No Toney, no problem as Brentford get past Crystal Palace
Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa once again stepped up in the absence of Ivan Toney as they fired Brentford to a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Toney was missing from the Bees squad, with head coach Thomas Frank admitting he had been left out amid "transfer interest".
But just as they had throughout much of the forward's eight-month ban for breaching betting rules last season, Mbeumo and Wissa filled the void in the Brentford attack to get their season up and running.
Palace were left fuming, however, after referee Sam Barratt controversially disallowed a goal from Eberechi Eze.
The midfielder curled a free-kick from out wide directly inside the near post, only for Barratt to penalise Will Hughes for a foul on Republic of Ireland centre-half Nathan Collins.
Replays showed there was no real offence but, according to a post on X from the Premier League, VAR Peter Bankes was unable to intervene as the whistle was blown before the ball hit the net.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner looked incredulous on the touchline as he remonstrated with the fourth official and his view was backed up at half-time by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp, who said: "You could have done a better tweet saying, 'The ref has had a nightmare'."
Glasner's mood darkened still further seconds later when, totally against the run of play, Wissa played in Mbeumo, who darted into the area, cut inside Marc Guehi on to his left foot and buried his shot into the corner.
The Eagles have their own transfer saga to deal with surrounding another England international, with Newcastle bidding to sign Guehi.
But they do not want to sell and pointedly made the 24-year-old centre-half captain in west London.
That is in sharp contrast to the Bees stance on Toney, who had a positive impact