Nathan Collins racked up a century of Premier League appearances on the weekend, as Brentford beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park, and the Irish centre-back marked the milestone with a wonderful show.The rangy defender has been implausible for the Bees to this point in 2024/25 and his numbers towards the Eagles on Sunday showcased his wide-ranging ability set.
Voted as Sky Sports activities’ Man of the Match, Collins celebrated his a centesimal top-flight look in fashion and, within the course of, turned one in all solely eight gamers born in 2001 or later to achieve a century of Premier League video games.
The one outfield participant to finish greater than 1000 correct passes for the Bees this season, Collins’ calm distribution is vital to Thomas Frank’s facet and he completed with the very best cross completion fee (88 per cent) of any participant on the pitch at Selhurst Park.
Collins has established himself as one of many prime performers within the Premier League this season throughout plenty of defensive stat classes, and his 11 clearances towards the Eagles took him to 127 in whole for Brentford this time period – solely Everton’s James Tarkowski (132) and Nottingham Forest’s Murillo (138) have made extra.
Collins additionally logged one deal with because the final man (as did Keane Lewis-Potter) to assist blunt a harmful Palace assault led by the in-form Jean-Philippe Mateta, and the Irish defender’s supervisor Frank – who was himself celebrating 300 video games in command of the Bees – afterwards acknowledged that his facet had “defended brilliantly all through the sport”.
For those who throw Collins’ two key passes into the combination, the 23-year-old made a distinction at each ends of the pitch in south London and his evolution since becoming a member of Brentford in the beginning of final season marks him out as some of the improved defenders within the Premier League.
Elsewhere, Bryan Mbeumo stored his 100 per cent report for the Bees from the spot intact… however solely simply! The Cameroon worldwide transformed from 12 yards on the second time of asking on Sunday, his first effort towards the submit was disregarded because of Palace gamers encroaching into the field.
Yoane Wissa actually had little doubt that Mbeumo would rating his second try – the DR Congo striker ran off with arms aloft even earlier than his strike companion had despatched Dean Henderson the incorrect means from the spot – and his confidence in his team-mate was not misplaced.
He could have ridden his luck towards Palace however Mbeumo retains his good report from the spot within the prime flight and, amongst these with good penalty data within the Premier League, solely a trio of gamers have scored extra spot-kicks than Mbeumo’s 9: Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (12/12), Yaya Toure (11/11) and Raúl Jiménez (10/10).
Mbeumo’s 14th league strike of the season means he and Wissa have now plundered 25 Premier League objectives between them this season, and the type of Kevin Schade should not go unnoticed.
The 23-year-old was injured within the technique of bravely heading residence the Bees’ second purpose and their eventual match-winner, and the German worldwide now has seven objectives for Brentford this season; his minutes-per-goal ratio within the Premier League is at present a formidable 179 mpg.
Schade’s header got here courtesy of a cross from Brentford’s midfield creator Mikkel Damsgaard, who stays joint-fourth within the prime flight for assists this season – solely Mo Salah (13), Bukayo Saka (9) and Antonee Robinson (9) have equipped extra within the division.
All in all, the Palace victory marked a wonderful afternoon for the Bees and they’re going to hope to take care of their momentum towards London rivals Tottenham and West Ham of their subsequent two video games.
