Report | Swansea City U21s 0 Brentford U21s 3
Ten-man Swansea City Under-21s suffered their first home defeat of the season, falling to Brentford in the Professional Development League at the Joma High Performance Centre.
A brace from Bees midfielder Luka Bentt and a goal from Chanse Headman gave the visitors the spoils.
The Swans were left to rue missed chances during a first half where they had the better of the chances, before a red card for Sebastian Dabrowski proved pivotal after an evenly contested opening hour.
The first chance fell to Brentford after 10 minutes, with Gbenankpon Boni advancing down the left before cutting the ball back to Bentt. The midfielder got away a first-time shot from 12 yards, but his effort flew well over the bar.
Up the other end, the Swans carved out a chance of their own when a ball into the box was initially headed clear by the Brentford defence, but the clearance fell to Caleb Demery, whose half-volley from just outside the area flashed wide of the left-hand post.
Brentford looked to impose a high press, but the Swans dealt with it well and repeatedly found space in behind. One neat passage of link-up play between Tom Woodward and Bates created another opening, with the latter curling an effort from 20 yards that deflected wide off a Brentford defender.
The Swans continued to look the more positive side going forward, with Zac Jeanes winning the ball well on the right before switching play with a superb cross-field pass to Demery, whose effort was well blocked by Headman.
The Swans then had defending of their own to do after their strong start, with Paris Maghoma showing quick feet to weave past several challenges, but Iestyn Jones recovered well to slide in and block his effort, turning it behind for a corner.
The best chance of the half fell to the visitors shortly before the interval. The Swans looked to break quickly, but a loose pass allowed the Bees to regain possession, with Bentt finding space on the edge of the area before firing a powerful effort towards the bottom corner. Evan Anderson was equal to it, however, getting down smartly to parry the strike behind.
The Swans were back on the front foot early in the second half when excellent pressure from Woodward saw him dispossess Myles Peart-Harris on the halfway line, sparking a two-on-one break with Bates to his right. Woodward slid the pass across, but Brentford goalkeeper Julián Eyestone stood tall, narrowed the angle, and pulled off a strong save.
They would soon rue that missed chance, as Brentford took the lead in the 59th minute. Isaac Holland picked up the ball on the left and played it into Bentt who aimed for the bottom corner and found the mark, beating Anderson to open the scoring.
Things went from bad to worse for the Swans moments later, as they were reduced to 10 when Dabrowski was shown a red card for pulling down Boni as the Brentford man ran through, an incident the referee deemed to be the denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity.
The numerical advantage soon told as Brentford doubled their lead with 20 minutes remaining. A cross to the far post from Luca Picotto was squared by substitute Oliver Shield to Bentt, who calmly slotted past Anderson from close range to make it 2-0.
The visitors came close to a third shortly after, when former Swan Peart-Harris drove into the area and pulled the ball back from the byline to Bentt. However, Callum Deacon recovered well, and a sliding defensive challenge saw the midfielder clear the ball for a corner.
The resulting set-piece proved costly for the Swans, as Iwan Morgan delivered an in-swinging ball to Headman, who powered a header past Anderson to add a third goal for the visitors.
Anderson kept the deficit to three in the closing stages, denying Bentt a hat-trick as the midfielder’s effort from inside the area was straight at the goalkeeper, who made a comfortable save.
Swansea City Under 21s: Evan Anderson, Zach Jeanes (Callum Jones 79), Seb Dabrowski, Dan Watts (Harlan Perry 79), Iestyn Jones, Blair Mckenzie (Carter Heywood 79), Josh Pescatore, Tom Woodward, Morgan Bates, Yori Griffith, Caleb Demery (Callum Deacon 65).
Unused substitutes: Tom Wright.
Brentford Under 21s: Julian Eyestoe, Maxwell Mcknight (Matas Klimas 79), Luca Picotto, Andre Grey, Chanse Headman, Isaac Holland (Oliver Shield 64), Luka Bentt, Gbenankpon Boni, Kyrie Pierre (Caelan Avenell 64), Myles Peart-Harris, Paris Maghoma (Iwan Morgan 64).
Unused substitutes: Theo Mawene.