Remorseless Bees hit punch-drunk Leeds for five
Brentford (2) 5 Toney 30pen, 43, 58, Mbeumo 80, Wissa 90
Leeds United (1) 2 Sinisterra 45, Roca 79
Ivan Toney helped himself to a hat-trick as the Bees brushed aside Leeds with clinical efficiency.
They were second best in terms of possession but always looked like scoring goals.
After the Toney treble, Bryan Mbeumo got in on the act and birthday boy Yoane Wissa came off the bench to apply the coup de grace and take the team’s tally to 15 goals in their first six matches as Bees fans soaked up another heady outpouring of fun and frolics.
Toney’s first of the afternoon - a penalty - was his 50th in Brentford colours and very soon he was going past that milestone with a brilliant free-kick and then a sublime finish after keeper Illan Meslier had failed to win the ball after rushing out of his penalty area.
The Bees had to do a bit of defensive housekeeping in the early stages – as Leeds probed with purpose and pace, Brendon Aaronson usually at the heart of any attack.
But they still carried the greater menace, with Mathias Jensen curling just wide and Keane Lewis-Potter twice getting goalside on the left flank to threaten.
The breakthrough came after a long VAR soul-search following a tangle inside the area between Ivan Toney and Luis Sinisterra. Replays did not look that conclusive, hence the lengthy time spent researching on monitors.
Once Robert Lewis had accepted the call to view again, though, a penalty was always likely and so was the outcome with Toney 12 yards out and the ball at his feet. He has now converted 18 in a row for the Bees. An astonishing record.
Joe Gelhardt went close to drawing Leeds level with a stab just wide with the outside of his left boot, but moments later, Toney lashed in an unstoppable free-kick – bent around the wall to Meslier’s left – the keeper barely moving as it flashed past him.
He could thank Shandon Baptiste for winning the set piece just outside the area as his run for goal into a crowded area was baulked by Leeds skipper Robin Koch.
A two-goal lead before the break would have been ideal for the Bees, but Jesse Marsch’s men responded well, with Sinisterra taking delivery of a throw-in, side-stepping his marker and bursting forward before lashing a low shot across David Raya.
Buoyed by the reprieve, the visitors brought on Patrick Bamford at the break and he was soon testing Ben Mee’s sprinting skills with a dash towards Raya, which ended with a shot clipped well wide.
Lewis-Potter should have restored the two-goal advantage when Mbeumo’s challenge helped the ball into the new striker’s path. But with only the keeper to beat, his shot lacked conviction and was touched wide.
Home fans need not have worried. Moments later, Toney had his hat-trick. After Meslier had failed to intercept a ball hit long, the ball ran to the striker, who calmly worked himself into space by going around the keeper before floating a delicate five-iron over two defenders and into an unguarded net.
He nearly had a fourth too, skimming the top of the crossbar from another free-kick just outside the box. On a day where everything he touched turned to gold, it was almost a shock that the ball did not nestle into the net once more.
If all was cool for Thomas Frank in the home dug out, Marsch was feeling decidedly hot under the collar and got himself sent off for berating the fourth official about a perceived injustice over a penalty claim.
There was still more to come. Marc Roca had a shot from close range superbly tipped aside by Raya but then tucked home a low cross from sub Luke Ayling.
Yet the away side’s hopes were almost instantly dashed when Mbeumo latched onto Toney’s flicked header to race on and fire home at the near post. Initially flagged offside, a VAR check showed the final touch off a Leeds defender played the Frenchman onside.
Leeds were now well and truly done and they suffered a further indignity when Wissa - who turned 26 today - came on and crashed in goal number five.
There seems no end to the good times for home fans at the Gtech.
And how sweet for former Leeds defender Pontus Jansson. Jeered by visiting fans after he took a blow to the face, the Bees skipper very much had the last laugh.
Bees: (4-3-3) Raya – Hickey, Jansson, Mee, Henry – Baptiste (Onyeka 59), Janelt (Zanka 67), Jensen (Damsgaard 83) – Mbeumo (Wissa 83), Toney, Lewis-Potter (Dasilva 59). Subs not used: Ghoddos, Onyeka, Ajer, Strakosha, Roerslev
Leeds: (4-2-3-1) Meslier – Drameh (Ayling 69), Koch, Llorente, Struijk – Adams, Roca (Greenwood 86) – Sinisterra (Summerville 59), Aaronson, Harrison (Bamford h/t) – Gelhardt. Subs not used: Klaesson, Forshaw, Cooper, Hjelde, Klich
Attendance: 16,946
