As it had to be, so it was. There were plenty of scares and bumps and wobbles along the way – and surely nobody was anticipating a brilliant Neal Maupay winner – but the story that always seemed probable eventually played out as the returning Ivan Toney brought Brentford their first win in 49 days, lifting them above Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace.
Toney, having been suspended for eight months for breaching Premier League gambling regulations, scored – “of course”, as the stadium announcer bellowed, after an unnervingly euphoric sprint through the stand – but more significant in easing Brentford’s relegation fears was how much more coherent they looked as an attacking force with him in the side.
Since Toney last played for Brentford, in a 1-0 defeat against Liverpool at the beginning of May, Manchester City have completed the treble, the venues for the next two World Cups have been decided, points deductions for breaches of profit and sustainability regulations have become a genuine threat, Chelsea have spent £400m and Jordan Henderson has moved to Saudi Arabia and come back again.
Brentford’s own situation has become significantly more precarious since then. They went into that game against Liverpool ninth and would finish the season 25 points clear of the bottom three. They went into Saturday’s fixture 16th and three points clear of the relegation places, although with a game in hand and the possibility that two of their immediate rivals in the fight against the drop, Forest included, could be facing points deductions.
Recent form has been dire, with five defeats in succession, a situation partly, perhaps largely, caused by the lack of attacking options, with Toney suspended and Bryan Mbuemo out with an ankle injury. With Yoane Wissa off playing for DR Congo at the Africa Cup of Nations, Brentford have a desperate need for Toney; Maupay may be a different beast in red-and-white to the insipid and indecisive figure he cut at Everton, but he’s not somebody in whose goals too many survival hopes can be invested.
Which makes Toney’s comments broadcast this past week about wanting to play for “a big club” and hinting at a move in this window a little uncomfortable, particularly given how he had previously spoken of his desire to repay Brentford for standing by him during his ban. Perhaps he was simply being honest, laying the groundwork for a potential move in the summer – he is, after all, 27 and his time out perhaps means he feels the unnerving breath of time more keenly upon the back of his neck than before – but still, this might have been an occasion for diplomacy.
Not that anybody at the Brentford Community Stadium seemed too bothered. Toney was treated to his own musical introduction, complete with clips of goals and moody cutaways of him standing in a shadowy tunnel. The live camera in the actual tunnel caught him giving a nervous glance to the side – seemingly at nothing but the red fascia – then at the referee’s signal he grinned broadly, took the tousle-haired mascot by the hand and said: “Come on.” He touched the grass as he walked over the line for the first time in eight months, crossed himself and walked with studied calm to take his place before the Premier League-branded arch on the pitch. As the crowd roared when his name was read out by the pitchside announcer, he barely flickered.
That one glance aside, everything said this was not a situation that fazed him, that he was ready to perform his duty to the narrative and lead Brentford’s drive to safety. But football can be capricious in that way, as perhaps that look to the side suggested he sensed. Within three minutes, Danilo had put Forest ahead with a goal of preposterous quality. “Ivan Toney,” chanted the gleeful Forest fans, “you should have cashed out.” He’ll hear similar plenty of times before the end of the season, you suspect.
Toney, though, is too robust a character to be knocked by that. A free-kick, 20 yards out, 19 minutes in, to the right of centre. The wall set, the expectation for a cross flicked to the back post. But Toney twice cleverly shifted the ball to the right after the wall was set and drove a low shot with just enough whip to bend round the edge of the wall and inside the post, a goal as smart in conception as it was in execution – even if Forest might wonder whether they needed to be quite so accommodating to the returning hero.
But with Toney it’s not just the goals. He holds the ball up well, is adept at using his backside to hold off defenders before laying the ball off for forwards running beyond him. Twice he did that just before the hour leading to chances, the second of which brought the corner from which Ben Mee headed Brentford’s second. And while he may not be noted for his work dropping deep, it was Toney’s ball out to the right that created the crossing opportunity for Mads Roerslev that led to Maupay’s winner.
The slide has been arrested, Toney is back – and so too are the Brentford of old.
