Luton 1 Brentford 5: Man Utd scout turns up to watch Ivan Toney… but team-mate steals show in England star’s absence
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AT LEAST it wasn’t a complete waste of time for the Manchester United scout who headed south to check out Ivan Toney.
Toney may have sat out this one with a persistent hip injury, but Yoane Wissa stepped into the spotlight as he scored a first-half double, before Ethan Pinnock, Keane Lewis-Potter and Kevin Schade all struck to give the Bees a ten-point cushion over the bottom three.
Wissa will get much of the credit for setting Brentford on their way, taking his tally to ten goals in the league, but Bryan Mbeumo also caught the eye yet again as he set up three.
Wissa struck a beauty from 20 yards after 24 minutes and added a tap-in during first-half stoppage time.
Pinnock headed the visitors further in front after 62 minutes before Lewis-Potter tucked home two minutes later.
Schade came off the bench to seal a five-star victory with four minutes remaining.
At least those Hatters fans who stayed till the end had something to cheer as substitute Luke Berry rounded Mark Flekken to score in the dying moments.
After also conceding five at Manchester City a week earlier, Luton’s hopes of survival look bleak, with their goal difference taking another big hit and doing them no favours.
England striker Toney is rumoured to be heading to Old Trafford in the summer in a deal that will see him earn more than Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes.
Should Toney join the Red Devils and have his £250,000-a-week salary demands met by the club, he would become the joint-fifth highest-paid player at Old Trafford, on a par with Anthony Martial and Mason Mount.
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Fernandes, meanwhile, takes home £240,000 per week.
It doesn’t mean that Wissa and Mbeuno will be knocking on manager Thomas Frank’s door tomorrow demanding a pay rise, but they certainly earned their win bonus by helping Brentford extend their unbeaten run to five, and notch consecutive victories in the league for the first time since November.
There was a rousing atmosphere before kick-off thanks to a period of applause in memory of former Hatters manager Joe Kinnear.
That was as good as it got for the hosts, who were fortunate not to be three goals down inside the opening 20 minutes.
After only three minutes, Pinnock was unmarked as he met Nathan Collins’ cross from the left, but he snatched at it and headed wide of the near post.
Five minutes later, Mikkel Damsgaard picked out Lewis-Potter inside the box, but he somehow shot wide.
It then needed a good save from Thomas Kaminski to claw away Lewis-Potter’s header from Sergio Reguilon’s cross.
Brentford lost at the other two promoted teams and you began to wonder if they would live to regret those misses, but the tide turned soon after.
Mbeumo fed Wissa and he produced a super finish as he drilled a side-foot into the top corner from 20 yards.
Tahith Chong might have equalised but blazed over from eight yards, and Doughty saw a shot blocked by goalkeeper Flekken at his near post, before it all went spectacularly wrong for Rob Edwards’ men.
A minute into time added on, Mbeuno played the ball into the six-yard box.
Reece Burke made a half-hearted attempt at a clearance and Wissa looked almost embarrassed as he nudged the loose ball over the line.
It might have been worse had Teden Mengi not made a good block to deny Lewis-Potter.
Wissa’s ten goals have all come from open play, and when you consider that Toney’s 20 goals last season – before his betting ban – included half a dozen penalties, it is easy to see the value of the DR Congo striker.
Brentford have dropped 30 points from winning positions, three short of equalling the Premier League record, but after seeing a number of players return from injury they went from strength to strength after the break and showed that they are not a side who want to be included in the relegation mix.
Kaminski made a good save to keep out along range shot from Damsgaard, but he was soon picking the ball out of his net once more.
Reguilon curled in a corner from the left and Pinnock got the better of Gabriel Osho to head home, before Mbeumo played the ball across goal to give Lewis-Potter an easy finish.
Schade put the icing on the cake, replacing Lewis-Potter and rounding off another good move with a late finish.
The Hatters had won only once in their previous 12 games and were vying to win back-to-back top-flight home fixtures for the first time in 32 years, but in the end they were no match for the Bees.
Many predicted that Luton would be relegated long before April, but they have fought all season to keep their survival hopes alive.
Had they beaten Brentford, they would have climbed out of the bottom three and dragged the Bees into the fight, but their fate is no longer in their own hands and they need a massive improvement if they are to stand any chance of playing Premier League football next season.
As for that scout driving back up the M1 after this game, a certain Mr Wissa and Mr Mbeumo might just have given him something interesting to put in his report.
See how the action unfolded at Kenilworth Road...