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HALF-TIME: Brentford 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Wednesday are still in this, but if they carry on as they are they’re unlikely to be for much longer.
45 min We’ll have one additional minute.
44 min I’m not sure Flekken has had a shot to save yet. Will Rohl send on some of his better attackers at half-time?
43 min Clever from Mbuemo, clipping to Jensen, peeling away about the penalty spot and hooking a decent shot that looks headed for the top corner … until it hits Collins on the back. More good work from Keith Andrews, though.
42 min A long pass from Flekken finds Mbuemo, who wins a corner.
41 min Mbuemo is coming into this game, bursting between Johnson and Fusire from the right, lashing a low shot which Charles doesn’t think he can risk holding, pranging out and away from any onrushing attackers.
39 min Marvin Johnson is having a good night, and when Jensen sends a long diag to Mbuemo, Johnson catches him up quickly, making the challenge and winning a goalkick.
37 min Wednesday are advertising a “Mr Vegas” on the backs of their shirts. I wonder how long it took whoever was given the job to come up with that clever and evocative name.
35 min A quiet period, which Wednesday need – they’ve put a lot into this half and must be feeling the pace to which they’re being subjected.
33 min Brentford win a thrown down the right, deep inside the Wednesday half, and it’s hurled to the front post but Johnson heads the flick-on away.
32 min At St Mary’s, it’s also red and white stripes versus all black, and Stoke have just pulled a goal back through Ashley Phillips to trail 2-1.
30 min I wonder if Rohl will make any changes at half-time. Perhaps he will if the score stays the same, but if Brentford grab another he might just allow his first choices a proper rest.
29 min Carvalho bursts through the middle after a nice give-and-go with Schade and zooms past Iorfa, but Johnson comes across to cover. A second Brentford goal looks in the post.
27 min Another ball in behind Wednesday’s high line and Lewis-Potter is on to it, Carvalho inside and alongside. But the pass it into his feet, meaning Iorfa can block at source.
25 min Mbuemo again finds space down the right, this time exchanging passes with Carvalho and going on the outside, arcing a fine low cross into the corridor and Schade is running on to it … but Otegbayo slides in brilliantly and bravely – any error and it’s an own-goal – to take the ball away. Brentford then try and sustain the attack, but Wednesday clear.
24 min Schade wriggles across the face of the box and finds Lewis-Potter who shoots low … but Charles saves easily enough. He’s looked confident so far.
23 min Wednesday look confident in what they’re doing – you can see they’ve been well-drilled. But can they find the lacking quality in the final third? My sense is that Rohl won’t mind if it’s 1-0 after an hour – because he made so many changes, he’s got plenty of firepower on the bench.
22 min Adam Armstrong has despatched a penalty to give Southampton a 2-0 lead over Stoke.
20 min Maghoma, 18-years-old, moves down the left and exchanges passes with Lewis-Potter before running out of pitch. He looks lively.
18 min So far, most of Brentford’s threat has come down the left, but here’s Mbuemo on the right, nipping inside to curl ergonomically towards the back post and meeting the run of Lewis-Potter … who waves a leg at it, forcing a decent save from the 19-year-old Charles.
17 min Brentford look likely to score again, but also look capable of conceding; Wednesday just need to make better decisions in key attacking areas.
15 min A ball into the inside-left channel and Musaba is on to it, skinning Collins for pace on the outside before running out of room and into the keeper, looking to score from a narrow angle when he had men in the middle.
14 min Brentford win a corner down the left, Van den Berg up first at the near post and Paterson doing well to block behind; the remix is easily caught by Charles.
13 min Does anyone else have a thing about one-on-ones? Seeing them missed does my nut in because strikers spend their games looking to make them happen and when they do, everything is in their favour.
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Schade 11)
Brentford have tried a few balls over the top and when Collins wins another, Janelt tries another, sweeping in behind and Schade’s away! But he’s not scored for a while and doesn’t look confident, telegraphing his intent to hit the far corner by opening his body early doors. So Charles reads him, saving well, only for his parry to hit the retreating Otegbayo, the ball returning to Schade’s stride, and he passes, somewhat bashfully, into the empty net.
9 min Gassama collects Ugbo’s flick-on and has Musaba to the right, but he opts to try a shot, sending it to somewhere no one knows where – so Brentford, I guess.
9 min That’s Dominic Iorfa, not to be confused with his dad, Dominic Iorfa.
8 min Brentford progress down the left, Lewis-Potter’s cross headed clear by Iorfa.
7 min At St Mary’s, Taylor Harwood-Bellis has given Southampton the lead against Stoke.
5 min Poor from Musaba, setting off early when Paterson sticks a ball into space, so up goes the flag.
4 min Brentford probe but Wednesday are getting to the ball quickly.
3 min On which point I’m not sure a football kit has deployed a better shade of blue than this ethereal shade from 1986.
1 min Wednesday are in black tonight; is that because their blue stripes clash with Brentford’s red?
1 min And away we go!
Our players are with us and we’ll soon have football.
“Is there any other profession in which people have to be reminded of who they are by having their initials displayed on their clothes, as per the photo at the top of the blog?” wonders Richard Hirst. “It’s always struck me as either insecurity or amour propre. Or are football clubs hotbeds of clothes-stealing? I think we need to know.”
I guess it’s because everyone’s wearing the same gear and the initials make it easier to know whose is whose.
Also going on:
I’m looking forward to seeing how Fabio Carvalho does tonight. I really liked the look of him at Liverpool, and I think he might have fun tonight roaming behind the Brentford midfield.
In the studio, Curtis Davies thinks Wednesday have a shot at going up in a relatively poor Champo. And I guess he’s right – they’re only four points off the playoffs while still improving.
He says today was a difficult team to decide but he has players with small knocks who need a break. Today will help tell Wednesday where they are, but there’s been a massive improvement since he arrived and having taken small steps in this cup, they now get to show how good they are.
My sense is that Wednesday will look to get men into the box, with the wing-backs looking to hit crosses. But here’s Röhl to give us more…
Email! “From Wednesday’s point of view,” beings Bill Preston, “I think this season is looking a lot better than last years at this point in the year. Also, I do believe this is the first quarter-final they’ve been in for a long time. As a fan, I am ot too bothered about the cup, but it’s always nice to cheer on a good run.
Hopefully, the Championship side will go full bore, get a stomp on from the beginning; their thrilling heroics will be on a par with the playoff semi-final that was their penultimate step back into the second tier.
Brentford are a side I’ve also enjoyed watching over the years, and they’ve got some canny players and astute leadership.
All in all, should be a good meeting of the bees and the birds. Three paragraphs to lead into that, I know.”
All of them worth it. Wahey!
Also tonight, we’ve got Southampton v Stoke, while tomorrow we’ve got good sides cutting each other’s throats: Brighton v Liverpool, Newcastle v Arsenal and Spurs v Man City, among other matches.
Frank tells Sky that he’s always trying to find the right balance and pick the right team. He wants rotation and freshness, but also to pick a strong team. and he’s included 10 players who’ve started in the league this season, including several established starters. Er, and that’s it?
Lovely stuff dept: Meghoma and Maghoma are both in the Brentford squad.
While Röhl leaves out Beadle, Palmer, Bernard, Famewo, Valentin, Charles S, Bannan, Windass and Smith, bringing in Charles P, Otegbayo, Iorfa, Fusire, Paterson, Ingelsson, Johnson, Gassama and Ugbo. Or, in other words, he changes everyone bar Lowe M and Musaba. No prizes for guessing where his priorities lie.
Frank leaves out Pinnock, Roerslev, Norgaard, Damsgaard and Wissa, bringing in Mee, Meghoma, Jensen, Carvalho adn Schade.
I’m going to write these down, then we’ll have a think about what they mean.
Teams!
Brentford (4-2-3-1): Flekken; Van den Berg, Collins, Mee, Meghoma; Janelt, Jensen; Carvalho, Lewis-Potter, Schade; Mbuemo. Subs: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Widssa, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard, Konak, Trevitt, Roerslev, Maghoma.
Sheffield Wednesday (3-4-2-1): Charles; Lowe, Iorfa, Otegbayo; Johnson, Fusire, Paterson, Ingelsson; Musaba, Gassama; Ugbo. Subs: Hamer, Barrett, Palmer, Bernard, Reed, Windass, Lowe J, McNeill.
Preamble
When any side, doesn’t matter which, meets Brentford, they know one thing for sure: whatever the result, playing them is going to hurt. Thomas Frank’s side are aggressive, attitudinous and organised, so beating them requires major doses of will and skill – whoever the opponent.
All of which should make them a good cup side except, in the three seasons they’ve been a Premier League outfit, they’ve managed just one quarter-final – in the 2021-22 edition of this competition. In fairness to them, Frank has sometimes fielded weakened sides because their priority has always been survival, but given the poverty of the promoted teams and their comfy ninth position, they will surely see tonight as an opportunity. They bloody well should.
Wednesday, meanwhile, lie 13th in the Championship having narrowly escaped relegation last season, their improvement largely down to Danny Röhl – the youngest manager in England before fellow German, Fabian Hürzeler, usurped him. “Very good on the counter and very good at playing direct,” said Frank, presumably aware he could just as easily be describing his own men. “They play early in behind, they have good runners. They have good offensive structure in everything they do. They also have great physicality on their set-pieces”.
And they have Barry Bannan, one of the last midfield schemers who, if he’s at it, will be a problem. Which is to say this match may look like a gimme and maybe that’s how things’ll pan out. But do not be surprised if Wednesday make it nasty – every bit as nasty as Brentford make it for everyone else.
Kick-off: 8pm GMT
