Joachim Andersen salvages point for Crystal Palace at Brentford

By Sports Desk August 26, 2023

Joachim Andersen’s equaliser secured Crystal Palace a 1-1 draw against unbeaten Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.

A first-half stunner from Kevin Schade gave the Bees an early lead before Andersen levelled in the 76th minute.

After a dominant 3-0 win away at Fulham last week, Thomas Frank’s men failed to put the game to bed which allowed the Eagles to claim a point in west London.

After a quiet start from both sides, Palace burst into life through the creative Eberechi Eze. The midfielder, recently linked with a move to Manchester City, hustled to win back the ball before feeding the marauding Odsonne Edouard who was dispossessed before testing Mark Flekken.

But it was the Bees who struck first in the 18th minute.

Schade picked up the ball on the left hand side before driving at the Palace backline and producing a spectacular curled strike into Sam Johnstone’s top-left corner, recording his first goal for the club.

Not long after, the heavens opened and the greasy surface favoured the elegant Mathias Jansen who sprayed the ball into attacking areas before a 38th-minute header from Yoane Wissa sailed over the bar.

Palace had looked flat all game and it was clear their only hope was through the dangerous Eze, who after 54 minutes slalomed his way through a wall of home defenders before being denied a penalty by referee Peter Bankes when he was brought down.

Soon after Edouard’s dipping free-kick tested Flekken, who was forced to make a stretched save to deny the striker.

And the Dutch keeper’s heroics continued in the following sequence when he denied Jefferson Lerma’s header from close range before Brentford scrambled to block Jordan Ayew’s rebound.

Palace’s persistence was rewarded 14 minutes from time.

Andersen played a one-two with Ayew before driving into the box where he beat Flekken to the ball with his sliding effort.

Brentford searched for a winner during five minutes added time but the Bees struggled to find the final pass.

Related items

  • Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner

    Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training. 

    Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term. 

    The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.

    She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.

    But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.

    "We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said. 

    "But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.

    "So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.

    "The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.

    "But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."

  • Haaland has 'full trust' in Guardiola to halt Man City slump Haaland has 'full trust' in Guardiola to halt Man City slump

    Erling Haaland has "full trust" in the "best manager in the world", Pep Guardiola, to get Manchester City back on track against Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday. 

    Guardiola's side have lost four matches in a row across all competitions, which is the Spaniard's longest losing run in his entire managerial career. 

    The Citizens last lost more consecutively between March and April 2006 under Stuart Pearce (six – the fifth game of which was also against Tottenham).

    But after putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract extension at the club earlier this week, Guardiola has his eyes firmly set on returning to winning ways on home soil. 

    And Haaland, who has scored 105 goals in 114 appearances under Guardiola at City, believes they can make up the gap to leaders Liverpool, who are five points ahead. 

    "When you look at what he's been doing for the club, he's not bad, is he? So he's got my full trust," Haaland told Sky Sports. 

    "And if he tells me something, I'd better do it because he knows the best in the end. Everyone knows that. So I'm sure he will find solutions now as well. I'm sure of that.

    "[Guardiola] demands us to be at our best in every training session, in every game. And that's what we need to do. It hasn't been good enough, losing four games now, but let's try to win the next."

  • Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run. 

    Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.

    The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.

    However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.

    Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang. 

    The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.

    Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand. 

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.