Brentford 0-0 Brighton: Roberto De Zerbi’s side suffer setback in race for Europe after blunt draw at Thomas Frank’s Bees

There was a moment midway through the second half when his side gave the ball away cheaply and Roberto De Zerbi slumped to the floor of his dugout in frustration.

In a week in which Brighton announced record profits and was linked with the Bayern Munich job and provisionally ruled out of the Liverpool vacancy, it was the kind of night that summed up the inconsistency of Brighton’s injury-plagued season. missed a glorious opportunity to move up to seventh place and reach the European places.

With owner Tony Bloom on the away side, as usual given his long-standing feud with Brentford owner Paul Benham, he would have seen a side playing with a distinctive style and certainly not lacking in effort, but crucially in quality in the final third.

They haven’t won back-to-back games in the Premier League since September and there’s a good chance that if they fail to make it back to back, there will be no more European trips next season – the kind these fans will remember for the first time. has given life.

You only really appreciate something when it is no longer there. Perhaps the same will be said of De Zerbi, who has made it clear that Brighton’s ambitions must match his.

Many have started to speculate about the destination of Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi

“I’m happy because we’re playing like Brighton, but I’m disappointed with the result,” De Zerbi said. “We had 24 shots and created six clear chances to score, so in my head we lost two points,” he added.

As for Brentford, this was another crucial point that put them six ahead of Luton in 18th.

“A good point,” said Thomas Frank. ‘It is a point that we have missed many times this season. If you can’t win, don’t lose,” said the Brentford manager.

In his program notes, Frank emphasized that he would have lost faith in the football gods if his team had not equalized against Manchester United in the 99th minute on Saturday.

“We destroyed them in many ways with 31 shots and more than 80 touches in their penalty area,” said Frank, but it will come as no surprise that there was no such dominance against De Zerbi’s side, who had 67 percent of the ball. .

Frank named an unchanged squad, while De Zerbi made four changes after Brighton’s defeat at Anfield, including a return from injury for top scorer Joao Pedro. Although the visitors dominated possession, it was the home side who had the best chances of the first half.

Yoane Wissa shot wide when he should have tested Bart Verbruggen from inside the penalty area before Ivan Toney turned past Jan Paul van Hecke but could only poke the ball straight into Verbruggen’s hands.

The key moment of the match came on the brink of half-time when Andy Madley became only the second referee this season not to overturn his decision after being sent to the VAR monitor to check for a potential penalty.

Michael Oliver on VAR duty advised Madley to reconsider his decision after Wissa Lewis dragged Dunk down, but Madley did not award a penalty as Dunk had tried to drag Wissa down seconds earlier. Instead, he awarded Brentford a free-kick for the first foul.

‘A fantastic decision,’ Frank emphasized. “The referee was right, but I’ve never seen a referee go to the VAR and change the decision, so I learned something new today,” De Zerbi said.

The decision was refreshing and a collector’s item, but Brighton’s players were initially outraged when Dunk and co made their feelings clear to Madley as the half-time whistle blew.

Both managers turned to the bench in an attempt to make the breakthrough and Danny Welbeck was denied a late winner as Kristoffer Ajer made an excellent final block and celebrated as if he had scored. The Zerbi fell back to the ground and covered his face with his hands. There was still time for Welbeck to miss two more chances to add to the frustration before Madley called time.