Brentford maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season with an entertaining 2-2 draw against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Both sides made a lively start, with Brentford’s Keane Lewis-Potter curling narrowly wide before Bournemouth’s António Silva headed Marcus Tavernier’s free-kick past the post.
After the early exchanges, the game settled down before Brentford eventually broke the deadlock. Kevin Schade, who scored a hat-trick in this fixture last season, gave the visitors the lead when he met Yegor Yarmolyuk’s cross with a header that Đorđe Petrović was unable to keep out.
Bournemouth responded strongly and nearly equalised immediately. Caoimhín Kelleher parried a shot from Justin Kluivert into the path of Rayan, but the Brazilian fired the rebound over the bar.
The Cherries did not have to wait long for their equaliser, however. Kluivert found himself in a good position inside the penalty area again and made no mistake this time, sending a low effort into the bottom corner.
Bournemouth continued to push forward and came close to taking the lead when Kluivert’s effort was tipped over by Kelleher. Silva then headed another Tavernier set-piece wide, while Alex Scott also fired over after combining with Evanilson.
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The hosts eventually got their reward when Evanilson laid the ball off for Tavernier, who fired a powerful strike into the bottom corner to put Bournemouth ahead.
Their advantage lasted only briefly, though, as a costly error from Petrović allowed Brentford back into the contest. The goalkeeper’s misplaced pass went straight to Schade, who calmly finished into an empty net to restore parity.
Bournemouth continued to look the more likely winners late on. Kelleher was forced to save another effort from Tavernier, while Rayan came close to scoring a third when his curling effort from the edge of the box drifted just wide.
Neither side could find a decisive goal, leaving Brentford unbeaten after four league matches with one win and three draws.
The result means Bournemouth remain without a Premier League victory over Brentford, having now recorded four draws and five defeats against the Bees. Brentford, meanwhile, extend their winless away run in the top flight to seven matches, with five draws and two defeats.
