Ivan Toney’s struggles in front of goal continued as Brentford played out a goalless Premier League draw with Fulham.
England striker Toney registered just one shot on target – and two in total – as he drew a blank for the 10th Premier League game in succession.
But Bees boss Thomas Frank backed Toney to rediscover his goalscoring touch soon.
“There are spells for any striker where they don’t score in a period of time and then they’ll do it again,” Frank told BBC Match Of The Day.
“Ivan is a top player and he will score again soon.”
Raul Jimenez had Fulham’s best chance when he was picked out by Adama Traore’s low cross but contrived to miss the target from close range.
Bryan Mbeumo hit the crossbar for the Bees who also had a decent shout for a penalty turned down after Yoane Wissa appeared to be bundled over by Sasa Lukic.
Fulham moved up to 12th spot ahead of Brighton on goal difference, although the Seagulls have two games in hand, while Brentford remain 16th.
Quiet day for Toney
Brentford’s top-flight status had already been secured while Fulham’s bid to finish in the European places was over.
It meant there was little to play for at the Gtech Community Stadium beyond three points and bragging rights for two clubs situated only a handful of miles apart in west London.
That allowed both sides to play with a level of attacking freedom, and there was a degree of intensity to the contest.
However, there was also lack of quality in and around the penalty box and among those to have a subdued afternoon in that regard was Toney.
The 28-year-old scored four goals in the first five games when he returned to action at the end of January following an eight-month suspension for betting offences.
Since he scored in a 4-1 defeat by Liverpool on 17 February there has been a goal for England in a mid-March friendly international against Belgium, but nothing for the Bees.
He is now on his joint longest run without a goal having also gone 10 games without finding the net between February and April 2019 while at Peterborough United.
In truth, Toney saw little of the ball against Fulham and, starved of service from his team-mates, largely coasted through a game with little at stake.
It remains to be seen whether Toney shows enough in Brentford’s remaining two games to squeeze into Gareth Southgate’s 26-man England squad for Euro 2024.
Player of the match
CollinsNathan Collins
Brentford
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Squad number22Player nameCollins
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Squad number24Player nameDamsgaard
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Squad number5Player namePinnock
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Squad number12Player nameReguilón
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Squad number6Player nameNørgaard
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Squad number9Player nameSchade
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Squad number19Player nameMbeumo
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Squad number1Player nameFlekken
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Squad number27Player nameJanelt
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Squad number30Player nameRoerslev
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Squad number23Player nameLewis-Potter
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Squad number11Player nameWissa
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Squad number20Player nameAjer
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Squad number33Player nameYarmoliuk
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Squad number15Player nameOnyeka
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Squad number17Player nameToney
Fulham
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Squad number19Player nameRodrigo Muniz
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Squad number17Player nameLeno
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Squad number22Player nameIwobi
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Squad number20Player nameWillian
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Squad number3Player nameBassey
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Squad number10Player nameCairney
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Squad number31Player nameDiop
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Squad number21Player nameCastagne
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Squad number26Player nameJoão Palhinha
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Squad number18Player nameAndreas Pereira
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Squad number28Player nameLukic
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Squad number33Player nameRobinson
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Squad number11Player nameTraoré
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Squad number14Player nameDe Cordova-Reid
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Squad number8Player nameWilson
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Squad number7Player nameJiménez
Line-ups
Brentford
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Flekken
- 20AjerSubstituted forRoerslevat 45+3′minutes
- 22Collins
- 5Pinnock
- 12ReguilónBooked at 67mins
- 24DamsgaardSubstituted forSchadeat 82′minutes
- 6NørgaardSubstituted forOnyekaat 82′minutes
- 27JaneltSubstituted forYarmoliukat 66′minutes
- 19Mbeumo
- 17Toney
- 23Lewis-PotterSubstituted forWissaat 66′minutes
Substitutes
- 7Maupay
- 9Schade
- 11Wissa
- 13M Jorgensen
- 14Ghoddos
- 15Onyeka
- 30Roerslev
- 31Valdimarsson
- 33Yarmoliuk
Fulham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 17Leno
- 21Castagne
- 31Diop
- 3BasseyBooked at 89mins
- 33Robinson
- 26João Palhinha
- 28LukicSubstituted forCairneyat 75′minutes
- 22IwobiSubstituted forWilsonat 90+3′minutes
- 18PereiraSubstituted forDe Cordova-Reidat 75′minutes
- 20WillianSubstituted forTraoréat 64′minutes
- 19Muniz CarvalhoSubstituted forJiménezat 64′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Rodák
- 2Tete
- 7Jiménez
- 8Wilson
- 9Broja
- 10Cairney
- 11Traoré
- 13Ream
- 14De Cordova-Reid
- Referee:
- Graham Scott
- Attendance:
- 17,090
Live Text
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Match ends, Brentford 0, Fulham 0.
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Second Half ends, Brentford 0, Fulham 0.
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Attempt blocked. Antonee Robinson (Fulham) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tom Cairney.
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Attempt missed. Kevin Schade (Brentford) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Frank Onyeka with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Brentford. Conceded by Issa Diop.
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Nathan Collins (Brentford) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Raúl Jiménez (Fulham).
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Offside, Brentford. Bryan Mbeumo is caught offside.
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Substitution, Fulham. Harry Wilson replaces Alex Iwobi.
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Corner, Brentford. Conceded by Issa Diop.
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Calvin Bassey (Fulham) is shown the yellow card.
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Corner, Brentford. Conceded by Raúl Jiménez.
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Corner, Brentford. Conceded by Calvin Bassey.
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Corner, Brentford. Conceded by Timothy Castagne.
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Substitution, Brentford. Frank Onyeka replaces Christian Nørgaard.
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Substitution, Brentford. Kevin Schade replaces Mikkel Damsgaard.
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Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Mark Flekken.
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Attempt saved. Adama Traoré (Fulham) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Tom Cairney.
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Attempt blocked. Antonee Robinson (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Nathan Collins.