Luton 1-5 Brentford: Yoane Wissa scores first half brace as Rob Edwards’ relegation-threatened side suffer heavy defeat against rampant Bees

Although Brentford were ugly in beating Sheffield United for their first win since January, they were anything but in Luton on Saturday to complete back-to-back wins for the first time since November.

Bryan Mbeumo has so often this season proven the answer to where Brentford’s threat comes from in Ivan Toney’s absence, and in the 5-1 thrashing at Kenilworth Road his three assists proved the old adage about London buses would live on.

Yoane Wissa was lethal for his first-half support and deserves much credit for his role in further stamping out the creeping relegation tendrils, but Mbeumo was instrumental in his title of commander-in-chief.

This Hatters side inspires so many romantic ideas about plucky underdogs, but Rob Edwards and Co are quickly running out of opportunities to write the most impressive chapter yet in what is already a fairy tale of epic proportions.

Otherwise the chants will continue, and with two games left you almost believe them, but repeat performances from Saturday’s 5-1 mauling by Brentford do not inspire the greatest confidence.

Wissa opened the scoring at Kenilworth Road when he found the net in the 24th minute

Wissa extended Brentford’s lead in first-half stoppage time, causing more problems for Luton

The Bees were at their attacking best in the first half and recorded a first win at half-time against a newly promoted side this season thanks to Mbeumo and Wissa.

The visitors flew out of the blocks, with Ethan Pinnock and Keane Lewis-Potter both going close for Brentford inside eight electric minutes, while Alfie Doughty jabbed Mark Flek’s palms in a quick response for the hosts.

Arsenal loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga was the beating heart of Luton throughout, his ability to break the lines in transition with deceptive and seemingly effortless ease, but the Bees remained the dominant force in the early stages.

Having already spurned a golden opportunity, Lewis-Potter saw a point-blank header saved by Thomas Kaminski before the hosts frantically broke away from the ensuing corner. If they were knocking on the door, Brentford had now turned to hammering.

And it quickly paid off. Luton did not ignore their warnings and after 24 minutes Wissa had the ball in the back of the net with a curling first-time shot from the edge of the box past an outstretched Kaminski to take a deserved lead.

The Bees, inspired by Mbeumo, kept Luton under heavy siege, with Kristoffer Ajer going close to third inside half an hour with a towering header from a corner.

To make matters worse, Luton lost Issa Kabore to injury after 32 minutes, and the barrage only continued. Mbeumo was denied a second for Brentford by the crossbar, but his diligent work soon paid off.

The Cameroon star fed Wissa again for his tenth of the season, with his striker scoring one of the worst goals he will ever score in extra time in arguably the most dominant half Brentford have had all season.

Luton were left dejected as the defeat left them in the relegation zone

Ethan Pinnock celebrates after his 62nd minute goal increased Brentford’s lead

Keane Lewis-Potter got on the scoresheet shortly afterwards to make it 4-0 for Brentford

A substitution at half-time saw Luton revert to a foursome and they looked more defensively determined immediately after the break – at least for the first 17 minutes before a two-minute double suckerpunch against the Hatters.

The visitors had lost some of their first-half pace but Pinnock restored their dominance with a thumping header from a Sergio Reguilon corner in the 62nd minute, before Lewis-Potter converted a third assist of the afternoon for Mbeumo at the back post to to score a goal. it was four o’clock, and it looked like the visitors weren’t going to end it anytime soon.

Mbeumo continued to press for the goal he so deserved as he worked his way into a shooting position on the right side of the penalty area, but his strike lacked the venom needed to evade Kaminski, who was sitting far to his left.

Mbeumo – who else – was heavily involved in the eventual fifth, playing Vitaliy Janelt, who simply smashed the ball into the space to his left for Kevin Schade to thunder home into the empty net after 86 minutes, but it was the hosts who did that had done. the last laugh.

Carlton Morris charged home a loose pass on the edge of the penalty area before rounding Fleks and feeding Luke Berry, who tapped home to elicit a first and still impressive draw from the Kenilworth Road faithful.

Kevin Schade, who had come on as a substitute, scored Brentford’s fifth goal against Luton

Luke Berry scored a late consolation goal for Luton in their 5-1 defeat to Brentford

Luton manager Rob Edwards was left dejected as his side suffered a heavy defeat