Yoann Barbet's sending off just five minutes in set the tone as Brentford went down to a 4-0 drubbing at Sheffield Wednesday this afternoon.
The Frenchman reeceived a straight red for apparently pulling down Gary Hooper after the Owls striker latched onto a seemingly innocuous long clearance, although contact seemed minimal and Barbet was furious with the decision.
To make it even worse, the Bees had started the game on top, with a couple of nice early moves resulting in chances for Nico Yennaris and Alan Judge, and home keeper Kieron Westwood having little time to settle.
The free kick from Barbet's foul saw David Button save brilliantly from Ross Wallace, but that was as good as it got for the Bees, who immediately sacrificed Konstantin Kerschbaumer so Jack O'Connell could come on at centre back.
Barbet had been off the pitch for seven minutes when Wednesday took the lead in somewhat fortunate circumstance, a deflection on a cross from the left wrong-footing Button before a deft header from Fernando Forestieri left him helpless.
Brentford were the architects of their own downfall at the back though, with defensive errors letting in the hosts for their second and third.
Just before the half hour mark, Ryan Woods let the ball bounce over him and O'Connell was brushed aside by Hooper, who then finished brilliantly.
And on the stroke of half time, Harlee Dean made a hash of clearing Hooper's hopeful ball into the box, leaving Kieran Lee with a tap in from a few yards out.
The Bees had a couple of half chances early in the second half, with Sam Saunders shooting straight at Westwood and Nico Yennaris putting a pull-back from Maxime Colin over the bar, while Judge forced Westwood into a good diving save.
But had Wednesday been more clinical or chosen to step it up a gear, it could have been even worse for the Bees, and it so nearly was when Button got down well to make a superb stop from Forestieri at his ar post late on.
But the hosts were not to be denied the icing on their cake when sub Lucas Joao broke down the right with two minutes left and smashed the ball home with aplomb, completing a miserable day for the Bees.
