GTECH COMMUNITY STADIUM — Brentford have had a magnificent season, but as their home campaign ended in typically entertaining fashion, it had an end-of-era feel to it.
There were no telltale signs during Brentford’s lap of honour that their brightest stars will definitely be off in the summer. Whereas Emi Martinez waved tearfully to the Villa Park faithful on Friday, Bryan Mbeumo sauntered around in his sliders, clapping politely.
But considering Mbeumo will turn 26 before the start of next season and only trails Mo Salah and Alexander Isak for direct goal involvements in the top-flight this term, the Bees will be braced for offers from the Premier League’s six-strong Champions League contingent.
Thomas Frank fanned the flames of speculation at the start of this month when acknowledging Brentford’s key assets could be sold “if the price is right”.
Clinching continental football may help prevent Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa’s heads from being turned but defeat to Fulham – a club also in the mix for eighth – makes an already difficult task even tougher.
There won’t have been many neutrals feeling conflicted by Crystal Palace’s historic FA Cup triumph but it was a buzzkill for two west London teams now relying on another, in Chelsea, to help them out.
The Blues must slide down the table and beat Real Betis in the Conference League final for the Premier League’s eighth-best team to qualify for Europe, with Palace now assured of a first-ever European tour.
At half-time, it looked as though Brentford’s inexorable rise into dreamland would continue, led as ever by their devastating double act.
It would be a shame to see the Mbeumo x Wissa partnership broken up. Raised 200km or so apart in France, the pair share a kinship off the pitch that has translated into goals on it.
They complement each other perfectly, emerging as the top-flight’s pre-eminent tag team since Son Heung-min’s separation from Harry Kane.
Wissa was the subject of January interest from Nottingham Forest, and as he turns 29 in September, his window for playing in European competition is closing quicker than Mbeumo’s.
Both players are tied to the club until 2026, with Brentford having the option to extend those deals until 2027. New deals seem unlikely.
Wissa slid Mbeumo in to clinically score Brentford’s equaliser after Raul Jimenez’s opener, and may have cursed himself for doing so with the goal taking his strike partner one ahead in the race for the club golden boot.
Mbeumo had spurned a chance to go two clear by seeing a penalty saved by Bernd Leno, his first miss in 12 from the spot, and the Congolese levelled up before the break, nipping in to cruelly deny Christian Norgaard a rare highlight.
Only Salah, Isak, Erling Haaland and Chris Wood can top Mbeumo and Wissa’s 19-goal tallies. They are an electric double act that thrive in tandem. Mbeumo and Wissa’s names have featured on the scoresheet in eight league games this season, the most of any duo.
Wissa was arguably lucky to be on the pitch to score. The spotlight was on Jarred Gillett after he turned a blind eye to Dean Henderson’s paw outside the penalty area while on VAR duty for the cup final and he struggled with the glare.
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Both Kenny Tete and Wissa could have gone for second yellows in the first half, while the award for Mbeumo’s missed pen was soft after Kevin Schade took a theatrical tumble when sprinting away from Joachim Andersen.
Brentford were well on top and given their propensity to score heavily in front of their own, looked on course to go on and win. Their 40 home goals is only one fewer than champions Liverpool.
They always give teams a chance, though. When addressing the crowd post-match, Frank temporarily adopted the Thomas Muller meme format by referring to the Gtech as the “Goal-tech”. Fulham’s three goals took the visiting tally to 35.
Season ticket holders have been treated to 3.9 goals per game. For now, the dream to see goals fly in against European opponents remains just about alive.