A nightmare mistake from Andy Lonergan handed Neal Maupay’s his first goal as a starter and Brentford the lead, while Ollie Watkins failed to double the Bees' advantage from the penalty spot.
Yoann Barbet saw a freekick from 25 yards go inches wide on the 12th minutes as the home side continued to dominate possession, while Watkins was involved once again minutes later when his pot-shot from 20 yards was tipped away by Lonergan.
Leeds’ Ezgjan Alioski came closest for the Yorkshire club as his shot from 20 yards was comfortably saved by Bentley.
In the 23rd minute Brentford’s adventurous play got what it deserved, albeit from a terrible error from Lonergan. Barbet swung a cross from the left hand side and somehow, under no pressure, the keeper dropped the ball two yards away from goal. Neal Maupay took full advantage to head home from close range.
Maupay was brought down in the box by Pontuss Jansson with two minutes of the half left to play, but the otherwise superb Watkins skied the penalty.
Daniel Bentley – Stayed alert when Egan gave the ball away in an awkward position. Had little else to deal with. 6
Yoann Barbet – Link up play with Watkins caused Leeds huge problems down the left hand side, and saw his freekick fly inches wide. 8
John Egan – Gave the ball away to Samuel Saiz mid-way through that could, and probably should, have led to much worse than the simple save for his keeper. Otherwise comfortable in defence. 6
Andreas Bjelland – Hardly put a foot wrong and was unfazed by the Leeds attack despite having to be bandaged up after a clash of heads. 6
Josh Clarke – It was a mark of his abilities that Leeds struggled to make headway down Brentford’s right-hand side. 6
Nico Yennaris - Shot wide early on but sprayed passes to both wingers with ease after missing his first game in almost 70 against Birmingham midweek. 7
Ryan Woods – A calming influence on the Bees midfield who put himself about well and coped well with the Leeds’ press. 7
Florian Jozefzoon – Shanked an opportunity high and wide after a Wood’s pinpoint pass that deserved more. 6
Romaine Sawyers – Flashes of exciting play were intertwined with small errors and poor decision making. Not a bad first half, though. 6
Ollie Watkins – Everything dangerous came from the young Englishman. His neat side-rule pass to Barbet deserved more than Maupay’s poor control after the ball was squared. His penalty was nearly as bad as Yoann Barbet's against Norwich. 8
Neal Maupay – Strong hold-up play and was aware enough to take advantage of Lonergan’s mistake to give the Bees the lead after 23 minutes. He was then brought down in the box by Pontus Jansson 8
