LONDON (AP) — Bryan Mbeumo's stoppage-time penalty earned Brentford a dramatic 2-1 win over Watford in the English Premier League on Friday.
Brentford moved back into the top half of the standings, while Watford remained three points above the relegation zone.
Emmanuel Dennis seemed to have breathed life into Watford’s survival bid with his first-half header that held up until six minutes remained.
The Bees hauled themselves level through Pontus Jansson. Then Mbeumo, deputizing from the spot for the coronavirus-infected Ivan Toney, held his nerve to secure a memorable victory.
Watford boss Claudio Ranieri said beforehand this match was where their season would really begin following a brutal run of fixtures, but it is four defeats in a row for the Italian.
Brentford, also without defender Ethan Pinnock through COVID-19, dominated the opening stages.
When Watford finally stirred into life, Brentford gave the ball away cheaply on the halfway line and it found its way to Joshua King. He cut in from the left and crashed a low shot against the far post.
The loose ball was deflected for a corner and from Tom Cleverley’s delivery, Dennis got ahead of Bees captain Jansson to nod home.
Brentford leveled with six minutes remaining when Jansson got his head onto Vitaly Janelt’s cross.
And deep into five minutes of injury time, Bees substitute Saman Ghoddos gave William Ekong the slip and was brought down by the Hornets defender.
Toney may be “the world's best penalty-taker,” according to Brentford boss Thomas Frank, but Mbeumo has clearly been paying attention, mimicking his absent strike partner's run-up and burying the spot kick into the corner.
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