Brentford 0-1 Bristol City: Thomas Frank's first game as Bees boss ends in defeat
- Published
Niclas Eliasson's winner against Brentford was his first league goal for Bristol City
Thomas Frank's first match as Brentford head coach ended in defeat as Niclas Eliasson's late goal gave Bristol City victory at Griffin Park.
The 22-year-old Swedish winger volleyed home at the far post in the 88th minute, after Chris Mepham had been sent off for the Bees.
The Wales defender was shown a red card with half an hour still to play after receiving two bookings, the second of which was for a foul on Eliasson.
Brentford had been the better team before that point, with Neal Maupay wasting a glorious chance to score when he miscued from inside the six-yard box.
Max O'Leary, making his league debut for Bristol City, also made a string of fine saves to keep out Maupay and Ollie Watkins, who also hit the post.
And they were made to rue the missed opportunities as Frank, in charge for the first time since replacing Dean Smith as boss, was left to oversee a sixth Bees match without a win.
City striker Matty Taylor had two goals ruled out for offside before half-time but there was no questioning Eliasson's late strike, which ended the Robins' own five-game winless run.
Bristol City boss Lee Johnson told BBC Radio Bristol:
"I think professionalism, we had to respect we were against a good side, we probably gave them a bit too much, they've a lot of quality individuals, but we stuck in there.
"There was a bit of a changing of the guard when we there was an injury, we were able to pull them in have a word with them, tell them to trust their training and have a bit of belief.
"We picked up from then on, and until the sending off it was 'even-stevens'. We saw the game out very well after the goal and if I'm being critical we didn't have enough end product in very good areas."
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank told BBC Radio London:
"The red card was harsh, both yellows were borderline. With the second one, because he's running in front of Chris Mepham and you just need a small contact to go down, I've seen those given.
"The first yellow is the big mistake, Chris Mepham ran in to protect our player who was being kicked on the floor, the referee should have handled that better.
"That [red card] changed the momentum of the game. If we'd continued 11 v 11 we would have won in the end."
