Crystal Palace extended their unbeaten run at Selhurst Park in the Premier League to 11 matches after beating Brentford 2-0 on Saturday.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and an own goal from Nathan Collins in either half moved Oliver Glasner’s team up to seventh in the table.
The deadlock was broken in the 30th minute through Mateta, who placed a sensational looping header over Caoimhin Kelleher following Jefferson Lerma’s header from a free-kick.
Palace doubled their lead six minutes after the restart when a long throw from Lerma was glanced into his own net by Brentford captain Collins.
While the Eagles are flying high in the standings after their latest win, Brentford remain just outside the top half in 12th on 13 points.
How the match unfolded
Palace dominated the first half in an attacking sense, despite having less possession, as Mateta met Yeremy Pino’s clipped cross with a glancing header to force Kelleher into action.
The hosts eventually made the breakthrough when Mateta brilliantly guided a floated header over Kelleher after latching on to Lerma’s towering leap from a free-kick into the box.
Glasner’s team kept up their pressure after the break and Lerma played another key role in Palace’s second goal, with his long throw seeing the unfortunate Collins glance the ball beyond Kelleher and into the bottom-right corner.
And from the restart, Collins nearly gifted Palace a third goal when he cheaply surrendered possession to Ismaila Sarr, whose side-footed strike hit the base of the post.
Brentford had to wait until midway through the second half for their first shot on target, and it was substitute Reiss Nelson who came closest to pulling one back, with his curling shot drawing a fine save from Dean Henderson, with Palace rarely untroubled from there on.
Eagles continue to soar
Palace’s bright start to the season looked as though it was beginning to fade with recent Premier League defeats to Everton and Arsenal, but the Eagles roared back with an emphatic 3-0 win over a fully-rotated Liverpool in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
And they carried the positive momentum they gained at Anfield straight into Saturday’s fixture, with Pino testing Brentford’s defence early on, seeing an early effort deflected wide before his free-kick struck the wall.
Daichi Kamada then swung his boot through a powerful swerving shot across the goalmouth that teased the Selhurst Park faithful as Palace ramped up the pressure.
Mateta’s header and Collins’ own goal either side of the break put Palace firmly in control as Brentford failed to find much of a response, despite the Eagles being happy to cede possession and threaten on the break.
The hosts earned a succession of corners across the second half to keep the Bees’ defence on their toes and they comfortably saw out the win, extending their unbeaten run on home turf.
The Eagles now turn their attention to the UEFA Conference League, in which they will face AZ Alkmaar, before hosting Brighton & Hove Albion ahead of the international break.
Bees fail to sting in attack
Brentford produced an inspired performance to defeat Liverpool in their last Premier League match, and following a routine drubbing of Grimsby Town in the EFL Cup, Keith Andrews’ team would have arrived at Selhurst Park brimming with confidence.
That confidence, though, was quickly dismantled as Mateta fired Palace ahead, leaving the Bees on the back foot after a low-key start to the game.
The visitors ended the first half without a shot on target, their closest effort coming from a high-and-wide free-kick from Mikkel Damsgaard on the stroke of half-time.
After the interval, it looked as though the Bees would fall back on their famed set-piece prowess – so pivotal in their confident win over Liverpool – but Andrews’ side lacked an overall cutting edge and failed to supply attacking threats Igor Thiago and Dango Ouattara with much service.
Vitaly Janelt sliced a wild shot from the edge of the area as Brentford searched for a late consolation goal, with Nelson producing the visitors’ best effort of the match moments later with his bending effort denied by Henderson.
The Bees will aim to bounce back when they welcome Newcastle United to the Gtech Community Stadium in what promises to be a tough encounter next Sunday.
Club reports
Palace report | Brentford report
What the managers said
Keith Andrews: "If we’re really honest, we weren’t at our absolute best. Today was always going to be niggly, tight, edgy. Some of our quality wasn’t what it has been over the last few weeks. It was a game of very few chances, and Palace edged it. Players aren’t robots – they will make mistakes. There were elements of the first half I wasn’t bowled over with."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Palace are now unbeaten in 11 Premier League home games (W6 D5), last stringing together a longer run in league football on home soil between September 2012 and March 2013 in the second tier (18).
Brentford have lost four of their five Premier League away games under Andrews (W1), after losing just one of their last 11 under Thomas Frank last season (W7 D3).
Palace have picked up 18 points from 10 Premier League London derbies in 2025 (W5 D3 L2), a tally only bettered by Arsenal (23) and Chelsea (19) in that time.
Brentford’s Collins netted his first own goal, in what was his 192nd game in senior English football.