Brentford could have won this, if they had really wanted to. After a poor start, they hounded and pressed their
Premier League opponents for most of the game, carving out a few chances that on another day might have stuck for them. It was almost enough to make you wonder how they might have fared if they’d put a proper side out.
As it was, Griffin Park’s last ever cup tie before a move to a new stadium next season offered a sign of changing times, in more senses than one. For Brentford, a salutary lesson in the importance of squad depth should they make the leap to the big time next season. For the rest of us, a salutary lesson in just where this competition now sits in the order of things.