Brentford’s home form at the start of the season was league-leading, but they came into this game against an in-form Toffees having picked up just one point at the Brentford Community Stadium in 2025.
The Bees did start brightly though, with Jordan Pickford called into action to deny Keane Lewis-Potter and Yoane Wissa in the early stages.
Having soaked up some pressure, Everton responded with two bright moments of their own as Beto nearly got a touch on Jesper Lindstrøm’s dangerous header towards the target, before the former advanced on goal and saw his effort well saved by Mark Flekken.
After the confident Wissa had been denied by Pickford, the home side hit the front with the final action of the first half as Kevin Schade’s long throw into the area was headed onto the crossbar, before Wissa reacted quickest to head it into an empty net and give the Bees a half-time lead.
The goal just before the break ought to have set up an exciting second half with Brentford wanting to press home their advantage and Everton trying to find a way back into the contest.
However, it was a difficult watch for the most part with moments of attacking quality few and far between. With just over 20 minutes remaining, Wissa thought he had doubled the home side’s advantage when he fired a loose ball home from close range, but the linesman’s flag went up to end his celebrations.
Within the space of eight minutes, Brentford’s emotions went from one extreme to the other as a pinpoint cross into the area from Vitaliy Mykolenko found defender Jake O’Brien unmarked, and the youngster finished expertly with a diving header to open his account for Everton in style and draw the visitors level, setting up a thrilling finale in west London.
There was to be no further drama as Thomas Frank’s men were forced to settle for a draw which sees them miss the chance to keep pace with the European-chasing cluster of teams in mid-table.
Everton, meanwhile, extended their impressive unbeaten run to seven matches, and can surely now look forward to enjoying the remainder of their campaign without the fear of relegation hanging over them.