In Brentford’s final game before the March international break, the Bees fell to a 2-1 loss at Burnley. The result left them just four points above the drop zone.
There were real concerns they could be sucked into a relegation dogfight and ultimately return to the Championship. Fortunately for Brentford and head coach Thomas Frank, Bryan Mbeumo returned from a lengthy spell on the sidelines in the defeat at Turf Moor.
The 24-year-old had been absent owing to an ankle injury sustained in the 2-1 loss at Brighton back in December, and boy did the Bees miss the Cameroonian.
Much was made of Ivan Toney’s return to first team duties back in January but even if the England international has been solid following his availability after a ban, Mbeumo’s absence almost proved costly for the west London side.
This is evidenced in that Brentford have won only two of 16 league matches he hasn’t started this season, and one of those was Toney’s first game back follow his lengthy suspension as an inspired Brentford defeated Nottingham Forest 3-2 at the turn of the year.
By comparison, Frank’s side have won seven of 18 matches Mbeumo has started, with the win ratio rising from 12.5 per cent to 38.9 per cent. The number of goals scored per game increases from 1.19 to 1.83 when the wideman features from the outset, further signifying his importance to Brentford. Only Yoane Wissa (10) has scored more goals than Mbeumo (8) for the Bees this season, while the latter has registered more assists (5) than any of his teammates.
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