Ivan Toney’s run without a Premier League goal extended to seven games as Brentford and Brighton played out a dull draw.
Toney was denied by Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen with one good chance and has now failed to score for Brentford since 17 February.
The 15th-placed Bees are winless in five home league games and six points above the relegation places.
Brighton produced few chances of their own despite dominating possession and stay ninth in the table.
While the Seagulls saw much more of the ball, the hosts created the better opportunities at Brentford Community Stadium.
Yoane Wissa flashed a shot wide of the near post following a slick team move down the left, before Toney turned his man in the area but could not get the power on his left-footed shot to trouble Verbruggen.
The biggest talking point came in first-half stoppage time, when the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) called on-pitch official Andy Madley to the monitor after Wissa appeared to pull down Brighton captain Lewis Dunk in the box.
In a rare occurrence, however, Madley stuck with his original call and gave no penalty – much to Dunk’s disbelief.
The second half provided no breakthrough either, with Danny Welbeck denied by a fine last-gasp block from Kristoffer Ajer before the Brighton striker poked a shot narrowly wide.
A point still left Brentford with a chunky gap above the relegation zone following Luton’s defeat at Arsenal, while Brighton missed the chance to move up to seventh and into a European place.
Toney short on goals and confidence
While Brentford are continuing to put points between themselves and the bottom three, they are doing so slowly and unconvincingly.
A major factor in their poor form has been a lack of goals from Toney.
While he continues to play a key role in building their attack and forming a flowing partnership with Wissa, here the England international seemed uncharacteristically short of confidence in the opposition box.
Toney also continued to struggle after the break, blazing a free-kick well over from a promising position.
Brentford will hope their main man can rediscover his scoring touch before the end of the campaign – as will Toney himself, with a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad at Euro 2024 on the line.
A spark for the Bees comes in the return to fitness of Bryan Mbeumo, who came off the bench here. The Cameroon forward has not started a match since suffering an ankle injury in the fixture at Brighton in December.
–BBC
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