🐝 Buzzing Victory: Bees Sting Newcastle in Dramatic 3-1 Comeback at the GTech! 🔴⚪
Dango Ouattara’s controversial penalty decision, as he was booked for diving in the 61st minute.
What a match! Today at the GTech Community Stadium, the Brentford Bees showed incredible resilience, fighting back from a goal down to secure a hard-fought and deserved 3-1 victory over Newcastle United. The scoreline tells a story of late drama, but our dominance was evident from the opening whistle.
The Takeaways from the match:
Igor Thiago's Clinical Form Continues: With a crucial penalty and a clever late finish, Thiago scored his 7th and 8th Premier League goals of the season, marking 6 goals in his last 6 Premier League matches. He is our undisputed match-winner.
Resilience Over Reaction: Despite conceding a goal against the run of play and trailing at halftime, the Bees maintained their focus and energy, immediately coming out strong in the second half and securing a deserved equalizer (Schade, 56').
Ouattara's Impact and the Red Card Turning Point: Dango Ouattara was instrumental in the turnaround, constantly pressuring Dan Burn and ultimately winning the penalty and drawing the red card (72'). This moment, coupled with the prior penalty denial (61'), confirmed his role as a key attacking threat in the second half.
First Half: Against the Run of Play
From the first ten minutes, the Bees were clearly the more energetic and creative side, controlling possession and pushing Newcastle deep. We steered clear of long throws early on (though Kayode's first one was a foul throw!), favoring a more patient build-up. The pressure was almost rewarded in the 17th minute when a chaotic scrum in front of Nick Pope's goal, following a Mikkel Damsgaard free kick, very nearly saw us take the lead.
However, football can be cruel. In the 27th minute, entirely against the run of play, Newcastle struck. A loose ball for Yehor Yarmoliuk in midfield led to a swift counter, and an unlucky bounce in our box saw the ball fall to Harvey Barnes. He showed class, sitting down two defenders before finding the back of the net. 1-0 Newcastle.
Despite trailing at the break and with shots on target equal, the halftime consensus was clear: Brentford were the better side. Aaron Hickey looked particularly lively in the opposition's box, testing the Newcastle defense in the 32nd minute with a well-taken chance that was ultimately smothered by a sea of Newcastle bodies.
Second Half: The Turnaround and the Thiago Show
The second half began exactly as the first had, with the Bees on top. Damsgaard and Yarmo immediately combined to win the ball high up, leading to a golden chance for Yarmoliuk that Pope turned away. For the first 55 minutes, it was relentless pressure, but Newcastle did their best to take the sting out of the game, frustrating our players who were starting to look a little tired.
Then, in the 56th minute, the deserved equalizer arrived! It was a classic route: a Kayode long throw into the mixer ricocheted off a defender and onto the head of Kevin Schade, who made no mistake. 1-1! The stadium erupted, and fans knew Newcastle were vulnerable.
The match turned decisively shortly thereafter. In the 61st minute, Dango Ouattara went down in the box, earning a controversial yellow for diving. VAR reviewed the Dan Burn challenge and opted not to overturn the decision, but the controversy lingered.
The decisive moment came in the 72nd minute. Penalty to Brentford! Dango Ouattara, a thorn in Dan Burn's side all afternoon, beat the defender to a loose ball in the box and was taken down. The referee pointed to the spot, and after a VAR review upheld the decision, Burn was shown a second yellow card and sent off. Newcastle were down to 10 men and forced to sub on Aaron Ramsdale for the injured Nick Pope—his first Premier League appearance for the Magpies.
After a tense five-minute delay, Igor Thiago stepped up. With nerves of steel, his trademark stutter-step run-up fooled Ramsdale, and he comfortably slotted the ball home. 2-1 Brentford! That’s five goals in his last six Premier League matches for our number nine—a striker in phenomenal form.
Closing the Show
The final minutes were action-packed. We saw some key fresh legs introduced with Vitaly Janelt and Mathias Jensen replacing the hard-working Yehor Yarmoliuk and Mikkel Damsgaard. Reiss Nelson again got some deserved Premier League minutes when he was substituted in for Ouattara.
A special mention must go to Rico Henry's goal-saving clearance in the 87th minute—a truly brilliant play to preserve our lead when Newcastle pushed for an equalizer.
But the final word belonged to our star man. In the 95th minute, as Newcastle desperately chased the game, Igor Thiago pounced on a loose pass-back at the top of the box and finished with class, nutmegging Ramsdale to seal his brace and the victory! 3-1 Brentford! Thiago’s brace brings him up to six goals in his last six Premier League matches.
Even in the 98th minute, Ramsdale had to make an outstanding save in tight quarters from a Sepp van den Berg effort, showing the game was still wide open.
Final Result: Brentford 3 - Newcastle 1. A fantastic, gutsy performance where we showed the class to dominate, the resilience to fight back, and the ruthlessness to finish the job against 10 men. The Bees are buzzing!
Top Performers:
Igor Thiago: Two goals, including the ice-cold penalty. A match-winner.
Dango Ouattara: Relentless energy, winning the decisive penalty, and getting Burn sent off.
Rico Henry: That goal-saving clearance was as important as a goal.
What’s next: Brentford face Brighton at the AMEX after the International Break (11/22/2025).
Come On You Bees!
