Burnley’s survival hopes took a huge blow as Ivan Toney’s two late goals for Brentford settled their Premier League match and took the Bees closer to securing safety.
The Clarets looked set to move out of the bottom three until Toney headed in Christian Eriksen’s lovely cross with four minutes to go.
Toney then won a penalty deep into injury time, with Nathan Collins sent off for bringing him down, and he slammed in the spot-kick to seal the win.
Burnley remain a point behind 17th-placed Everton, who have two games in hand, while Brentford are now nine points clear of the Clarets.
Burnley had the best chance of the game until those late strikes when Jay Rodriguez’s swerving 30-yard strike cannoned off the crossbar.
They only had one effort on target, when a terrible Rico Henry backpass played in Maxwel Cornet but his shot was stopped by David Raya.
Toney inflicts big blow on Burnley
Burnley always seem to get out of relegation trouble despite poor starts but their six-year spell in the top flight has rarely been in such danger.
Back-to-back wins in February – along with victory over Brentford in October their only wins of the season – have been followed up by one point from four games.
Sean Dyche’s side either need to win more games in the last 11 matches of the season than the first 27 – or else hope Leeds and Everton, who have both changed managers recently, keep losing.
They created nowhere near enough chances to win, with Cornet’s tame finish and Rodriguez’s thunderous strike the only moments resembling chances.
To make matters worse, Collins’ late red card for denying Toney a clear goalscoring opportunity reduces their options at the back with captain Ben Mee still injured.
Meanwhile, Toney is singlehandedly dragging Brentford to safety – with five goals in the past eight days against teams in the relegation zone.
His hat-trick took care of Norwich in a 3-1 win last weekend and he now has eight goals in his past six games.
Thomas Frank’s side move on to 30 points and this season teams are unlikely to need to reach the 38-point mark to stay up.
They were far from spectacular but they did have the best chances before Toney’s late double.
Eriksen, making his first home start, had a 20-yard deflected shot saved by Nick Pope and Vitaly Janelt headed over the bar.
Player of the match
EriksenChristian Eriksen
Brentford
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Squad number21Player nameEriksenAverage rating
8.87
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Squad number17Player nameToneyAverage rating
8.13
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Squad number6Player nameNørgaard
Average rating7.20
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Squad number8Player nameJensen
Average rating7.08
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Squad number7Player nameCanós
Average rating6.96
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Squad number18Player nameJansson
Average rating6.86
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Squad number20Player nameAjer
Average rating6.83
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Squad number5Player namePinnock
Average rating6.68
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Squad number3Player nameHenry
Average rating6.62
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Squad number1Player nameRaya
Average rating6.61
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Squad number15Player nameOnyeka
Average rating6.47
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Squad number19Player nameMbeumo
Average rating6.42
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Squad number11Player nameWissa
Average rating6.40
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Squad number27Player nameJanelt
Average rating6.26
Burnley
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Squad number8Player nameBrownhill
Average rating5.50
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Squad number1Player namePope
Average rating5.38
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Squad number17Player nameLennon
Average rating5.38
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Squad number9Player nameWeghorst
Average rating5.36
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Squad number5Player nameTarkowski
Average rating5.32
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Squad number11Player nameMcNeil
Average rating5.19
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Squad number18Player nameWestwood
Average rating5.18
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Squad number20Player nameCornet
Average rating5.13
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Squad number19Player nameRodriguez
Average rating5.00
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Squad number3Player nameTaylor
Average rating4.89
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Squad number14Player nameRoberts
Average rating4.89
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Squad number22Player nameCollins
Average rating4.55
Line-ups
Brentford
Formation 4-5-1
- 1Raya
- 20Ajer
- 18Jansson
- 5Pinnock
- 3Henry
- 19MbeumoSubstituted forOnyekaat 90+1′minutes
- 27Janelt
- 6NørgaardSubstituted forJensenat 81′minutes
- 21Eriksen
- 7CanósSubstituted forWissaat 75′minutes
- 17ToneyBooked at 86mins
Substitutes
- 8Jensen
- 11Wissa
- 14Ghoddos
- 15Onyeka
- 22M Jorgensen
- 26Baptiste
- 29Bech Sørensen
- 30Roerslev
- 49Lössl
Burnley
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Pope
- 14Roberts
- 22CollinsBooked at 90mins
- 5TarkowskiBooked at 89mins
- 3Taylor
- 17Lennon
- 18Westwood
- 8Brownhill
- 11McNeil
- 9WeghorstSubstituted forRodriguezat 67′minutes
- 20Cornet
Substitutes
- 2Lowton
- 4Cork
- 10Barnes
- 13Hennessey
- 16Stephens
- 19Rodriguez
- 26Bardsley
- 28Long
- 37Thomas
- Referee:
- Paul Tierney
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Brentford 2, Burnley 0.
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Second Half ends, Brentford 2, Burnley 0.
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Goal! Brentford 2, Burnley 0. Ivan Toney (Brentford) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
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Nathan Collins (Burnley) is shown the red card.
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Penalty Brentford. Ivan Toney draws a foul in the penalty area.
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Penalty conceded by Nathan Collins (Burnley) after a foul in the penalty area.
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Substitution, Brentford. Frank Onyeka replaces Bryan Mbeumo.
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Offside, Brentford. Yoane Wissa tries a through ball, but Ivan Toney is caught offside.
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James Tarkowski (Burnley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by James Tarkowski (Burnley).
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Offside, Brentford. David Raya tries a through ball, but Ivan Toney is caught offside.
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Ivan Toney (Brentford) is shown the yellow card for excessive celebration.
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Goal! Brentford 1, Burnley 0. Ivan Toney (Brentford) header from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Christian Eriksen with a cross.
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Attempt blocked. Christian Eriksen (Brentford) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Bryan Mbeumo.
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Substitution, Brentford. Mathias Jensen replaces Christian Nørgaard.
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Offside, Burnley. Jay Rodriguez tries a through ball, but Maxwel Cornet is caught offside.
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Attempt blocked. Dwight McNeil (Burnley) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
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Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box. Assisted by James Tarkowski.
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Substitution, Brentford. Yoane Wissa replaces Sergi Canós.
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