Toney's quickfire double puts Brentford in easy street against Coventry City

Brentford 2 Coventry City 0

An Ivan Toney double at the start of the second half set the Bees up for a comfortable home win against a limited Coventry side.

Only a combination of wayward finishing and inspired shot-stopping from City keeper Marko Marosi denied the Bees a first-half lead but their overall superiority was never in doubt and it always looked a matter of time before it would be reflected in the scoreline.

It was a welcome return to winning ways for the Bees, who had to wait for the international break to pass before they could get out of their systems the 4-2 defeat to Preston in their last match.

Coventry did very well to hold out for as long as they did. The visitors, playing Championship football again after eight years away, often looked out of their depth against the high-press energy that is the hallmark of Thomas Frank’s side.

Their spirited efforts were undermined by an inability to hold onto the ball for any length of time, making it hard to stem the constant flow of home attacks, which brought a succession of corners and pot-shots at goal.

Toney had two shots saved, Emiliano Marcondes headed onto the roof of the net when well placed, and the ever-alert Marosi did well to block a Pontus Jansson stab from close range following another flag-kick.

And as well as those moments, there was a last-ditch tackle from Kyle McFadzean to deny Bryan Mbeumo and Henrik Dalsgaard had a powerful effort deflected behind.

The lack of an end-product during that first-half dominance might raise the question of how much Said Benrahma is going to be missed following his move to West Ham this week.

Mbeumo is now the only remaining striker left from the famed BMW trident of last season and maybe some potency will be lost in the final third – Ollie Watkins having already departed, of course. But this was ultimately not the game in which to judge.

Moments after the restart, Mbeumo took advantage of a Coventry defender near him slipping and that gave him all the time he needed to whip a cross to the near post, where Toney touched home.

And just nine minutes later, Toney’s far-post header converted a cross from Marcondes from the left for his fifth goal of the campaign.

Unfortunately for the summer signing, his afternoon ended early after a slip on the turf resulted in what looked like a shoulder strain. The hope must be that the injury is not too serious.

City’s Matt Godden struck the underside of the bar after David Raya had flapped at a cross into the box, but the Sky Blues were no real threat.

Brentford: Raya – Dalsgaard, Pinnock, Jansson, Henry – Marcondes (Janelt 70), Jensen, Dasilva (Ghoddos 78) – Mbeumo, Toney (Forss 64), Canos. Subs not used: Daniels, Thompson, Fosu, Sorensen