James McClean was instrumental in Stoke's opener and scored their second goal
Stoke City held off a late Brentford rally to extend their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.
The Potters had seemed set for a serene victory on the hour mark when Tyrese Campbell added to first-half goals from Steven Fletcher and James McClean to put them firmly in control.
But Marcus Forss pulled one back with a cool finish and added a second in stoppage time to leave Stoke relieved to hear the whistle.
Victory moved Stoke up to eighth while Brentford, below par until their late revival, slipped to 12th.
Brentford had failed to contain Stoke for much of the game, particularly Republic of Ireland winger McClean, who produced a virtuoso first-half display for the hosts.
His rampaging run led to Campbell crossing for Fletcher to nod home a close-range opener and McClean almost teed up a second for Jacob Brown, who headed straight at Bees keeper David Raya.
Another McClean spurt made it 2-0 as his shot deflected in off Brentford defender Charlie Goode and when Campbell was allowed time and space to curl in from 20 yards, the points appeared safe.
However, substitute Forss had other ideas, taking a reverse ball from seven-goal top scorer Ivan Toney in his stride to slot past Adam Davies and reduce the deficit just six minutes after coming on.
Forss capitalised on defensive hesitancy to give Brentford real hope in the 91st minute and the Bees almost pinched a point when Henrik Dalsgaard's header drifted wide at the death.
It was another day to forget in the Potteries for Brentford, who have never won at Stoke in 14 attempts and suffered a damaging defeat there in July that hindered their automatic promotion bid.
Stoke manager Michael O'Neill told BBC Radio Stoke:
"It's a very good three points but we made it a bit more difficult for ourselves. It's a poor mistake for the second goal but there's a lot of positives for us.
"We handled the game excellently and always looked a threat. Our front three were terrific.
"Brentford had nothing to lose at three down. They changed their system and the game became stretched and we came under pressure but managed to close out the three points."
Brentford boss Thomas Frank:
"On the day we lost to a better team overall.
"We started very slow in the first half, played with no initiative, no tempo and too many touches.
"I said to the boys I thought it would be a 0-0 game which we would win 1-0 in the end, but for whatever reason it ended up 3-2. I think that's a little bit of freak result between these two teams."
