Andre Ayew gives Swansea play-off semi-final lead over Brentford after Rico Henry red card

Ayew's goal has given Swansea a 1-0 lead to take to Griffin Park on Wednesday
Action Images via Reuters

Brentford will have to come from behind to keep their Premier League dream alive after they were beaten 1-0 by Swansea in their Championship playoff semi-final first leg, on a night of controversy at the Liberty Stadium.

Andre Ayew, who had seen a penalty brilliantly kept out by David Raya, gave the Swans the advantage with a cracking 81st strike, but that goal came after Bees full-back Rico Henry had been shown a straight red card for a seemingly clean tackle.

Brentford had blown a golden chance to earn automatic promotion on the final day of the season but showed no early signs of a hangover, twice going close to an opener inside ten minutes, Said Benrahma heading wide at the back post before Ollie Watkins’ clever flick looked destined for the far corner, only for Erwin Mulder to claw it away.

At the other end, Rhian Brewster tested Raya with a vicious snapshot before Ayew beat the Bees’ keeper with a glancing header, only to see the ball come back off the woodwork, with Brewster somehow failing to turn the rebound home, though he may have been flagged offside anyway.

Henry was left in disbelief after being shown a straight red card on 65 minutes (Getty Images)

Benrahma might have put Brentford ahead on the stroke of half-time with what would have been a magnificent solo goal, but having done the hard part, driving between two defenders and weaving past a third, he fired over the bar.

Mathias Jensen missed a decent chance soon after the restart, sliding wide having been played in by Benrahma, while Ayew curled wide at the end of a flowing Swansea break.

Then came three minutes of high drama. First, Swansea were handed the chance to take the lead when Pontus Jansson fouled Brewster inside the box, but Ayew was denied by a terrific one-handed stop from Raya.

The visitors’ joy was short-lived though, as referee Keith Stroud made an awful decision to send Henry off for his challenge on Conor Roberts, the full-back sliding in at pace but clearly winning the ball.

At that point Brentford would surely have taken a draw, but Swansea saw an opportunity and found a priceless goal as Ayew lashed home after lovely build-up between Conor Gallagher and Jay Fulton.

Swansea pressed for the second that would have made a tough ask all the harder, but Brentford held on and will face just the one goal deficit going into the second leg at Griffin Park on Wednesday.

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