Kyle Edwards’ brilliant goal on his first league start was enough to keep West Brom in the automatic promotion chase with a 1-0 win at Brentford.
The youngster skipped past four challenges on a surge into the box to clip the ball over Bees keeper Luke Daniels for what proved to be the winner six minutes after the break.
It was a tale of two keepers in a wind-affected affair at Griffin Park, with Brentford’s Luke Daniels and Baggies stopper Sam Johnstone pulling off a series of breathtaking saves to keep the score down.
The win kept West Brom in touch with the top two in the Sky Bet Championship and ended the Bees’ seven-game winning run at home.
Said Benrahma was first to get a shot on goal when he latched onto a Romaine Sawyers through-ball and fired off a low drive that keeper Johnstone parried to safety six minutes in.
Brentford mastered the swirling wind better in an end-to-end first half and the Algerian winger went close again after 20 minutes when his low drive after a patient Bees build-up was well
saved by Johnstone at the foot of his post.
Edwards was the liveliest for West Brom and had the Baggies’ first shot midway through the half, but his rising drive was always high and wide of the far angle.
A well-worked Brentford corner on the half hour almost broke the deadlock, Sergi Canos wriggling free from the byline to pull a low cross back to Julian Jeanvier, only for the centre-back to bundle the ball wide.
Bees defender Yoann Barbet tried his luck with a wind-assisted 30-yard effort that Johnstone parried to safety and the pair were direct combatants moments later in the best incident of a lively first half.
Johnstone was going the wrong way to deal with the Frenchman’s dipping free-kick, but adjusted to go full length and palm the ball behind for a corner.
West Brom will have counted themselves lucky to go in level at the break with the strong wind in their favour, but after the interval it was a more even affair.
And they were ahead soon after the restart thanks to Edwards’ entertaining effort.
Brentford hit back after the goal, with Canos twice forcing Johnstone into full-length saves from long-range efforts.
At the other end Daniels had to be on his toes to tip Ahmed Hegazi’s curling effort over the bar, the first of several superb saves that kept his side in the game.
Dwight Gayle was a thorn in the Bees side throughout the second half, incensing the home crowd with a string of free kicks in and around the Brentford box.
From one hotly disputed decision in the 67th minute, he drilled a low free-kick which was seen late by Daniels, but the home keeper reacted smartly to parry to safety at full stretch.
Daniels had to be at his very best five minutes later, punching another Gayle piledriver clear after again seeing it late through the wall.
Brentford dominated possession throughout the second half but West Brom defended well and had too much nous to let the lead slip.
