WATFORD, England (Reuters) – Brentford defender Pontus Jansson scored in added time as they secured a 2-1 Premier League victory over Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday for their third straight win that piled the pressure on their relegation-threatened hosts.
Jansson powerfully headed in the 95th-minute winner from Christian Eriksen’s free kick, shortly after Watford’s Joshua King hit the post and Imran Louza fired the rebound wide from point-blank range, to spark wild celebrations among away fans.
Brentford’s victory followed their 4-1 thumping of Chelsea and a 2-0 victory over West Ham United last weekend and meant that they had sealed three straight league victories for the first time in the top flight since September 1946.
“Crazy, crazy finish. It was the third time we’ve won in the last minute. That is a credit to the boys and their character,” Brentford manager Thomas Frank told the BBC.
“Through the game, we gave very little away. First half, we were slightly better, second half, Watford were better than us, no doubt. Then you think, ‘OK, take a point if you can’t win, don’t lose’.
“… The supporters were amazing. Being in this position is remarkable. We came up through the playoffs, lowest budget, ‘bus stop in Hounslow’ all that. But doing what we’re doing is fantastic.”
Earlier, Christian Norgaard gave his side the lead from a well-worked set piece routine in the 15th minute as he tapped in Kristoffer Ajer’s flick on from Ethan Pinnock’s long throw into the box to silence the home supporters.
Watford, who are 19th in the table, barely threatened after the opener but came to life after the restart as Emmanuel Dennis beat the offside trap and blasted one past David Raya, with the goal awarded following a lengthy Video Assistant Referee check.
Roy Hodgson’s side pushed in search of a winning goal as the game wore on but they failed to find one that would have helped them avoid a 10th straight home league defeat and given them a big boost in their bid to avoid the drop to the Championship.
Watford have 22 points from 32 games ahead of next weekend’s trip to Manchester City while Brentford are 11th with 39 points and five matches remaining, starting with their home meeting against Tottenham Hotspur.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
