Frank ‘still irritated’ despite Brentford’s thrilling comeback against Ipswich

Brentford manager Thomas Frank said he was still irritated after his side defeated visitors Ipswich Town 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller in the Premier League.

Bryan Mbeumo struck a 96th-minute winner at the Gtech Community Stadium as the Bees recorded their fourth win of their 2024-25 league campaign.

Sam Szmodics and George Hirst gave Ipswich a 2-0 lead, but Yoane Wissa initiated a Brentford comeback before Harry Clarke’s own goal levelled the scores.

Mbeumo then struck to give the hosts the lead before Clarke was sent off for Ipswich, who did not give up without a fight and restored parity through substitute Liam Delap late on.

However, Mbeumo scored his second of the game to cap off a positive, yet tense outing for Frank and the Brentford faithful.

"Being completely honest, I am still irritated. In many ways we did not do well enough, so big respect and praise to Ipswich,” the Brentford boss told BBC Sport after the game.

“They were by far the better team for the first 40 minutes, there was only one team on the pitch. It was one of our worst ever in the Premier League.

"The last five was better and then in the second half, we were clearly the better team and got back to 3-2 and then lacked the killer instinct to finish it off.

"To be fair, a brilliant cross and finish for 3-3, so well played for them. And then for the 4-3 we had some margins go with us. We put a lot of crosses in and if you keep doing that, then maybe there is a mistake at the end of one.

“Let’s put it this way, when we play it is exciting."

Brentford ended the game with an impressive expected goals (xG) tally of 3.94 from 20 shots, while their hosts only generated an xG of 1.36 with five of their 11 shots on target.

While it’s a massive result for Brentford, who suffered a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United last week, their opponents Ipswich remain without a winnine games into the season and sit fourth from bottom with only four points.

“"Three goals away from home and could have had a couple more, but of course it’s extreme disappointment, devastation about the late goal that means we don’t get any points for our efforts,” their manager Kieran McKenna told Sky Sports.

“But it was an incredible game, it’s obviously a mixture of great pride in the performance on an individual level, on a team level. The quality, the resilience that we’ve shown through a really challenging week led to so many good things in the performance.

“We always try and take the positive in things and I think we showed so many things today that we’re on the right track. To be honest, we’re back on the right track for us. We showed our real identity as a team from a mental point of view and from a tactical point of view."

Brentford will next be in action in the round of 16 of the EFL Cup where they face Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday, while Ipswich will return to Premier League action against Leicester City on November 2.