‘Remember the day,’ urged the Brentford PA announcer. ‘January 22, 2022,’ he added. Cue ripples of laughter around the ground.
Come the final whistle, result aside, there was a wave of relief that it had come to an end, albeit 38 or so minutes after it was scheduled to conclude.
The short version is three goals, two concussion subs, an overturned red card by VAR, a failed microphone pack putting the referee in limbo, a disallowed goal and an ‘unauthorised drone’ that threatened to throw this match into disrepute. Oh, and Brentford boss Thomas Frank got sent off after the final whistle.
Ruben Neves (left) scored the winner as Wolves beat Brentford 2-1 on Saturday
First, the six-minute delay. Midway through the first half there was a sickening clash of heads between Brentford’s Rico Henry and Mathias Jensen.
Jose Sa’s long kick upfield had threatened to put 19-year-old striker Fabio Silva clear on for his first Premier League start this season before Henry and Jensen collided head on at full speed.
The pair stayed down and both teams’ physios came to attend nasty cuts that left the two players mopping up blood.
‘I thought, “Oh my God, this is going to be bad”,’ said Frank, before confirming that Jensen has since cleared concussion protocol but Rico remains under assessment.
The game was stopped during the first half after a drone hovered above the stadium
The duo left the pitch officially as ‘concussion substitutes’ but neither, unsurprisingly, managed to return.
Then came the ridiculousness.
With the clock at 31 minutes, referee Peter Bankes looked to the sky and after a brief dialogue over his microphone, he ordered the players back to their changing rooms due to an ‘unauthorised drone’ causing a safety issue.
On and on the delay went without further instruction to confused fans, the drone playing a cat-and-mouse game in the sky, like something out of a Tom and Jerry episode, with a police helicopter.
Referee Peter Bankes spoke to both teams and ordered them off the pitch
Brentford and Wolves players leave the field of play due to a drone flying over the pitch
It took 19 minutes to get the players on the pitch and back with a mini warm-up.
Add on the six from injuries to Henry and Jensen and the first half came to a close 71 minutes after it started. All without a shot on target too but that seemed rather inconsequential at that point.
It felt rather fitting that moments before the second half was due to start, referee Bankes’ microphone failed. Of course it did.
The most disrupted game in recent Premier League memory. Add on another five minutes while he got rewired in the tunnel.
Nineteen minutes were added on at the end of the first half following the lengthy stoppage
‘This is embarrassing,’ chanted the Brentford fans. ‘We want our money back,’ sang the travelling Wolves support.
Wolves boss Bruno Lage could only smile as Bankes undressed to be rewired. Everything that could go wrong was going wrong, even if it was 0-0, but at least he could see the funny side.
‘It’s been a long day,’ Lage said. ‘Technology we cannot always control but the most important thing is it was a good atmosphere between everyone.
‘Me, the referee, and Frank. Me and Frank shared a joke but we understood what happened and tried to keep our players focused on the game.’
Joao Moutinho put Wolves in front early in the second half with a smart finish
Before Ivan Toney equalised for Brentford with his seventh goal of the season
He had genuine reason to smile three minutes after the restart when, after a clever one-two with Nelson Semedo, Joao Moutinho scored a stunning opener with the outside of his left boot.
The Bees are becoming as refreshing as they are frustrating. They are frustrating in the sense that they get so much of their play right before getting the key part wrong.
Wolves were always going to be a tough nut to crack, with the second-best defence in the Premier League behind Manchester City, and so it would require something really special to equalise.
That came 19 minutes before the end when Bryan Mbeumo’s free-kick was lofted to the back-post where Ivan Toney hammered in on the volley.
At 1-1 it was two goals of the highest order but there was still time for a red card to be shown to Toti Gomes for a lunge on Pontus Jansson, that Bankes and VAR downgraded to a yellow. It was the right call.
And then came the dagger as Ruben Neves curled a shot into the bottom corner to win it. Adama Traore appeared to add a third late on only have his strike chalked off for offside.
When the final whistle sounded, Frank raced on to confront Bankes. He was booked and then shown a red card. ‘I want the players to control their emotions and not get stupid cards so it was not good enough for me,’ said Frank.
‘I was frustrated, but I was relatively calm going to the pitch.
‘I got a yellow card after a confrontation with a Wolves player and then I turned around to the referee and said, “You can just give me a second one as well’. I went into his room calmly afterwards and he said I was too aggressive.’
Frank could only look to the sky at the final whistle but this time there was no drone, just another opportunity missed.
