Thiago misses late penalty as Brighton beat Brentford in thriller

Igor Thiago squandered a stoppage-time penalty as Brighton & Hove Albion fought back to beat Brentford 2-1 in a thriller at the Amex Stadium.

Thiago put Brentford ahead with a first-half penalty – his fourth spot-kick goal of the Premier League campaign – but it was second time unlucky for the Brazilian in the fourth minute of stoppage time as he saw his attempt from 12 yards saved by Bart Verbruggen.

Verbruggen’s save ensured Brighton held on to the points after a fine second-half comeback.

Danny Welbeck restored parity with a splendid first-time finish in the 71st minute, paving the way for substitute Jack Hinshelwood to put Brighton ahead when his volley squirmed beyond Caoimhin Kelleher.

And with Thiago’s usual composure from the spot abandoning him after Maxim De Cuyper was penalised for pulling back Kevin Schade, Brighton held on to move up to fifth on 19 points, with Brentford in 12th spot.

How the match unfolded

Brighton started brightly, with Mats Wieffer forcing Kelleher into a sharp save with a sliced shot off Yankuba Minteh’s clever back-heel, before Georginio Rutter glanced a header narrowly wide of the far post.

But having seen a goal disallowed for offside in the 22nd minute, Thiago opened the scoring seven minutes later when he slotted home from the spot after Carlos Baleba fouled Dango Ouattara.

Welbeck squandered a golden chance as he failed to beat Verbruggen from close range, but the striker made amends, drawing the Seagulls level when he turned in Minteh’s excellent centre.

Ferdi Kadioglu then picked Keane Lewis-Potter’s pocket before dragging a low shot just wide of the post from the edge of the area, but Brighton’s pressure told after 84 minutes when Hinshelwood volleyed in on the rebound from Minteh’s shot.

Brentford were handed a stoppage-time lifeline when Schade was brought down inside the box, but Thiago’s tame effort was kept out by Verbruggen.

Seagulls complete stellar turnaround

Fabian Hurzeler’s side bounced back from their 4-2 defeat to Manchester United with a convincing 3-0 win over Leeds United at the start of the month, but a goalless draw at rivals Crystal Palace saw some of their momentum stall before the international break.

The Seagulls started brightly on Saturday and created a handful of scoring opportunities, with Welbeck firing over the bar before Rutter stung Kelleher’s palms.

Brighton looked to hit back immediately after Thiago’s penalty, and generated a high volume of chances, with Minteh and Welbeck both firing off target, along with Rutter and Wieffer going close.

Baleba’s rashness in Brighton’s box proved costly, but Hurzeler – who became the youngest coach to manage 50 Premier League matches – will be delighted with the persistence his team showed after the interval.

Welbeck’s run and finish were matched by an equally fantastic delivery from Minteh, and Hinshelwood’s strike sparked wild celebrations.

That elation seemed set to turn to frustration when penalty expert Thiago stepped up late on, but Verbruggen made himself the hero. Next up is a tricky trip to Nottingham Forest, who stunned Liverpool in one of Saturday’s other matches.

A day of highs and lows for Thiago

Brentford have now failed to win in any of their five Premier League visits to Brighton, even if they looked on course for something of a smash and grab before Welbeck got in behind their defence with just under 20 minutes of normal time remaining.

Keith Andrews, in fairness, will feel his team were worthy of their lead heading in at half-time. Thiago continued his fine form by netting his seventh goal from his last seven league appearances, and the Bees almost doubled their advantage soon after when Ouattara‘s blocked shot teed up Yehor Yarmoliuk, whose volley skewed inches past Verbruggen’s post.

For all their bright play in the first half, Andrews’ side faltered defensively after the break as Brighton applied sustained pressure to turn the game around.

Yet given his form from the penalty spot, Thiago will have been supremely confident of rescuing a point. Ultimately, there was perhaps too much of a casual nature to how Brentford’s striker went about this pressure spot-kick.

Brentford, and Thiago, will aim to bounce back next weekend when they host struggling Burnley.

Club reports

Brighton report | Brentford report

What the managers said

Fabian Hurzeler: “Overall, it's a group full of great characters and I really enjoy working with them. I am so happy that Jack [Hinshelwood] is back, I am happy that he gave us this welcome back present!

"We have spoken a lot about Danny [Welbeck] during the season. I always say he's like a good red wine – the older he gets, the better he gets and we are very pleased to have him in our squad as a leader, as a player, as a personality. [Also] I am really happy that Bart [Verbruggen] was there, that he saved this penalty. He deserves it."

Keith Andrews: "There are elements where I wasn't entirely happy with bits with the ball, and we gave it back too easily. Defensively, we were pretty solid and restricted them to very little, and then the game changed on that equaliser.

"If we walked away with a 2-2 [scoreline] we would have thought it was a solid away performance. We dust ourselves down and we go again next week, but unfortunately, the game can bite you. He [Thiago] had already taken one [penalty], so there is a bit of mind games with the 'keeper. Thiago has been immense for us this season. He has to wait quite a long time. It's the game now, unfortunately Thiago couldn't tuck it away."

Next PL fixtures

Key facts

This was Fabian Hurzeler’s 50th Premier League match in charge of Brighton. At the age of 32 years and 269 days, he’s the youngest manager to reach 50 games in the competition’s history, breaking Chris Coleman’s record (34 years, 107 days)

Igor Thiago has now scored nine goals in 12 league appearances this season; the most by a Brentford player through the opening 12 matches of a Premier League season. Only Erling Haaland (14) has more PL goals this season than the Brazilian (nine).

Brighton remain unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League games at the Amex Stadium (W5 D4) since a 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa in April. Indeed, since the start of last season, the Seagulls have only lost three of their 25 home league games (W12 D10); the only ever-present sides with fewer top-flight home defeats in this time are Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool (all two).

Yankuba Minteh has been directly involved in 15 goals in the Premier League (seven goals, eight assists); the joint-most by a Brighton player aged 21 or younger in the competition (also 15 by Evan Ferguson – 13 goals, two assists).