Brentford 0 : 0 Crystal Palace
The introduction of Christian Eriksen to the Brentford home fans was always set to be a highlight of the day. What the capacity crowd didn’t realise at the time, was that it was to be one of the very few highlights on the day.
A point each will not disappoint either manager given their distance from the bottom three and how few points Watford, Norwich City and Burnely are gathering.
Ivan Toney’s absence due to a calf injury also blunted Brenntford’s attaching edge and this side may be quite potent when both are finally playing together. It doesn’t sound like that is too far away.
Outside the creative department, Brentford were very sold with Mathias Jensen, Rico Henry and Christian Nordegaard snuffing out anything too creative.
For Palace, Conor Gallagher worked hard but it simply wasn’t his day. Jordan Ayew also worked hard but attention was, not for the first time, on Wilfred Zaha. He fell over once too often and his coach Patrick Vieira held him back for a special touchline conversation at the start of the second half.
There were two further conversations between the two during the half and clearly the manager was unhappy with something. Nonetheless, it was Ayew who was the first to be substituted.
What saves there were came from David Raya who prevented a goal with the last kick of the match from Joachim Andersen but in truth, neither side deserved to win or in fact lose.
Both sides face another London Derby next. Brentford visit Arsenal and Crystal Palace host Chelsea. Comfortingly, both Burnley and Norwich face Liverpool next.
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