Griffin Park’s last Cup tie and a sign of changing times, in more senses than one. For Brentford, a chance to blaze their club’s impressive development by knocking out one of the country’s best teams in front of a national television audience; a chance to etch one more memory in the fading chronicle of their grand old ground before a move to Kew Bridge this summer. It was an opportunity they passed up, in favour of keeping some fresh legs for their Championship game against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.
For the rest of us it was a salutary lesson in just where this competition now sits in the order of things. There was certainly no lack of buzz, particularly in the dying minutes, as Brentford strained for an equaliser, roared on by a packed crowd. There was no lack of effort or passion from the makeshift Bees XI, who after going an early goal down hounded and pressed Leicester and might even have snatched a replay at the death.
You just wondered how much better a spectacle this might have been if Brentford had sent a proper team out.
Brendan Rodgers, for his part, named a reasonably strong lineup. Perhaps this is why he has not lost any of his last 32 domestic cup games, a run that stretches back to 2015 with three different clubs.
Rodgers played to win. Brentford’s Thomas Frank, on the other hand, openly admitted he played not to draw. “I don’t understand how we can have replays,” he said. “I love the FA Cup, I love the tradition and the culture, but replays are killing the tournament a little bit.”
The result was nine changes: Kamohelo Mokotjo and Julian Jeanvier the only first-team regulars, the rest boasting nine league starts this season between them. Once Kelechi Iheanacho put Leicester ahead in the fourth minute, an emphatic finish after a sumptuous diagonal ball from Dennis Praet to right-back James Justin, an embarrassment briefly threatened.
The home side were all over the shop in those early minutes. Even a second-string Brentford were better than this, and gradually they began to show it. Emiliano Marcondes hit the side-netting after a lovely bit of skill from Joel Valencia. Halil Dervisoglu curled the ball just wide.
The crowd began to find its voice. Yet the agreeable openness of the game was suiting both sides: the sharp Ayoze Pérez almost doubled Leicester’s lead towards the end of the half, a goal that would probably have put the tie to bed.
Instead the second half proceeded in a sort of holding pattern: Leicester not quite secure enough in their lead to relax, Brentford not quite incisive enough to make them worry. There were occasional flickers: Dervisoglu hit the post with a delicate flick, while set pieces were a frequent source of danger. With eight minutes left, Luka Racic’s volley forced a brilliant reflex save from Danny Ward. That was as close as Brentford would come.
Full time came with handshakes and hugs. The two Turks, Dervisoglu and Caglar Soyuncu, embraced warmly. Rico Henry won the race for James Maddison’s shirt. But for the neutral, perhaps a little regret too: a sense of what-might-have-been had both sides been at full-strength. The free-scoring Ollie Watkins going at Jonny Evans. Said Benrahma trying his luck against Ben Chilwell.
As it was, Leicester go through to round five and Frank was spared his replay. It is, as they say, simply the way of things.
