Proud Andrews hails Brentford’s ‘defensive masterclass’

Keith Andrews described Brentford’s defending as a “masterclass” after they won 1-0 at Aston Villa with 10 men.

Dango Ouattara scored in first-half stoppage time – shortly after Kevin Schade had been sent off.

Schade was red-carded for pushing his studs into the midriff of Villa full-back Matty Cash.

The visitors had been excellent up to that point, but the sending-off seemed like an invitation to the home side to take control.

But Ouattara fired into the top corner to send Brentford in at half-time leading, and they kept Villa at bay after the interval.

“I thought it was a defensive masterclass in the second half,” Bees boss Andrews declared.

“The desire to stop the ball going in the back of the net was immense.”

Former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham thought he had equalised, but his goal was disallowed after a four-minute VAR check which established that the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.

Brentford’s win was fully deserved – and lifted them to seventh in the table.

“To say the performance was pleasing would be an understatement. It’s just immense pride at what the players produced,” said Andrews.

“The manner of the victory – obviously we’re going down to 10 men, and how difficult the place this is to come to, it makes it a pretty special result.”