LONDON : Brentford manager Thomas Frank heaped praise on Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa after the attacking duo notched their 18th and 16th league goals of the season respectively in an action-packed home win against Brighton on Saturday.
“That’s an incredible achievement from the two of them,” Frank said after Mbeumo scored two and Wissa one against Brighton.
“All praise due the two of them for the hard work, how much they push, and then of course to my staff, and then I think a little bit to the way we play.”
Mbeumo was the liveliest player on the pitch on Saturday and scored in the ninth minute before Wissa set him up again just after half time. Mbeumo repaid the favour soon after with a smart cut-back assist for Wissa to score his side’s third.
Brentford are the only team in the Premier League this season to have two players on 15 goals or more, a mark crossed last week when Wissa helped the Bees draw 1-1 with Arsenal.
For his part, Mbeumo moved up to joint-fourth in the league top scorer rankings on Saturday.
“I’m very happy that he’s shining,” Frank said. “It’s a duo, of course, him and Wissa. Wissa is fantastic. He has scored actually more open-play goals than Brian still. But Brian is the penalty taker, unbelievable at penalties, assists, work ethic, an unbelievable player.”
Achieving European football next season would help Frank ensure Mbeumo and Wissa remain at Brentford, with major clubs sure to be interested. The west London side are currently 11th on 46 points but the table remains very tight.
“If you want to have any hope of European dreams or ambitions, we had to win today,” Frank said. “Now there’s five games to go, extremely interesting end to the season. We look forward to that.”
