Three second-half goals saw Brentford draw 2-2 with German side Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bees' final pre-season friendly before the start of the Premier League season.Grant-Leon Ranos tapped i...
Three second-half goals saw Brentford draw 2-2 with German side Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bees' final pre-season friendly before the start of the Premier League season.
Grant-Leon Ranos tapped in at the far post in the first half to put the visitors ahead, before a quickfire double from Fábio Carvalho and Mikkel Damsgaard saw the west Londoners take the lead. But a late strike from Franck Honorat saw it end all square.
Keith Andrews made two changes from Brentford's 1-0 win over QPR at Loftus Road last weekend: Caoimhín Kelleher and Kristoffer Ajer were replaced by Hákon Valdimarsson and Sepp van den Berg.
Carvalho had an early chance, after Damsgaard won possession in the final third and squared to the right-winger, who found himself in a central position on the edge of the box, but his shot was blocked.
Gladbach's first opportunity of the game came from a set-piece, when centre-back Nico Elvedi evaded the Bees' offside trap and, despite being on his own in the penalty area, he headed over the crossbar.
Brentford tried their luck from a Mathias Jensen set-piece soon after, with Van den Berg's header forcing a brilliant save from goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas, who acrobatically tipped the ball over the crossbar.
But the German side took the lead after 30 minutes, when Joe Scally marauded into the Bees' penalty area and, after two cross-cum-shots, the ball eventually found its way to the back post, where Ranos tucked home from extremely close range.
Defender Elvedi had another superb chance inside the opening five minutes of the second half when, again, a set-piece was whipped in but, this time, his side-footed effort went just past the post.
The Bees thought they had equalised when a Jensen throw-in caused chaos inside the penalty area and, when a Gladbach player flicked it on, Damsgaard's effort inside the six-yard box was miraculously kept out by a combination of Nicolas and a visiting defender.
And, seconds later, an almost identical chance for the Danish midfielder was kept out again by the Gladbach keeper, when the attacking midfielder latched onto a knock-down from a corner before his similar-looking effort was thwarted once more.
Some good play from the hosts saw Carvalho test Nicolas again, this time from outside the penalty area, but the Bees man couldn't quite pick up the loose ball once the Gladbach goalkeeper parried it back out into the six-yard box.
And it was Carvalho who continued his fine pre-season form by equalising at the Gtech. A Jensen set-piece was headed across goal by Nathan Collins, and the Bees' No.14 slammed home his volley.
Less than two minutes later, it was 2-1 to the west Londoners. A loose pass by Nicolas was intercepted by Damsgaard, who had the relatively simple task of finishing past a hapless goalkeeper, who was well out of position.
Keane Lewis-Potter was close to making it three for the Bees, when more good work from Damsgaard saw him pick out his team-mate with an inch-perfect cross, but the winger's right-footed shot was deflected wide.
Mönchengladbach equalised with five minutes to play, when some neat play from the visitors saw Honorat pick the ball up on the edge of the box, before the No.9 fired into the bottom to level things up.
Brentford: Valdimarsson; Kayode (Hickey 82), Van den Berg (Ajer 62), Collins, Henry (Roerslev 82); Jensen (Milambo 75), Yarmoliuk; Carvalho, Damsgaard, Lewis-Potter; Thiago (Henderson 75)
Subs not used: Cox, Balcombe, Onyeka, Meghoma, Konak, Roerslev, Arthur, Donovan
Borussia Mönchengladbach: Nicolas; Scally, Diks, Elvedi, Netz (Ullrich 85); Weigl, Reitz (Castrop 85); Ranos (Hack 70), Stöger, Honorat (Chiarodia 90); Tabaković
Subs not used: Omlin, Friedrich, Neuhaus, Sander, Fraulo, Herrmann
Attendance: 11,082
Category: General Sports