saved by Thomas Kaminski, with the Belgian clawing the strike wide of his near post.

The goalkeeper's heroics meant little though as four minutes later Wissa opened the scoring with a fantastic strike into the top-right corner having been played through by Bryan Mbeumo.

The chances dried up in the following 20 minutes with both sides able to cancel out any attacks from coming together.

However, the visitors upped a gear in the final minutes of the half as Mbeumo unluckily hit the bar with his curling shot before turning creator as he assisted Wissa's second of the game.

The Cameroonian went past his man and squared the ball across the box, initially deflecting up off Reece Burke with the defender attempting a flicked clearance.

The attempted clearance was poor though as the ball landed at Wissa's feet, with the striker bundling in to claim his 10th goal of the season.

The same pattern emerged in the second half as Luton saw most of the ball, but Brentford were the much more dangerous of the two teams.

Ethan Pinnock scored the third just after the hour mark as Reguilon's outswinging corner was misjudged by Carlton Morris, catching Gabriel Osho off guard with Pinnock's unchallenged header flying into the top corner.

Moments later the scoring continued, this time through Lewis-Potter who made up for his two first-half misses as he headed in Mbeumo's looped cross to make it four.

The cherry on top came for Brentford in the 85th minute thanks to some brilliant work once again by Mbeumo, who skipped past his man before playing in Vitaly Janelt, who pulled the ball back to Kevin Schade for an easy finish.

Luton did manage to at least get one back, scoring in the 92nd minute through Luke Berry after the midfielder latched onto Janelt's loose pass before rounding the keeper and finishing into an empty net.

Top News

22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk New Wolverhampton Wanderers' boss Vitor Pereira earned three points when his side comfortably beat Ruud van Nistelrooy's Leicester City 3-0 away from home on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League. 22 December 2024 talksport.com Aaron Ramsdale was spotted wearing a modified goalkeeper glove in Southampton's Premier League clash at Fulham. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Chelsea squandered the chance to go top of the Premier League table for a couple of hours as Everton held the Blues to a goalless stalemate at Goodison Park. 22 December 2024 talksport.com Manchester United were beaten 3-0 by Bournemouth in a defeat that saw Ruben Amorim's side achieve an unwanted record. 22 December 2024 talksport.com Gary Neville believes that Ruben Amorim will allow Marcus Rashford to leave Manchester United for the sake of 'himself and the club'. 22 December 2024 talksport.com Pep Guardiola isn't immune from the sack at Manchester City having continued their unprecedented and dismal run of form. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United have reportedly earmarked Leeds United shot-stopper Illan Meslier as one of two goalkeeper targets ahead of the January transfer window. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly identified Burnley's James Trafford as their top transfer target for the January transfer window. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Paris Saint-Germain defender Nuno Mendes has reportedly indicated he will take time to consider his future before he commits to a new contract. 22 December 2024 talksport.com Eddie Howe will be nervous about holding onto star striker Alexander Isak at Newcastle as his fine goalscoring form continues. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has named his starting side for Sunday's Premier League clash with Bournemouth at Old Trafford. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Enzo Maresca has opted to use Levi Colwill as a replacement for the suspended Marc Cucurella for Sunday's Premier League game at Everton. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal broke an English football record in their 5-1 Premier League thrashing of Crystal Palace on Saturday, but it came at a significant cost, as Bukayo Saka was taken off with a suspected hamstring problem in the first half. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku is allegedly generating interest from at least five clubs. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona reportedly remain fully behind head coach Hansi Flick despite the team's latest title setback against Atletico Madrid on Saturday night. 22 December 2024 talksport.com Southampton's new head coach Ivan Juric is one not to be messed with as his physical scrap with Torino's sporting director showed. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Seeking to pick up a third straight home win in the Primeira Liga, Vitoria de Guimaraes play host to Nacional at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on Monday. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim is reportedly looking for the Red Devils to build a new scouting team in Portugal in a bid to unearth the next Cristiano Ronaldo. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick is reportedly not interested in signing Manchester United attacker Alejandro Garnacho during next summer's transfer window. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool must take advantage of Tottenham Hotspur's considerable weaknesses and will be confident of victory on Sunday according to Reds expert David Lynch. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk The January transfer window is almost here and clubs around the UK and Europe are lining up moves as they look to take advantage of the opportunity to strengthen. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Union Saint-Jean vs. Monaco (Sunday, 1.45pm) On Sunday, in a David vs. Goliath affair, Union Saint-Jean can pull off one of the biggest upsets in Coupe de France history when they take on Monaco in the round of 64 at Stadium de Toulouse. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Gaziantep vs. Antalyaspor (Sunday, 10.30am) After their Turkish Cup victory in midweek, Gaziantep will now turn their attention to the Turkish Super Lig, with Antalyaspor visiting the Kalyon Stadyumu in Sunday's gameweek 17 encounter. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Santa Clara vs. Braga (Sunday, 5.00pm) Still reeling from crashing out of the Taca de Portugal, Santa Clara return to action in the Primeira Liga when they play host to Braga at the Estadio de Sao Miguel on Sunday. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Sparta vs. Ajax (Sunday, 11.15am) Ajax will be looking to end the year on a high when they travel to Sparta-Stadion Het Kasteel to take on a stuttering Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie on Sunday. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Valencia vs. Alaves (Sunday, 1.00pm) Valencia will attempt to claim their third league when they welcome relegation rivals Alaves to Mestalla for Sunday's crucial La Liga encounter. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Roma vs. Parma (Sunday, 11.30am) Both struggling in the bottom half of the Serie A standings, Roma and Parma will hope for an early Christmas gift when they meet at Stadio Olimpico on Sunday. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk VfL Bochum vs. Heidenheim (Sunday, 2.30pm) In a relegation six-pointer, VfL Bochum will hope to defeat Heidenheim when they welcome them to Vonovia Ruhrstadion on Sunday in their 15th Bundesliga game of the season. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Dundee Utd vs. Celtic (Sunday, 12.00pm) Celtic, looking to maintain their unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership, will travel to Tannadice Park on Sunday afternoon to face Dundee United. 22 December 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Everton vs. Chelsea (Sunday, 2.00pm) Chelsea have the chance to go top of the Premier League for a brief time at least when they travel to Goodison Park to face Everton on Sunday.