Brentford got their ball back, although it needed an almighty wrestle. After Manchester City won here on Wednesday, Ivan Toney likened their thankless chasing of possession to being robbed by “year 11s” in a playground kickabout. Here the striker was similarly peripheral but it proved immaterial because, through persistence and sheer bloody-mindedness, his side confounded most of the afternoon’s evidence with a comeback win that makes their new-year outlook decidedly sunnier.
In doing so they leapfrogged Aston Villa, who will kick themselves at letting this slip. It was not that Steven Gerrard’s players ran Brentford ragged, it was more that, after taking the lead when a piece of magic from Emiliano Buendía set up Danny Ings, they failed to build on their advantage despite broadly dominating the entire game. They were entirely untroubled until Yoane Wissa brilliantly levelled shortly before half‑time and, although that pattern persisted for most of the second period, they did not open up their opponents nearly enough to make their territory count.
