MY ACCOUNT
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank struggled to find the words to describe Ivan Toney after he fired Brentford to a dramatic 2-1 win at Manchester City, declaring: ‘what a striker!’
Toney was overlooked when Gareth Southgate named England’s World Cup squad this week, but he responded in outstanding fashion by scoring twice in a famous win for the Bees.
Having latched onto Josh Dasilva’s cross to score a dramatic winner eight minutes into stoppage time, Toney has reached double figures for Premier League goals this season, scoring two or more goals in three separate games.
Speaking to BT Sport after masterminding Brentford’s victory, Frank hailed Toney’s performance and praised his side for keeping City talisman Erling Haaland quiet.
“He’s fantastic,” Frank said of Toney. “I can’t praise him enough. What I would say is the most important thing is how good a person he is, how emotionally intelligent he is around his team-mates.
“Then of course, what a player, what a striker! Scoring two goals, he should probably have had one more. Imagine having a hat-trick here at the Etihad, I thought that was only for Haaland!
“We spoke before the game about how to eliminate Haaland, but I think we did it perfectly. We tried to stop the sources into him, then when the ball came into the box, we defended it brilliantly.”
Toney has now scored 22 Premier League goals for Brentford, more than double the tally recorded by any other player for the club (Yoane Wissa is second with 10).
Having fired Brentford to their first win at City since 1937, Toney said he would not let his disappointment at missing the World Cup affect his displays.
“Listen, the only thing is to keep doing well, keep doing my best for the team and who knows what can happen,” Toney said.
“I mean, obviously it’s a disappointment but I know what I’m capable of, I won’t let it put me down, I’ll just keep going and keep doing well for Brentford.
“The motivation is the boys in the dressing room and the fans, as you can see. When you work hard, it’s all you can do.”
