Correlation FC

Bees win away at Bournemouth 2-0

The Bees had a tough draw in Round 2, playing away against the highest-ranked Premier League team in the round. Both squads were heavily changed from the ones that played in the Premier League over the weekend. The Bees capitalised on a pair of chances to go up 2-0, and the team defended well. Lots of good performances all around will give Keith Andrews some selection headaches going into the Sunderland game, the final game before the first international break.

Trends that continued

Andrews used his full allotment of 5 substitutions, bringing his total to 14 in his 3 competitive matches. This is expected early in the season, especially in a cup match. What's slightly different so far compared to last season is that he seems to be introducing his first subs about 10 minutes earlier than Thomas Frank did. We'll keep an eye on this to see if the trend continues.

Big celebrations from Thiago

Brentford striker Igor Thiago clearly loves to celebrate goals. In the Aston Villa game, Thiago celebrated the Dango Ouattara goal more than Dango did – his jumps, fist pumps and shouts were on display again when he scored his 65th minute goal. Let's hope that Bees fans have plenty more chances to see his celebrations this season.

More stingy defending

After a difficult first half against Nottingham Forest, the Bees have now gone 5 straight halves without conceding a goal, with both keepers picking up clean sheets along the way.

Second phase set piece goal

The first goal ended with a smooth left-footed finish by Fabio Carvalho. It started with a free kick from near midfield by Hakon Valdimarsson. Bournemouth cleared the initial pass into the box, but only as far as Frank Onyeka. Onyeka shuttled the ball to Rico Henry who lobbed a cross towards the top of the box, finding Kristoffer Ajer, who had a massive height advantage over the defender, and was able to perfectly place a header into Carvalho's path. From the moment Henry made his pass, Carvalho started sprinting for goal and didn't need to break stride to make the finish, showing that the second phase goal was no accident.

Brentford's first goal vs Bournemouth (source Correlation FC)

Captain Jensen

Matthias Jensen wore the captain's armband to start the game. This was the 10th time that he has captained the Bees in a competitive match, and the third time in the EFL Cup. The Bees are undefeated in that 3-game stretch.

What was different

Plenty of lineup changes

Andrews made 9 changes to his starting lineup from the Aston Villa game on the weekend, giving valuable minutes to a number of players. Valdimarsson made his first start of the season. Henry and Aaron Hickey were welcome sights on the wings, Onyeka started and played well and Ethan Pinnock made his first appearance of the season.

Starting with a back 5

While the Bees finished the Villa game with a back 5, they haven't started a game with one this season. However, to make space for the players who most needed playing time, Andrews switched to a back 5 with Henry, Pinnock, Sepp van den Berg, Ajer and Hickey. Officially, the team played a 3-4-1-2 formation, but we classify it as a back 5 based on the personnel and how they defended. Thomas Frank famously used a back 5 against strong opposition, especially in Brentford's first season in the Premier League. Versatility has been a common word from Andrews, typically in terms of how and where a given player might play – perhaps he's taking the same approach more broadly, and ensuring that the team can line up in a variety of different ways.

Brentford goal contributions