Bournemouth held by Brentford as unbeaten run stretches to nine games

In-form Bournemouth extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to nine games but were unable to find a way to beat Brentford at Vitality Stadium.

The hosts missed several chances either side of half-time in the goalless draw as their winless Premier League run against the Bees was extended to eight games.

Bournemouth’s best chance came early in the second half when Marcus Tavernier stretched to reach a low cross into the penalty area but saw his effort come back off the post.

The Bournemouth midfielder felt he was impeded by Brentford defender Michael Kayode, but referee Craig Pawson was not interested.

Tavernier hit the woodwork again in the 77th minute as he looked to finish off a swift counter-attack from a tight angle.

Brentford were tame in the first half but showed more attacking intent after the break, with Bournemouth goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic showing sharp reflexes to keep out a header from Sepp van den Berg.

Bournemouth striker Evanilson finished past Caoimhin Kelleher in the 79th minute after dancing past two challenges, but the offside flag cut short his celebrations.

Cherries top scorer Eli Junior Kroupi came off the bench and looked certain to score a winner, but his first-time effort in the 93rd minute trickled agonisingly wide.

Bournemouth move up to ninth in the table on 40 points, while Brentford remain seventh with 44 points.

While going nine games unbeaten in the Premier League is an achievement not to be sniffed at, manager Andoni Iraola will see this as two points dropped rather than one point gained.

Bournemouth have now drawn their last three games, all against sides around them in the table. Just one win would have boosted their fading hopes of playing European football next season.

The home side had no problem creating opportunities – they had five big chances as defined by Opta and produced an expected goals (xG) rating of 1.99 – but the final touch was lacking.

After an uneventful opening 30 minutes, James Hill headed over from less than 10 yards out before Ryan Christie rounded Kelleher but ran out of pitch before he could finish.

Tavernier curled an effort wide before he forced Kelleher into a smart save with his legs with the game’s first shot on target in first-half injury-time.

Bournemouth looked like they would get their reward in the final moments when Kroupi ran on to a cut-back, but a slight deflection denied him a ninth league goal of the season and summed up his side’s evening.