Ivan Toney scored two more goals as Brentford picked up a Sky Bet Championship win away to Sheffield Wednesday. The striker, who now has seven goals in his last four appearances, put Brentford ahead early on and then headed in the winner just past the half hour after Wednesday had levelled. The brace earned The Bees three points and took Toney to the top of the Championship scorer chart.

The 2-1 win was a victory that Brentford fully deserved. They had the better of most of the first half and were well on top in the second. The home side created some chances in the first period, but The Bees defended excellently for most of the game and David Raya was largely untroubled in the Brentford goal after Toney had his say at the other end.

Brentford got themselves ahead before the game had really got going. Saman Ghoddos turned free from a Rico Henry throw and picked out Henrik Dalsgaard with a low ball across the penalty area. Dalsgaard let fly from 25 yards with a shot that Cameron Dawson got down well to save but Toney was there to place the rebound past the Wednesday goalkeeper and in to the net. Toney reacted quickest once the save was made, and his first-time finish gave Dawson no chance with the game just seven minutes old.

Even though the goal was early, it came as Brentford broke out and won a throw in. An earlier break had seen Bryan Mbeumo free Toney on the right and his cross was just ahead of the arriving Ghoddos. From another counter-attack soon after, Mbeumo and Ghoddos linked to free Toney in the inside left channel and he smashed a shot in to the side netting.

Despite being behind inside ten minutes, Wednesday had started the game well. They had two strikers high up the pitch to prevent Brentford playing in to midfield with Callum Paterson just behind as a focal point and extra man in the first line of defence. Raya was forced in to an early save from a low Jack Marriott shot and while the hosts were not creating many chances, they were playing mostly in Brentford territory. The Bees were being forced to defend and keep possession in their own half.

Marriott had an effort blocked for the hosts and Raya made a good save above his head when Adam Reach got in to the penalty area on the left side and benefitted from a fortunate ricochet off Dalsgaard before getting a shot off. But Brentford were arguably creating the better openings and a clever pass from Jensen allowed Mbeumo to drift inside Joost van Aken and curl a shot just over Dawson’s crossbar. The goalkeeper was left standing and if the shot had been a foot lower, it would have doubled the lead. Seconds later, Wednesday were level.

The home side worked an opportunity for Kadeem Harris to get forward from right wing back and in to space to receive a long pass in behind Henry and Ethan Pinnock. He had the time to measure a cross and it was inch perfect for Paterson to head low past Raya and in to the net. Brentford will look at how Harris was able to find the space but once he did, Wednesday ruthlessly exploited it.

It could have got worse for The Bees when a free kick dropped to Barry Bannan, but he sliced an effort well wide and Brentford soon regrouped. They started to find passes through Wednesday’s lines, got Mathias Jensen and Josh Dasilva in to space in the centre of the field and put together some attacking possession. Jensen fired wide from distance and his next effort was deflected behind for a corner that Brentford made the most of.

Vitaly Janelt, on his first start for The Bees, delivered it from the right with his left foot and Toney got in front of the home defence to divert a header past Dawson. The delivery was perfect from Janelt, Toney created a fraction of space and his header was unstoppable. That gave The Bees a lead they took in to half time and it could have been more comfortable before the interval.

A cross-cum-shot from the increasingly influential Jensen just eluded Mbeumo and bent narrowly past the post before Ghoddos shot wide after getting on to a clever pass around the corner from Toney. Mbeumo, Toney and Ghoddos then combined to put Jensen in behind in the inside left channel, he was faced with only Dawson to beat but was unable to get the ball past the Wednesday goalkeeper. The resulting throw was worked to Dalsgaard 25 yards out and his shot fizzed just over the bar with Dawson a mere spectator.

Mbeumo had to make a block from a Reach shot when a free kick dropped loose but Brentford went in at half time with the lead and the initiative. And they had the better of the start of a second period that was stop-start. More free kicks were given by referee Darren Bond as the pace of the game dropped a fraction and both teams had made two substitutions before the hour mark. For The Bees this included Pontus Jansson limping out of the game with Mads Bech Sørensen introduced.

Brentford had seen more of the ball at the start of the second half and were generally playing in Wednesday territory. They also had a sight of goal when a low Jensen corner was met by Mbeumo 12 yards out, but his shot flew in to a forest of bodies and bounced clear. The Bees had the upper hand after the break. They were able to play their way up the pitch with more comfort than they could for most of the first half and while there were not many chances, they were on top.

There was a good opening after a long spell of possession when Jensen released Sergi Canós in the inside left channel, he cut the ball back to the arriving Toney and he bounced a shot just past the post. Canós then headed a Janelt corner wide with claims that he had been pushed waved away by Mr Bond. The game was increasingly losing its flow with the officials stopping for fouls more and more frequently.

Brentford were still looking for a third goal to give themselves breathing space and Dasilva almost grabbed it when he weaved in to the right side of the penalty area, cut back and shot just wide with Dawson again standing and watching. Dasilva did test Dawson soon after with another low shot but a pass to Toney or Canós may have been more effective. There was some late defending for The Bees to do but Sørensen and Pinnock headed everything away, Dalsgaard and Henry dealt with the Wednesday wide men and Raya swept up everything behind, which meant it was a relatively comfortable end to the game and a deserved three points.

Sheffield Wednesday: Dawson; Odubajo, Flint, van Aken; Harris, Bannan, Hunt (sub Pelupessy h/t), Reach; Paterson; Windass (sub Dele-Bashiru 51 mins), Marriott (sub Rhodes 72 mins)

Subs (not used): Wildsmith, Palmer, Börner, Kachunga

Bookings: Odubajo (73 mins)

Brentford: Raya; Dalsgaard, Jansson (sub Sørensen 58 mins), Pinnock, Henry; Jensen, Janelt, Dasilva; Mbeumo (sub Canós 55 mins), Toney, Ghoddos (sub Fosu 77 mins)

Subs (not used): Daniels, Thompson, Hammar, Forss