Ivan Toney did his case for a call-up to England's World Cup squad no harm by scoring twice as Brentford beat Brighton 2-0 on Friday.
Toney's fine backheel opened the scoring midway through the first half before another assured finish from the penalty spot ended a three-game winless run for the Bees.
Toney was called into Gareth Southgate's squad last month, but did not get a minute on the pitch in games against Italy and Germany. On Friday, he moved level with Harry Kane as the top English goalscorer in the Premier League this season with eight on his 100th Brentford appearance.
The 26-year-old improvised to flick home Frank Onyeka's cross on 27 minutes. Brentford boss Thomas Frank rates Toney as the best penalty taker in the world and he was again faultless from the spot after Joel Veltman's mistimed lunge inside the box was punished.
"I feel good. I'm ready to go," he told Sky Sports. "Obviously everyone's talking about England. Obviously I was disappointed not to get on, but you've got to keep working hard.
"You're playing with the best of the best. Without being big-headed, I didn't feel out of place.
"I felt I was ready for that step and whenever it comes along and whenever I've got the chance to get minutes, I'm ready to take my opportunity."
Brighton, who were denied by some fine saves from Bees keeper David Raya, are still looking for a first win under new boss Roberto De Zerbi.
The Italian said: "It's difficult to explain this result. It's difficult for a coach to say it was a good game when we lost 2-0.
"We had a lot of potential chances. With the last pass we made mistakes.
"Maybe this is our problem. Against Tottenham it was the same. We shot a lot of the time but could not score."
Brentford v Brighton ratings
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BRENTFORD RATINGS: David Raya - 9. Did brilliantly to save efforts from Moises Caicedo and Joel Veltman. Also did well to punch away Pascal Gross’s cross. Did well to deal with Alexis Mac Allister’s deflected shot from range, then made superb stops to deny headers from Solly March and Lewis Dunk. Reuters -
Kristoffer Ajer - 6. Struggled against Pervis Estupinan and Leandro Trossard at times in the first half but showed persistence. Also made some good forays forward. Switched off as Brighton got behind once but the away side couldn’t capitalise. Getty -
Ethan Pinnock - 8. Was sat down by Trossard at one point but also made a great block to deny Welbeck. Made a great defensive header under pressure and provided a nice flick in the build-up to the penalty at the other end. Good clearance when Welbeck tried to touch the ball down in Brentford’s box. Getty -
Ben Mee - 8. Hardly put a foot wrong all night and made a brilliant block to deny Solly March. Did well to latch onto Bryan Mbeumo’s free-kick delivery but couldn’t get his header on target. Getty -
Rico Henry - 7. Did well to make things difficult when Danny Welbeck had a headed chance and also made some good runs forward. Made a brilliant recovery to stop the striker’s cross in the second half. Getty -
Vitaly Janelt - 7. Moved the ball well throughout the game and made a great block to deny Trossard when the Belgian had beaten Pinnock among other defensive contributions. Getty -
Frank Onyeka - 7. Couldn’t quite find the top corner with his early header, but put in a solid performance and brilliantly picked out Ivan Toney for the opener. PA -
Mathias Jensen - 6. Wasted a couple of free-kicks but played a good pass in the build-up to the opener. Booked for barging Veltman over while he tried to take a throw. His own long throw caused problems as Brentford won a penalty. Reuters -
Bryan Mbeumo - 7. Lost possession cheaply in the early stages and frustratingly saw an inventive shot that hit the crossbar. However, he persevered and made an impressive contribution for the opener and continued to cause problems for Brighton. AP -
Ivan Toney - 9. Got across Adam Webster and flicked the ball into the bottom corner for the opener. Couldn’t quite control Robert Sanchez’s pass after reading it well. Won and converted the penalty for Brentford’s second. Even made some good defensive contributions. Booked for a sliding tackle on Alexis Mac Allister. Getty -
Yoane Wissa - 6. Got some very good touches in and linked up with his teammates well but hit an ambitious attempt off target. Was dispossessed by Caicedo in a dangerous area. Reuters -
SUBS: Mads Roerslev (Wissa, 71’) – N/A. Was sat down by March moments after coming on but looked confident defensively after settling into the game. Had a shot blocked. Reuters -
Shandon Baptiste (Onyeka, 71’) – N/A. Pressed well although he waited too long on the ball on one occasion. Booked for a lunging tackle on Caicedo. Getty -
Sergi Canos (Mbeumo, 80’) – N/A. Showed good footwork and intelligence to win a free-kick, then conjured a nice flick to Josh Dasilva. PA -
Josh Dasilva (Jensen, 80’) – N/A. Delivered a great cross to cause problems for Brighton and cleared a corner, even if it wasn’t the most convincing clearance. Saman Ghoddos (Henry, 87’) – N/A. Getty -
BRIGHTON RATINGS: Robert Sanchez - 6. Had no chance of stopping Toney’s goals but got away with a shocking pass that was cut out by the striker. Did well to reach Lewis Dunk’s chest back ahead of Toney. Reuters -
Joel Veltman - 5. Caused plenty of frustration for Brentford, getting into three disagreements towards the end of the first half. Hit a good shot on the turn. Conceded the penalty by clumsily fouling Toney. PA -
Lewis Dunk - 6. Made some important early clearances and played a few lovely passes to get his side into promising positions. He was unable to stop the move forward for the opener. Got away with a poor attempt at chesting the ball back to his goalkeeper. Reuters -
Adam Webster - 5. Often struggled when facing Toney, giving away free-kicks and allowing the striker to get across him to score the opener. Clumsily chested the ball out of play by accident to relieve the pressure on Brentford. Made a good header to stop Toney getting the opportunity to score a hat-trick. Reuters -
Pervis Estupinan - 6. Dealt with an awkward ball well and made some great runs forward. While he couldn’t touch the ball into his stride from one of those, he played in a number of promising crosses. Getty -
Solly March - 6. Made a lot of intelligent runs to ask questions of Brentford’s backline and put in some good work to help out his defence. Was unlucky in front of goal as Mee made a great block to deny his strike before Raya did brilliantly to stop his header. AFP -
Alexis Mac Allister - 5. Had a couple of nervous moments with one pass hitting Welbeck and going into a concerning area, while he then lost the ball in a potentially dangerous situation but recovered well. Shot deflected off Trossard but was gathered well by Raya before he hit a far tamer one. AFP -
Moises Caicedo - 7. Made some great tackles on Mbeumo, played a lovely ball behind for Estupinan and hit a brilliant shot that forced Raya into an impressive save. Booked for a foul on Mbeumo and his frustration at the situation as the game progressed. PA -
Leandro Trossard - 6. Provided promising moments to create problems for Brentford, and specifically Ajer, but there was inconsistency in his end product as his touch let him down on one occasion, while he played a beautiful pass for Welbeck and beat Pinnock brilliantly before seeing his shot blocked. Getty -
Pascal Gross - 5, Showed a real lack of quality at times with a terrible free-kick delivery and poor through ball from promising positions. AP -
Danny Welbeck - 6, Held the ball up well at times but got off a disappointing header from a good opportunity, then sent another header over the crossbar. Reuters -
SUBS: Kaoru Mitoma (Estupinan, HT) - 6. Asked questions of Henry soon after coming on and continued to show intent with a nice pass through for Welbeck and the cross for March’s header. AFP -
Adam Lallana (Gross, 68’) - 6. Played a nice cushioned pass to March and got a decent header off but was denied by Raya. PA -
Deniz Undav (Trossard, 69’) - 5. Had a couple of shots blocked as he struggled to find any meaningful space. PA
