Mayhem. Complete and utter mayhem that, after 97 bonkers, breathtaking, brilliant minutes, left Ipswich Town fans wondering if their Premier League return is simply doomed.
Of course, the club’s analysts will pore over every minor detail in a bid to understand precisely what occurred in west London on Satuday. Mistakes will be turned into lessons for players to heed; videos will be watched and rewatched to pick the bones out of a performance that was, at various points, better than Kieran McKenna might have envisaged after losing a glut of key players on the eve of the game.
But after nine matches without a win, after throwing away a two-goal lead, after equalising with 10 men at the death only to see Bryan Mbeumo’s deep, loopy cross squirm its way into the net in the seventh minute of added time to give Brentford a 4-3 win, what other way is there for Ipswich supporters to make sense of it? Maybe it just isn’t meant to be.
In isolation, this was such a freak rollercoaster game that detailed answers probably should not be sought. But there comes a point at which repeated plucky endeavour must turn into points or else it is worthless. Call it Luton Town syndrome, if you like.
Rob Edwards’ team did not survive their sole season in the top flight and it is becoming increasingly difficult to see Ipswich doing anything other than making a similarly swift return to the Championship. Adventurous, brave, entertaining – yes. But porous. And, most importantly, winless.
“It was an incredible game,” said McKenna, who confirmed Chiedozie Ogbene had suffered a suspected achilles tear when he left on a stretcher after 35 minutes.
“It’s obviously a mixture of great pride in the performance on an individual level and team level. The quality, resilience that we’ve shown through a really challenging week led to so many good things in the performance.
“But of course it’s extreme disappointment, devastation about the late goal that means we don’t get any points for our efforts. We showed so many things today that are back on the right track. We showed our real identity as a team. I think, although we don’t have any points to show for it, it was a step in the right direction.”
Perhaps his counterpart, Thomas Frank, has unintentionally stumbled across an unlikely winning formula. Brentford had taken the lead in seven of their previous eight league games, before throwing away a league-high 11 points from those positions; an alarming statistic following the unwanted record of squandering 30 points after taking the lead last season. Then again, maybe this was just one of those peculiar, unexplainable encounters. Before what appears to be a distinctly hospitable run of games in November, the hosts are now into the top half of the table.
“We are in the entertainment business, so I thought we had to give you a bit for your money,” joked Frank, who admitted that Brentford had produced “40 of our worst minutes in the Premier League” to start the game.
By that point, his side were two goals down, Ipswich striking twice in three minutes on the counterattack through Sam Szmodics and George Hirst’s excellent finishes.
From fleeting elation, the familiar flat feeling soon returned for the travelling contingent. With half-time approaching, the ever-lively Keane Lewis-Potter began a move that culminated in Yoane Wissa burying a first-time strike.
Two minutes later, parity was restored when Wissa’s shot from a tight angle came off Harry Clarke to go down as an own goal.
Clarke’s first Premier League start quickly turned into a nightmare. Soon after half-time he dragged down Lewis-Potter for what was initially deemed a free-kick but then upgraded to a penalty by the VAR. Mbeumo confidently smashed home the spot-kick.
Clarke was booked for his troubles and his disastrous day ended early when Lewis-Potter drew him into another rash challenge, prompting a second yellow card.
Despite Brentford’s dominance, Ipswich thought they had grabbed the unlikeliest of points when Leif Davis’s brilliant cross allowed substitute Liam Delap to convert. But their joy, again, was short-lived.
Mbeumo’s cross in injury time evaded everyone and Delap’s strike in the final few seconds cannoned off the Brentford post to the heartache of the travelling fans. “Football is relentless,” summarised a relieved Frank.
