Huddersfield Town 1-1 Brentford: Mads Sorensen earns point but Bees' promotion hopes take hit
- Published
A mix-up in the Brentford defence gave Lewis O'Brien the opportunity to open the scoring with the Terriers' only shot of the first half
Brentford's automatic promotion hopes were dealt a blow after a draw which edged Huddersfield closer to safety.
Lewis O'Brien took advantage of a mix-up between Bees goalkeeper David Raya and defender Mads Roerslev to put the hosts ahead after seven minutes.
Brentford equalised five minutes into the second half when Mads Sorensen turned in Vitaly Janelt's cutback, before Ivan Toney hit the post.
Both sides had chances to win it late on but had to settle for a point each.
The point moves Brentford up to third on goal difference but they remain nine points behind Watford in second, albeit with a game in hand, with the draw edging Huddersfield eight points clear of the relegation places.
The opener arrived via a needless mix-up in the Bees defence with Raya racing out to the edge of his area as Roerslev cut out a through ball. But the defender's loose pass immediately gave possession away to the pressing O'Brien who rolled it into the net as Raya scrambled back.
Promotion-chasing Brentford were struggling to get into their rhythm but showed a glimpse of what they are capable of when a slick move saw Sergi Canos find Janelt, who got his shot away only to be denied by a fine save with his legs by Ryan Schofield.
Huddersfield received a slice of luck shortly before the half hour when Naby Sarr was fortunate to get away with a handball in his own area while chasing back under pressure from Toney.
The Bees were back on level terms shortly after the restart when Pontus Jansson's header was cleared off the line, but the ball was kept alive by Janelt for Sorensen to turn past Schofield.
Brentford celebrate Sorensen's equaliser, but the visitors couldn't find a winner
They almost made it two in two minutes when a frustrated Toney at last found some space to fire a shot at goal which came back off the post.
Raya was then called into action to keep the scores level with a fine low stop to deny Demeaco Duhaney, shortly after Bryan Mbeumo had headed wide at the other end.
Substitute Tariqe Fosu saw a late shot saved by Terriers keeper Schofield and Christian Norgaard volleyed a shot over the bar as the Bees' stuttering promotion push continued.
Terriers head coach Carlos Corberan:
"We're not safe and must fight until the end. There are 24 points left for us to play for and I think we need 12 because it's a real battle in that part of the table.
"We could have avoided the way we conceded because we thought it was our throw-in, not Brentford's, and in that confusion we did not defend it very well.
"They had other chances and hit the post but we also had chances to win and should have had a penalty, so the result was a fair one."
Brentford boss Thomas Frank:
"We need to keep clear heads and keep believing because there's everything to play for. Watford will be saying nothing is over yet and that's right because this is the Championship.
"It always feels disappointing not to get three points, but you have to handle those frustrations and move on again.
"We have also conceded too many odd goals this season. It came down to one ball in behind and miscommunication and, even though I haven't seen it back, I'm also told we should have had a penalty for handball, so that was another thing that came down to narrow margins."