Just hours after receiving his first call-up to the Brazilian national team, Igor Thiago threatened to turn a cold and dark west London into his very own futsal playground and fire Brentford within touching distance of the top six.
But he and his Bees stung too early and, after leading Wolves by two goals in a pulsating opening 45 minutes, were brought crashing back down to earth with a 2-2 draw.
Keith Andrews can have no complaints. His side deservedly soared into a commanding two-goal lead, but allowed these courageous visitors to claw one back through Adam Armstrong on the cusp of half-time with a well-taken strike.
And they were ultimately made to pay when Tolu Arokodare nodded home after 78 minutes, meaning Wolves extended their unbeaten Premier League streak to three matches after beating Liverpool and Aston Villa before Monday’s clash.
For the Black Country boys, it is unlikely that their fortunes will change, but they are going down to the Championship with the mightiest of fights. Perhaps they can even hoist themselves off the Premier League canvas before the end of the season.
Andrews’ side still have plenty to play for, too. While they could have moved to just one point behind Chelsea with a victory to put serious pressure on Liam Rosenior’s men, they are still hunting for European football for the first time in their 137-year history.
Igor Thiago scored Brentford’s second goal after receiving his first call-up to the Brazil team
It took Brentford 22 minutes to open the scoring but Mikkel Damsgaard could have done so after 11 minutes when he met a fizzing cross by Dango Ouattara before firing over the bar.
Instead it was Michael Kayode who, midway through the first half, guided an exquisite Keane Lewis-Potter cross in with his head. Left-back-to-right-back. Poetry in motion.
Thiago doubled the advantage but much of the hard work was done by Ouattara, who brought down a Caoimhin Keller long-kick with aplomb to give his striker a tap-in.
Disappointingly for Andrews his midfield were sliced open far too easily at points and were made to pay on the stroke of half time when Armstrong curled in a lovely finish to grab his first Wolves goal.
Arokodare’s equaliser was no less than they deserved in the end, and he could have had another when his header minutes later crashed off the crossbar. Armstrong, too, hit the post.
‘I think we could’ve taken all three points today,’ Edwards said. ‘I’m really proud of the way the players fought back.’
Andrews said he was ‘very frustrated’ with the way his side failed to manage the game, but added that he was ‘really proud of’ Thiago for receiving a Brazil call-up.
