Frank’s Brentford ‘dreaming’ of Europe after Kevin Schade sinks Ipswich

Thomas Frank said Brentford were dreaming of Europe after Kevin Schade’s first-half header handed them a fourth straight Premier League win, against relegated Ipswich at Portman Road. The winger angled in Bryan Mbeumo’s corner over goalkeeper Alex Palmer in the 18th minute, his fourth goal in three games, as the Bees’ 1-0 victory strengthened their claim to eighth place and a possible spot in next season’s Conference League.

The outcome of the FA Cup final will yet determine whether or not that place opens up but with a highest top-flight finish in 87 years also on the line, Brentford face a pivotal run-in to a potentially historic season.

“We’re dreaming,” said Frank, whose team host Fulham next weekend before finishing away to Wolves. “We need a perfect run-in. It demands two top performances against difficult opponents. Even that may not be enough. It’s always been for us to end as high as possible. If we can secure top 10, two out of four Premier League seasons, that’ll be very big.”

View image in fullscreen Brentford’s Kevin Schade (second right) watches Dara O’Shea leap in vain as the ball goes into the Ipswich net. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

As it stands, Brighton are the Bees’ closest challengers and are level on points, while Bournemouth are also in the mix, despite their 1-0 home loss against Aston Villa. Fulham’s defeat by Everton left them trailing Brentford by four points and has likely reduced a four-team tussle to a three-way race.

The winning goal came early and was the only highlight of poor first half. Mbeumo’s near-post corner was met just inside the six-yard box by Schade, who rose and angled a brilliant looping header over his own shoulder and high beyond the reach of the defender Dara O’Shea, who tried in vain on the goalline to clear.

“I don’t think we created many clearcut, big chances,” said Frank. “Sometimes you need a top delivery and a top finish, and we got that.”

Ipswich came close to collecting just their eighth home point of the campaign late on. Omari Hutchinson crashed a shot against the near post from a good position then Mark Flekken produced stunning reflexes to turn away Cameron Burgess’s volley.

“A big save from Mark took it over the line,” said Frank. “Fantastic. It’s very rare you play any game in the Premier League and give no chances away. We gave one away in the end. That was a big save.”

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Quick Guide Ipswich v Brentford match facts Show ● Brentford have won four consecutive games in the top flight of English football for the first time since February-March 1939 (5) and have amassed 16 wins overall from their 36 games this season (D7 L13), their joint-most at this stage of a top-flight season, alongside 1936-37 and 1937-38. ● Mark Flekken saved all four of Ipswich’s shots on target today; he has faced the most shots on target of any goalkeeper in the Premier League overall this season (192), however, just 26.6% of them have resulted in goals conceded, the best rate of any goalkeeper this term (minimum 30 shots on target faced). ● Bryan Mbeumo’s assist for Kevin Schade’s winner was his 25th goal involvement in the Premier League this season (18 goals, 7 assists), the most by a Brentford player in a single campaign in the competition, overtaking Ivan Toney’s 24 in 2022-23 (20 goals, 4 assists). ● Ipswich have lost each of their past eight Premier League games at Portman Road, their longest-ever home losing run in any division and have lost 13 home games in total this season, their joint-most in a single campaign (also 13 in 1994-95). Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.

Kieran McKenna was critical of the video assistant referee after a number of incidents involving players grappling at corners required lengthy stoppages, though none led to penalties.

“I don’t want to sound like the manager of the team who lost moaning about VAR,” he said. “It’s not that. I understand what it’s due to give, but I think it’s taking away more from the game in its current usage. The amount of long stoppages for things that cannot be clear and obvious. Things are being microanalysed from different angles that don’t need to be microanalysed.”

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