Burnley 3-4 Brentford: Hosts comeback thwarted as Brentford edge 7-goal thriller

Relegation-threatened Burnley mounted a stirring comeback to overturn a 3-0 deficit, but were denied a remarkable point as Mikkel Damsgaard struck a dramatic 93rd‑minute winner to give Brentford a 4-3 victory at Turf Moor.

Match Report

It looked like the visitors were heading for a comfortable win after goals from Damsgaard, Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade inside 34 minutes but Burnley dragged them back into the game.

Jaidon Anthony initiated the comeback as his driven cross was turned into his own goal by Michael Kayode in the dying seconds of the first half, before another strike from Anthony was helped on its way into the goal by Kayode less than two minutes after the restart.

Zian Flemming then restored parity for the second-from-bottom Clarets by powering a header past Brentford goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson in the 60th minute, turning the half-time boos from the Burnley supporters into a surge of renewed belief.

The hosts thought they had claimed all three points when Flemming, who scored late in the 1-1 draw against Chelsea last week, bundled home in the 78th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee (VAR).

But it was Damsgaard who made the all-important contribution in the game as he scored the stoppage-time winner from a Rico Henry cross.

There was a final twist in the tale as Ashley Barnes sent Turf Moor into raptures with a 99th-minute goal, only for it to be ruled out for an accidental handball by the Burnley striker after a lengthy VAR check.

Earlier, the Bees had made a buzzing start as Damsgaard arrived unmarked to head in a corner from Dango Ouattara just nine minutes after kick-off.

Damsgaard turned provider for Brentford's second in the 25th minute as Thiago latched on to his through pass and slotted past Martin Dubravka for his 18th league goal of the season.

It was soon 3-0 as Sepp van den Berg's header from another corner was cleared off the line by Lucas Pires only as far as Schade to score his seventh of the season.

Though the hosts managed to draw level, it was Keith Andrews' side who had the final say as they strengthened their push for European football with the win.

They now sit seventh in the table with 43 points - only two less than Chelsea above them and five behind fifth-placed Liverpool - while Burnley remain 19th with 19 points.

Match Events

9' GOAL! Burnley 0-1 Brentford (Mikkel Damsgaard)

25' GOAL! Burnley 0-2 Brentford (Igor Thiago)

34' GOAL! Burnley 0-3 Brentford (Kevin Schade)

47' GOAL! Burnley 2-3 Brentford (Jaidon Anthony)

48' OWN GOAL! Burnley 1-3 Brentford

60' GOAL! Burnley 3-3 Brentford (Zian Flemming)

93' GOAL! Burnley 3-4 Brentford (Mikkel Damsgaard)

Line-ups

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Ward-Prowse, Josh Laurent, Larsen, Joe Worrall, Zian Flemming, Hannibal, Maxime Estève, Bashir Humphreys, Jaidon Anthony, Lucas Pires

Subs: Barnes, Walker, Florentino, Hjalmar Ekdal, Lyle Foster, Loum Tchaouna, L. Ugochukwu, Quilindschy Hartman, Max Weiß

Brentford XI: Kristoffer Ajer, Rico Henry, Mathias Jensen, Hákon Valdimarsson, Mikkel Damsgaard, Van den Berg, Kevin Schade, Igor Thiago, Yegor Yarmolyuk, Dango Ouattara, Michael Kayode

Subs: Henderson, Ethan Pinnock, Ellery Balcombe, Keane Lewis-Potter, Nathan Collins, Kaye Furo, Romelle Donovan, Luka Bentt, Ollie Shield