Brentford 0-0 Brighton: Roberto De Zerbi’s side suffer setback in race for Europe after blunt draw at Thomas Frank’s Bees

There was a moment midway through the second half when his side cheaply gave the ball away and Roberto De Zerbi sank to the floor of his dugout in frustration.

In a week where Brighton announced record profits and where he has been linked with the Bayern Munich job and provisionally ruled out of the running for the Liverpool vacancy, this was the kind of evening that summed up the inconsistency of Brighton’s injury-plagued season as they missed a glorious chance to go up to seventh and into the European places.

With owner Tony Bloom in the away end, as is customary given his longstanding feud with Brentford owner Paul Benham, he would have seen a side playing with a distinctive style and certainly not lacking in effort but crucially lacking quality in the final third.

Not since September have they won consecutive games in the Premier League and the likelihood is that if they can’t patch a run together, there will be no European trips – the kind which have given those fans memories for life – next season.

You only really appreciate something when it’s gone. Perhaps the same will be said about De Zerbi who has made clear that Brighton’s ambitions must match his.

Many have started speculating about the destination of Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi 

‘I am pleased because we are playing like Brighton but I am disappointed with the result,’ said De Zerbi. ‘We had 24 shots and created six clear chances to score, so in my head we lost two points,’ he added.

As for Brentford, this was another crucial point that put them six clear of Luton in 18th.

‘A good point,’ said Thomas Frank. ‘It’s a point that we’ve missed a lot of times this season. If you can’t win then don’t lose,’ added the Brentford manager.

In his programme notes, Frank insisted that he would have lost faith in the football gods had his side not equalised in the 99th minute against Manchester United on Saturday.

‘We destroyed them in many ways with 31 shots and more than 80 touches in their box,’ said Frank but unsurprisingly, there was none of that domination against De Zerbi’s side who had 67 per cent possession.

Frank named an unchanged side while De Zerbi made four changes from Brighton’s defeat at Anfield, including a return from injury for top scorer Joao Pedro and though the visitors dominated possession, it was the home side who had the best chances of the first half.

Yoane Wissa fired wide when he should have tested Bart Verbruggen from inside the box before Ivan Toney turned past Jan Paul van Hecke but could only prod the ball straight into the hands of Verbruggen.

The key moment of the contest came on the brink of half-time as Andy Madley became just the second referee this season not to overturn their decision after getting sent to the VAR monitor to check for a possible penalty.

Michael Oliver on VAR duty advised Madley to review his decision after Wissa dragged Lewis Dunk down but Madley did not award a penalty as Dunk had tried to drag Wissa down seconds earlier. Instead, he awarded Brentford a free kick for the initial foul.

‘A fantastic decision,’ Frank insisted. ‘The referee was correct but I’ve never seen a referee go to VAR and not change the decision so I learnt something new today,’ said De Zerbi.

The decision was refreshing and a collector’s item but the Brighton players were initially incensed with Dunk and co making their feelings clear to Madley when the half-time whistle was blown. 

Both managers turned to the bench in a bid to make the breakthrough and Danny Welbeck was denied a late winner as Kristoffer Ajer made a superb last-ditch block and celebrated as if he had scored. De Zerbi dropped to the floor again and put his hands over his face. There was still time for Welbeck to miss two more chances to add to the frustration before Madley called time.