Brentford 1-1 Sunderland; Le Fee penalty earns Black Cats deserved point

Sunderland secured a deserved 1-1 draw against Brentford at the Gtech Stadium, coming from behind to claim a point in an entertaining Premier League clash.

Enzo Le Fee equalised from the penalty spot after Vitaly Janelt had given Brentford the lead with an excellent finish early in the second half.

The visitors had the better of the opening period, with Dan Ballard having a goal ruled out and Le Fee hitting the woodwork, before Brentford improved after the break.

Sunderland made the brighter start and thought they had taken the lead inside seven minutes when Ballard reacted quickest after Brentford failed to deal with a long free-kick.

The defender swivelled inside the area before calmly finding the bottom corner, but the goal was eventually ruled out following a lengthy VAR check after Kevin Danso was judged to have been offside in the build-up.

The Black Cats continued to look the more dangerous side, with Brian Brobbey proving a constant threat to the Brentford defence.

The striker tested Caiomhin Kelleher at his near post before turning provider for Le Fee, who raced onto his teammate’s lay-off and unleashed a powerful first-time effort that beat the goalkeeper but crashed against the woodwork.

Brentford’s difficult start was made worse when Nathan Collins was forced off through injury before the 20-minute mark, with new signing Jannik Schuster replacing him to make his Premier League debut.

Sunderland continued to control the game, and Le Fee came close to finding the breakthrough again when he met a dangerous ball inside the six-yard box, only for Schuster to make an important block.

Brentford eventually began to grow into the contest before half-time, although they struggled to create the same attacking threat that had seen them score heavily in their opening fixtures.

Keith Andrews responded by making three substitutions at the break, and the changes immediately gave the Bees more energy after the restart.

Brentford took the lead after 55 minutes when Mikkel Damsgaard’s cross was poorly cleared by Nordi Mukiele, leaving Janelt with the chance to strike from just inside the box.

The German midfielder made no mistake, sending a superb finish into the top corner to score his second goal of the season.

Sunderland continued to push for an equaliser and thought they had conceded a second when Igor Thiago won possession before the ball was eventually scrambled into the visitors’ net.

However, VAR intervened once again, with the goal ruled out after Jaidon Anthony was judged to have fouled Roefs during the scramble.

The decision kept Sunderland in the game, and Le Bris’ side eventually found their reward when Wilson Isidor was brought down inside the Brentford penalty area by Keane Lewis-Potter.

Le Fee stepped up with the pressure on and produced a composed finish into the bottom-right corner, sending Kelleher the wrong way to make it 1-1.

Both teams pushed for a winner during the closing stages, but neither could find the decisive goal as the points were shared.

The draw extends Brentford’s unbeaten run to eight matches stretching back to last season, although Andrews will want a much-improved performance when the Bees travel to Bournemouth next weekend.

Regis Le Bris’ men host Hull in the Carabao Cup in midweek before welcoming the reigning Premier League champions to the Stadium Light for a tough Saturday night game this weekend.