Rotherham United 0 Brentford 2 - Millers hit by late Bees sting

Prior to last night, the Rotherham United chief, who celebrated four years in charge of his beloved Millers last Saturday – no mean feat in the precarious modern-day world of management – had faced the Bees three times since taking over.

The consistency of his particular record is something he would prefer to gloss over.

En route to three losses, Warne’s Millers had shipped a combined total of 13 goals as the likes of Jota, Neal Maupay, Ollie Watkins and Kamohelo Mokotjo – no longer at Brentford – enjoyed themselves immensely.

Hopes that the current class would enjoy similar comfort were allayed for a fair portion of the evening with the Millers – buoyed by an excellent weekend performance against another well-fancied side in Bournemouth that Warne labelled as their best of the season – having other ideas.

Backing the performance up was the trick after the Millers proved that they could live with one of the division’s better teams in the Cherries.

But after playing the game on their terms in the first 55 minutes, things reverted to type against the Bees, who continued their exemplary record in South Yorkshire this term with a third successive win in these parts.

It was also their fourth successive victory against a side managed by Warne, even if this one was not as straightforward as the others.

Marcus Forss put them on their way three minutes before the hour mark with Brentford taking the sting out of the game eight minutes from time with their second from the penalty spot.

It resulted in the dismissal of unfortunate replacement Mickel Miller, who was on the pitch for just 12 minutes before being shown a second yellow card after bringing down fellow replacement Sergi Canos when he was through on goal.

Ivan Toney was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth and coolly tucked away his 13th goal of the campaign, seven days after netting at Oakwell.

Testament to the Millers’ previous assertion was that fact that Toney’s one significant moment before the visitors’ opener arrived in his own box when he got in the way of a downward shot from Jamie Lindsay which was spinning goalwards.

But Toney’s next key contribution was in a more familiar area when he supplied Forss for a clinical low finish and he then had his own moment later.

Given his side’s previous experiences against a Brentford side whose style of play does not alter – even though star players come and go – the sight of his Millers side not letting the Londoners getting into a passing rhythm will have pleased Warne prior to their concession.

The hosts were aggressive in their press and unrelenting in their commitment and won their fair share of second balls with Brentford unable to get going.

So impressive on Saturday, Lindsay was also involved in the half’s most clear-cut chance just before the break when he dispossessed Vitaly Janelt and supplied Matt Crooks, whose angled shot was beaten away by David Raya.

The only time that the Millers switched off arrived just after the half-hour when an intelligent corner routine caught them napping with the untracked Janelt firing off target when picked out on the edge of the box. But there was a lot more to be enthused about.

After putting in a colossal amount of effort in the opening 45 minutes, the hosts were mindful that another replication was likely to be a minimum requirement against a Brentford side who do not usually take long to show their quality if given the chance.

Rotherham set about the Bees with similar ferocity on the resumption, although Brentford did post a warning with Forss manufacturing space before seeing his shot blocked by Jamal Blackman for the Millers’ keeper’s first substantive save of the night.

At some point of the night, the odds were that the Millers would have to field a spell of pressure with Brentford showing signs of upping their game in the second half and so it proved in the game’s critical phrase.

Kept in check in the first half, Bryan Mbeumo fired over an inviting centre to pick out Toney, whose perceptive cut-back found Forss, who made no mistake from 12 yards out with a low finish.

Finally, Brentford started to find pockets of space as the Millers lost some initiative after putting so much into the first 55 minutes with the context of the game changing through Forss’s strike.

Warne threw on Miller and ex-Bees winger Florian Jozefzoon in his quest to find an energy rush, but the late surge came from Brentford as Miller’s night was cut short.

Rotherham United: Blackman; Harding, Wood, A MacDonald, Olosunde (Jozefzoon 71), Lindsay (Vassell 80), Wiles, Crooks, Mattock (Miller 71), Ladapo (Hirst 80), Smith. Substitutes unused: Johansson, Jones, A Thompson, Clarke, Barlaser.

Brentford: Raya; Fosu, Jansson, Pinnock, Henry; Jensen, Janelt, Dasilva (Marcondes 78); Mbeumo (Canos 74), Toney (Pressley 87), Forss (Ghoddos 87). Substitutes unused: Daniels, D Thompson, Sorensen, Hammar, Stevens.

Referee: T Robinson (West Sussex).

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.