Brentford 2 Crystal Palace 2 – Ouattara brace only enough to salvage draw for nervous Bees

Brentford rescued a point in their final home game, but their European destiny now rests on results elsewhere

Well over half of the Brentford home support stuck around after the final whistle to hear Keith Andrews address them. They had spent 100 minutes oscillating between hope and despair, as only football fans can. A penalty conceded after five minutes, duly converted. A scarcely deserved equaliser off Dango Ouattara’s face. A goalkeeping howler from Caoimhín Kelleher. A leveller from the trusted Kayode long-throw routine, and a golden chance to win it, spurned by Igor Thiago in the dying stages.

Andrews was candid about the nerves of speaking to such a large crowd in his post-match address: ‘It’s my first time doing this, like a lot of things this season,’ he said. It’s worth remembering that this is a man who had never managed a senior side before August. Despite a capricious performance and an underwhelming result, his side remains one good day from a first European campaign in the club’s 137-year history.

Andrews made two changes from the 3-0 defeat at the Etihad. Vitaly Janelt and Dango Ouattara came in for Kevin Schade and Aaron Hickey, with Keane Lewis-Potter slotting in at left-back. Mikkel Damsgaard, usually deployed centrally, was moved to the left.

Palace, despite having little to play for in the league and their eyes firmly on their conference league final in ten days’ time, named what looked like a strong side, with their dangerous right-hand side at full strength, Ismaïla Sarr and Daniel Muñoz both in the starting XI.

Nightmare start

The Brentford fans belted out a final rousing rendition of Hey Jude prior to kick-off, but within five minutes, the energy had drained from the home support.

A VAR check began for what looked in real time like a tumble rather than a foul. Sarr had tried to round Kelleher inside the box and gone to ground. Referee Sam Barrott initially waved it away. However, the replays showed that Kelleher had not got near the ball, and although the contact was minimal, the decision was overturned upon review. Penalty Palace.

Sarr stepped up and coolly slotted it past Kelleher, giving the away side the lead and quickly silencing any suggestion this would be an easy afternoon for Brentford with their opponents’ minds elsewhere.

Things very nearly got much worse. Brentford failed to rally, producing one of their worst opening periods under Andrews, in some ways reminiscent of the horror first half in the Irishman’s very first game in charge, away to Forest on the opening day.

Palace were quicker to every loose ball, far more composed in possession than their hosts.

But unlike the trip to Nottingham back in August, today, fortune was on their side.

Sarr was a livewire, nearly doubling his tally as he rifled a shot off the near post. Strand Larsen then bent one off the opposite post with Kelleher rooted. Muñoz forced a save. The Brentford midfield was being sliced through almost at will, and Adam Wharton was running things from deep with a calmness and precision that was completely absent from the home side.

There was little to cheer about for those in red and white. The Palace fans, meanwhile, were in full voice from the off, relishing the prospect of spoiling their London rivals’ big day. Fortunate not to be carrying the anxieties and expectations of the Bees faithful, there was a real last week at school energy in the away end.

Somehow level at the break

But from almost nowhere, the Bees were level in the 40th minute. Yehor Yarmolyuk’s speculative cross was whipped in from the right with no obvious target in mind. The Palace centre-back Jaydee Canvot rose to clear and, under negligible pressure, managed to head the ball straight into the face of the unsuspecting but grateful Ouattara. The deflection looped past Dean Henderson and into the far corner.

The half ended with the score level and the away side wondering how on earth they were not at least two clear.

But Brentford failed to capitalise on their fortuitous equaliser, struggling to build any momentum at the start of the second. Within seven minutes of the restart, the lead was Palace’s again.

After the home side failed to clear their lines despite being given ample opportunity, the ball found its way to Wharton just outside the box. The Palace midfielder swept his left foot through it and produced an effort he’d later describe as “Probably the worst shot I’ve had”

An exaggeration, but it was far from a screamer. It travelled at a comfortable height, more or less straight at the goalkeeper. And it squirmed under Kelleher and into the net.

Wharton’s first-ever goal for Crystal Palace, in his 94th appearance for the club. The Palace end found a new chant within minutes, spying the goalscorer’s mum amongst them in the away section and treating her to a sustained ovation that she lapped up gamely.

For Kelleher, it was another error on a bad day.

It was an hour in before Andrews made any changes, Kevin Schade and Jordan Henderson replacing Mathias Jensen and Vitaly Janelt, with Damsgaard shifting inside to give Brentford more guile in the middle and Schade given license to run at his man on the left.

There was little immediate impact, but as results in the other 3 o’clock kick-offs turned in Brentford’s favour – Sunderland coming from behind to lead 3-1 at Everton and Leeds scoring late against Brighton – the Bees finally burst into life. With two minutes of normal time remaining, the route to the equaliser came via a tried and trusted method.

A hectic finish

Earlier this week, Brentford published a long read on their website titled “Michael Kayode: Much More Than a Long Throw”, and they had a point; a nomination for the Premier League Young Player of the Season award speaks to that. But sometimes a cliché earns its keep, and despite opponents being well aware of the threat, the full-backs’ dead-ball delivery remains a potent weapon.

Kayode fizzed a long throw into the box as only he can. Sepp van den Berg, on as a substitute, flicked it on at the near post. Ouattara was lurking at the back stick and rose highest to nod home and draw Brentford level again. Six goals this season from those throws, and a brace for Ouattara on the day. The introduction of Josh Dasilva, given a standing ovation in his own right, only added to the renewed sense that a monumental win might still be in reach.

The closing stages were frantic. Schade fired wildly wide from a Kayode throw that pinballed around the six-yard box. A VAR handball check came and went. Then, in the 95th minute, a moment to haunt Igor Thiago. A move broke down the left, and the ball found him just yards out. On his weaker left foot, he leaned back and blazed it over the bar.

A late corner from Damsgaard met the head of Van den Berg, who was unmarked at the far post but couldn’t keep his effort down. The final whistle followed shortly after, leaving honours even at 2-2.

By the close, the draw felt a fair result. Brentford created a flurry of chances in the final 15 minutes, but Palace were largely the better side for all that preceded it.

It is the recurrence of this feeling that hurts. Brentford fans again left with that same uneasy mix of relief and regret. One win in the last nine league games. Dropped points at home against Wolves, Fulham, Everton and now Palace in recent weeks.

The outlook

Brentford sit 8th as it stands. On the current permutations, this would be enough for Conference League football. But a win today would have left them in 7th, out of reach of Sunderland, and five clear of Chelsea, who will now go above Brentford if they win on Tuesday against Spurs.

This season’s achievements remain, regardless of European qualification. From 3-0 down at half time away to Forest on the opening day, to the possibility of finishing as high as 6th with one to play, it’s been a campaign few would have seen coming. Labelling it anything less than a success is a wild misreading.

Nonetheless, to miss out from here, with so many chances squandered over recent months, would sting in a way that the broader narrative cannot quite soften.

Only a trip to Anfield remains, with the hosts possibly needing a result of their own to hold onto 5th and a Champions League slot. Andrews, in a season full of personal firsts, already has beating Liverpool on that list. A result on merseyside could be enough to take him into rarified air beyond his own personal milestones.