Brighton and Hove Albion were held to a less than exciting goalless draw at the Amex and are now six games without a win.
But it could have been oh so different if Julio Enciso had converted a fairly simple chance in the fifth minute which instead he rattled against the post with the keeper stranded.
There were audible boos at the final whistle
The stalemate came after Albion controlled the early possession and Enciso had at least five first-half efforts on goal, all to no avail.
Brentford keeper Mark Flekken made good first-half saves from Carlos Baleba and Matt O’Riley.
In between, Brentford did have the ball in the net after a quick counter-attack enabled Yoane Wissa to go clear and fire into the top left-hand corner.
A VAR check found that Wissa’s right knee was clearly offside.
Flekken went off injured before half-time but Albion found his replacement Hakon Valdimarsson even more difficult to beat.
The replacement keeper even flicked the ball past Joao Pedro as he advanced.
Albion really didn’t test Vadimarsson in the second half. O’Riley forced him to dirty his gloves as did Yasin Ayari, with Albion enjoying plenty of possession around the penalty area but proving yet again unable to make much use of it.
The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for the introduction of Solly March on 88 minutes for Joel Veltman. March had been out injured for over a year.
Bart Verbruggen made some routine saves from Bryan Mbeumo and Mikkel Damsgaard – and Pedro survived a fairly innocuous violent check in a clash with Ben Mee.
But all in all it was slim pickings for fans on a cold and foggy night.
Albion are tenth in the Premier League but only four points ahead of relegation-threatened Manchester United.
A tough trip to Villa Park beckons on Monday (30 December).
