Bryan Mbeumo has iterated that he and his Brentford teammates must “take responsibility” in Ivan Toney’s absence.
Toney was handed an eight-month ban from all footballing activities with immediate effect in midweek – although he can resume training in mid-September, following breaches of FA betting rules.
He consequently missed Brentford’s second-half comeback 3-1 victory at London rivals, Tottenham, in which Mbeumo scored twice and set up Yoane Wissa to wrap up the win with their third goal.
“We miss a big personality and a big player,” admitted Mbeumo post-match in relation to Toney’s absence but iterated that pressure now is on the team to step up, as he continued: “Everybody – not just me Kev [Schade] and Wissa – have to step up and take responsibility.”
He proceeded to praise his teammates for how they took instant responsibility at Tottenham, as he added: “I couldn’t expect better today. It was a big result. After a bit of a sloppy first half, everybody raised their level. It’s a fantastic win.”
“Wissa gave me a very good ball to put me in a one-on-one position,” commented Mbeumo on Wissa’s assist for his equalising goal.
The Cameroon international went on to explain his second goal from Aaron Hickey’s assist, as he added: “I’ve trained a lot in the last weeks for this kind of situation and today it went in the back of the net.
“In a game it’s much harder because your opponent is tighter and everything goes quicker. That’s why we train it.”
Mbeumo though selflessly opted not to go for a late hat-trick as he instead allowed Wissa to score, after deciding that his teammate “was in a better position than me, and he was free, so that’s why I passed,” as he iterated that his priority is to “work for the team and I want to win.”
Frank Hails “incredible” comeback
Head Coach, Thomas Frank meanwhile hailed the Bees’ comeback as “incredible” and revealed that he “loved” how the fans responded to the team’s fightback.
Having already clinched victories over Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea this season, Frank was delighted to give fans one more shock win to saviour this season.
“I’m so pleased that we’ve given them all these fantastic experiences this season and, today, when they were singing after the third goal was great. That was just fantastic to see, I’m so pleased for them.”
Frank proceeded to reflect on the performance with mixed thoughts as he said: “The game: I think it was a bad first half. I’m disappointed with our performance there, but I’m very pleased that we kept staying in the game because you win football matches over 90-plus minutes and we stayed in there.
“We did it with good recovery runs, good blocks and great saves from a fantastic keeper in David [Raya].
“Second half, I must say, that’s maybe one of the best, if not the best, half in an away performance this season. The way we controlled the ball, the way we pressed high, the way we took the first two chances.”
Following Mbeumo’s brace, Brentford changed formation tactically but still added a third goal through Wissa, as Frank continued: “We changed to a 3-5-2, had to hang in there, but we still won the ball high and scored a goal from that. I think that’s fantastic.”
On coping without Toney’s presence, Frank iterated that Mbeumo and his fellow forwards can be trusted to deliver as he confidently added: “They will score goals for us, we know that, no doubt about that,” having already managed to record three wins this season without Toney.
Frank nevertheless is aware of Toney’s importance as he described his absence as “a massive gap” and has vowed not to replace him, although he acknowledged that the club “can hopefully do something that can be close to as good – different – and there were good signs of it today.”
Brentford now sit ninth and just one point off Spurs who are a single point behind seventh-placed Aston Villa, with all three clubs set to fight for the Europa Conference League qualification spot on the final day of this season.
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