Bryan Mbeumo scored a 96th-minute winner as Brentford beat Ipswich Town in a seven-goal thriller in the Premier League.
Substitute Liam Delap had seemingly earned the 10-man visitors a point, touching Leif Davis’s cross beyond Mark Flekken to make it 3-3 with four minutes remaining, but the west Londoners rallied and Mbeumo’s cross in the sixth minute evaded everyone in a crowded penalty area on its way into the far corner.
Brentford, as they had done against Manchester United the previous weekend, lined up in a 4-3-3 formation.
Kristoffer Ajer missed out due to a “minor foot injury”, Thomas Frank revealed, while Kevin Schade dropped to the bench.
Mads Roerslev and Yoane Wissa were in from the start.
Ipswich were the brighter side during the opening five minutes, but the Bees grew into the game and began to probe.
Mbeumo, fed by Mikkel Damsgaard, had a shot blocked from just inside the area before Vitaly Janelt’s looping cross from the left was punched away by Arijanet Muric under pressure from Wissa.
On 19 minutes, Damsgaard’s in-swinging corner was met by Christian Nørgaard at the front post. The captain’s glancing header took a slight deflection off an Ipswich defender and was eventually gathered by Muric.
The Bees were struggling to convert possession into chances and Ipswich made them pay midway through the half.
Kalvin Phillips’ piercing pass through the middle was controlled by George Hirst and then shifted on to Sam Szmodics. Faced by an on-rushing Mark Flekken, last season's Championship top scorer bent the ball around the keeper and into the bottom corner.
The visitors quickly doubled their lead. Conor Chaplin seized the ball inside the centre circle and drove forward before threading a pass through to Hirst who, from the right of the area, lifted the ball over Flekken and into the net.
Former Bee Chiedozie Ogbene was stretchered off before the restart having suffered an injury during the build-up to the goal.
Cameron Burgess’s header was held by Flekken, and Davis drove over from 20 yards, as the Tractor Boys looked to extend their advantage.
Then came a big chance for Ipswich to make it 3-0: Szmodics beat Nørgaard to Flekken’s short pass and the keeper made a sprawling save to deny him, before the Bees eventually hacked to safety. Davis then dragged wide from the edge of the box.
Some inside the stadium may have been wishing for the half-time interval, but Brentford’s players didn't share this sentiment.
On 43 minutes, Keane Lewis-Potter beat Harry Clarke and Phillips on a foray down the left and slipped the ball to Janelt. The German crossed low into the box and Wissa finished first time beyond Muric.
Three minutes later, Wissa raced onto Damsgaard’s through ball and clear of the Ipswich backline.
The forward’s shot was slowed by Muric but Clarke, sliding in to make an intervention, couldn’t halt his momentum and turned the ball into his own net. The goal was given after a lengthy VAR check to ensure that Wissa was onside when he received Damsgaard’s pass.
The Bees continued to push after the break.
Soon after the restart, a VAR check confirmed that Clarke had dragged down Lewis-Potter inside the box, and Mbeumo stepped up to cooly convert from the spot, stroking home into the middle of the net.
Wes Burns sliced wide under pressure from Sepp van den Berg, before Brentford came again.
Damsgaard’s attempt to round Muric and roll the ball into the net was thwarted by Phillips, who made a goal-line clearance, and Lewis-Potter’s low drive from inside the penalty area was blocked by Clarke.
Lewis-Potter, a livewire throughout, then picked out Norgaard at the back post, but the captain couldn’t direct his header goalward.
Ipswich were reduced to 10 players midway through the half. Clarke, already on a booking having fouled Lewis-Potter for Brentford’s penalty, tripped the former Hull man on the edge of the box and was shown a second yellow card by referee Lewis Smith.
Damsgaard curled the resulting free-kick just over the bar – the ball grazing the net on its way into the west stand.
Seconds later, Muric dropped down quickly to prevent Damsgaard’s powerful low drive from finding the bottom corner.
Burgess’s cushioned header, connecting with Davis’s free-kick, bounced well wide, while at the other end Phillips threw himself in front of substitute Kevin Schade’s shot, as the game continued at a frantic pace.
Ipswich, despite their numerical disadvantage, levelled with five minutes to play. Davis whipped in a peach of a cross from the left and Delap got ahead of Pinnock to guide the ball beyond Flekken.
Wissa headed Roerslev’s cross over the bar, while Nathan Collins blazed over from close range after Pinnock cushioned down a corner at the back post, as the game looked destined to end in a draw.
But then came the winning goal. Mbeumo, cutting in from the right, swung in a cross with his left foot. Muric, expecting a touch, remained rooted to the spot, but no contact came and the ball nestled into the far corner to send the Gtech into raptures.
The away side almost left with a point when Delap crashed an effort off the post with seconds left to play, but Brentford held on to make it five wins from six at the Gtech this season.
Brentford: Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, van den Berg; Janelt, Nørgaard (Jensen 78), Damsgaard (Schade 77); Mbeumo, Wissa, Lewis-Potter (Carvalho 81)
Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Meghoma, Mee, Konak, Trevitt, Yarmoliuk
Ipswich Town: Muric; Clarke, O’Shea, Burgess, Davis; Cajuste (Townsend 90+1), Phillips; Ogbene (Burns 35), Chaplin (Woolfenden 73), Szmodics (J Clarke 73); Hirst (Delap 73)
Subs not used: Walton, Slicker, Broadhead, Al-Hamadi
Attendance: 17,109
Frank: I'm split between being happy and irritated
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank was left with mixed emotions after his side’s dramatic 4-3 win over Ipswich Town.
“I’m completely split," he admitted. "I’m happy because we cannot take anything for granted for winning in the Premier League, we’ve been so good offensively for a lot of the minutes in the game, and for showing the mentality to come back.
“Also, it’s then being so irritated about the first 40 minutes which I think is 40 of our worst minutes in the Premier League, against a good Ipswich team who did well.
“In the last five minutes of the first half and in the second half, clearly we were the better team, but we didn’t kill the game. It’s not that we didn’t try to go for the [goal to make it] 4-2. We tried to get it but it didn’t come for whatever reason.
“Then they equalised and you thought we were close to losing two points. They equalised with their one chance of the second half.
“The reaction is fantastic, the personality and the character is fantastic; so big credit to the team for that.”
Lewis-Potter lost for words after Ipswich victory
Keane Lewis-Potter talked through the emotional rollercoaster he experienced as Brentford came from behind to beat Ipswich.
“I don’t know how to describe it, to be honest... it was mental! The first 40 minutes was probably the worst we’ve had in the Premier League,” said Lewis-Potter.
“But to go from that, to getting in front, to getting pegged back again, to scoring the winner… I don’t really know what to say!”
He added: “Me and [Christian] Nørgaard just spoke about the chances we had and we should’ve buried them, to be honest. It could have been 4-2 or 5-2. If you don’t finish those chances, you let them get back into the game, which they did.
“Seeing them equalise, you feel empty inside, you don’t know what to do; then we scored the winner and it’s the complete opposite feeling, you feel on top of the world!”