That was a decent game in the end. The first 20 mins were pretty poor as we either tried to be too intricate or gave the ball away sloppily too often. They had a great chance early on which Ikeme saved really well low to his left.
Then Texeira burst into life down the left, mesmerising his way into the box beating players left right and centre with ridiculous skills. He got clipped from behind just as he was about to pass, went down, and the ref inexplicably waved play on. Definite penalty. The rest of the half we tried hard for a goal with Tex running the show, but again sloppy passing or trying to beat too many players (Tex/Costa mainly) let us down. 0-0 HT.
2nd half we went straight up and scored. A lovely move made by Costa who robbed McEchrean (who went down injured and had to be stretchered off while we celebrated) as he tried to go past the Portuguese winger. Costa hooked a boot round the ball and sped up the pitch before laying it square for Tex. I was already inhaling for my groan when Tex shot softly straight at the keeper, but it turns out he simply passed it through the keepers legs! Good finish or not? Well it went in so who cares!
That really knocked the stuffing out of Brentford who barely laid a glove on us until we scored our second. A rare correct decision from the ref and Tex simply curled one into the far corner as no-one got a touch on it.
Brentford gave it a bit of a go after that and our defence worried me. Well our two full-backs worried me to be more precise. CBJ had a poor game overall and he stood off his winger far too often. On a couple of occasions he was stood in the six yard box when the ball came down the left side of our box! Their goal was a bit of poor work from Doherty. He decided to come out and missed a tackle leaving their player free to shoot. Good goal it was too, up into the corner which Ikeme couldn't stop.
After that it was a bit nervy, the ref not helping affairs by having no idea what was a foul and what wasn't. Constantly blowing for the tiniest push/shove and then giving nothing when players got clattered. He also missed a blatant handball to give them a penalty. I can't be too sorry for them though as that evened it up after the one on Tex in the first half. At this point Batth was captain fantastic, heading and blocking everything that came into the box.
Another bit of heart and desire from Bod sealed the game though and he showed great composure and awareness to release the ball at the right time with a good weight of pass for Cavaleiro to finish off with ease. Job done.
RATINGS:
Ikeme - Not much to do until late on when he came out and claimed a couple of high balls well. No chance on the goal really - 6
Batth - Captains performance. Especially once we went 2-1 up where he cleared everything that came his way - 8
Iorfa - Looked solid alongside Danny. Often coming out to cover Doherty's excursions up the pitch and he brought the ball out well at times. Fluffed a good counter from deep by passing straight to their player on the half way line - 7
Jackson - Frustrating as he's clearly a classy player but Jesus wept clear the ball! Overplayed at times which ended up with sloppy passing and gave their winger too much space in the second half. No idea if he's told to stay narrow or play the ball out every time, but he needs to improve his positioning and concentrate more. - 5
Doherty - A mixed bag. Sometimes some really good defending, sometimes he dives in and they score. Did ok going forward but not as good as he is on the left weirdly as he's right footed. Mucked up a great 3 on 2 counter in the first half by over-running it into a defender just as a simple pass was on. Another who needs to improve or he'll be replaced by Silvio long term - 6
Prince - Not sure what to make of him today. Plenty of desire to win the ball or move it forwards but didn't really show enough quality in either for me. Average. - 6
Saiss - My first viewing and came away disappointed. He had a poor game overall IMO, but interspersed with some nice moments. He gave he ball away far too much for me today (at least three times in the first half) but you can see that he can spot a pass, even if it doesn't come off. Didn't really have a great deal of defensive work to do but did that ok - 5
Texeira - Quiet first 20 mins and was trying to beat too many players too often and losing the ball, but as soon as he clicks, wow he's good. Ridiculously good dribble for the non-penalty. A good run on the counter to be in the right place to get his first and a good delivery for the FK goal. What was extra pleasing is just how hard he works of the ball as well. Great performance and easy MOTM for me. - 9
Costa - Looked very bright today but often tries little flicks and tricks to get round players which don't come off and gives away possession. Like Tex he needs to keep it a bit simpler at times and just lay the ball off. His pace frightened the life out of them though and often had two men on him. Great tackle on McEchrean to break away and score our first. Nothing came off for him in the second half and was replaced by Cavaleiro. - 7
Edwards - A decent Dave performance. Not much to be said for his first half, a bit ok a bit meh. But second half he really put a shift in. Won some tackles, put himself about, helped out going forward and generally was Edwards. More of this please Dave. - 7
Bodvarsson - Absolute Lionheart. Such a tenacious hard working player and knows just how to press defenders and anticipate their turns/passes back towards goal. He's clever going forward too, twists and turns to protect the ball and can dribble well. Capped off his performance with a great assist. Perfect timing and weight of pass to set it up. He got clattered and smashed about all game with barely anything off the ref who decided not to give him anything. Brilliantly brave performance today. - 9
SUBS:
Cavaliero - Came on when we were defending more than attacking but had a couple of decent runs. Doesn't like tracking back though and I was annoyed on one occasion when he could have made more of an effort with their player only a few yards away, but instead just let him go. Nearly set one up for Mason after a terrific curling pass over the top from someone in the middle (who was it?). Was in the right place on the counter at the end and a calm finish for his goal - 7
Mason - Helped out Doherty well and had one chance near the end but was well covered and clattered as he shot and it went wide. - 6
Coady - Replaced Prince to shore up things in the middle. Not much to say really so no rating.
Ref - Absolute rubbish. Yes Frank we can still criticise the officials when we win. So inconsistent for both teams and let rough physical fouls go (mainly on Bod) then pulled play up for nothing infringements. The linos weren't much better either.
Good to get two wins in a row. A decent performance in the end but another slowish start to the game. It's clear our achilles heel is our defence if they are put under pressure though. Something we'll need to address in January hopefully. They all need to keep the ball better too as better teams going forward will punish that more often.
