“Unplayable” was Bees manager Thomas Frank’s assessment of Bryan Mbeumo’s performance in Brentford’s 4-2 Premier League win over Newcastle on Saturday – and it is hard to disagree.
The striker bullied the away defence into submission to help maintain the best home record in the division and lift Brentford up to sixth at the full-time whistle.
Mbeumo scored the opener with a fine cut inside from the right before curling home a left-footed finish and he assisted the closer with a clever ball to Kevin Schade to chip over the advancing Nick Pope.
But Mbeumo was not alone. As ever, he was backed up by attacking partner in crime Yoane Wissa. If one does not get you, the other will – and on days like this when both are on form, Brentford as a whole are virtually unplayable.
Wissa scored the pick of the six goals at Gtech Community Stadium to make it 2-1 after 28 minutes, pouncing on a loose Harvey Barnes pass and advancing on a timid Newcastle defence before curling past Pope from 20 yards.
While summer signing Igor Thiago made his long-awaited first Brentford start as central striker following a knee injury, it was his supporting acts who took the limelight.
Frank was fulsome in his praise of both when speaking to BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker.
“Wissa is great, the way he links up and goes forward, and gets in behind the back line for tap-ins,” he said.
“And Bryan Mbeumo today was unplayable. The way he holds the ball up and links play, like today to Kevin Schade [for the fourth goal] was very impressive.”
Forwards flourish without Toney
Brentford are joint top scorers in the Premier League this season with 31 goals, level with Chelsea. Of those, 21 have been scored by Mbeumo and Wissa.
Since the start of 2021-22, both Mbeumo and Wissa have scored in 15 different Premier League games for Brentford, the most of any duo for a side in the competition.
The pair bear a huge portion of the responsibility for Brentford’s league-leading home form. No English top-flight side can match the 22 points the Bees have accrued from their eight games at the Gtech in 2024-25.
Eight of Mbeumo’s nine Premier League goals for Brentford this season have come at home, while Wissa has scored nine across each of their last seven home league fixtures.
Wissa now has 19 goals at the Gtech in the Premier League – the same number as Ivan Toney.
The duo’s form means Brentford have not missed Toney since his departure to Saudi Arabia in the summer. If anything, no longer being so reliant on one central striker has made the team a more fearsome attacking unit.
The return to fitness of Thiago gives Brentford impressive attacking depth but Frank must be careful not to unbalance the system that has worked so well.
The freedom to not have to feed Toney has helped Mbeumo blossom. His nine goals this campaign ensure he has already equalled his best ever tally for a Premier League season and it isn’t even Christmas.
The question now is: how far can Mbeumo and Wissa, backed up by their team-mates, carry Brentford this season? And how high?
The side have never previously had so many points – 23 – after 15 Premier League games.
‘We have tried to add layers’
But Frank is understandably circumspect. He points to last season, when Brentford were on 19 points after 15 matches and comfortably 11th in the table. But a run of 11 defeats in their next 14 games plunged them into relegation danger.
That dire run saw Frank recalibrate his side’s attack, with evident results.
“We started well last season for 11 or 12 games, then injuries hit us hard,” Frank said. “So we have tried to add layers, be more controlled and make more breakthroughs, playing more forward. We have showed we have a lot of good offensive players.”
The upshot is Brentford winning five successive home league games for the first time since February 2021 in the Championship, and it’s the first time they have done so in the top flight since 1936.
There are certainly still weaknesses to be patched up, notably in defence. Both Mbeumo and Wissa’s goals were followed four minutes later by Newcastle equalisers.
Brentford have now both scored and conceded at least two goals in the first half of three different Premier League games this season – only Newcastle in 1994-95 have done so more often.
Frank also acknowledged his side are much less fearsome outside west London. In seven away games they have collected just one point, a goalless draw at Everton.
“I would like to carry on this home form – some wins on the road would be welcome too,” he told Lineker.
But for now, Brentford fans will continue to dream of a concerted push for a first ever European campaign. And if Mbeumo and Wissa remain in the unplayable form seen against Newcastle, it could be more than a dream.