BRENTFORD succumbed to a second defeat in a row as Newcastle took advantage of Josh Dasilva's early sending off.
The midfielder was given his marching orders with only ten minutes on the clock. The visitors then scored twice through Joelinton and Josh Willock to give the Bees a mountain to climb.
Christian Eriksen was among the Brentford substitutes for the visit of Newcastle.
The former Tottenham and Inter Milan midfielder is set for an emotional return to football from the bench, 258 days after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch during Denmark’s Euro 2020 match against Finland.
Allan Saint-Maximin was still missing through injury for the visitors.
The Bees were reduced to 10 men after just 11 minutes when referee Mike Dean was alerted to a clumsy foul by Josh Dasilva on Newcastle left-back Matt Targett by VAR.
After consulting the replay on the pitchside monitor, Dean showed the Bees midfielder a straight red card.
Newcastle took the lead in the 33rd minute when Ryan Fraser’s cross was headed in by Joelinton.
The visitors then doubled their lead shortly before half-time when Joe Willock finished a swift counter-attack to score his second goal in two matches.
Eriksen made his entrance as a 51st-minute substitute with Brentford still trailing 2-0.
Newcastle could have made it three just before the 70th-minute mark but David Raya made a brilliant stop to deny Matt Targett.
Eriksen was getting involved in the match but the lack of match sharpness was clear as he failed to correctly weight a few passes.
In the final 15 minutes, Brentford were pushing to get something from the game but the visitor's defence was standing firm.
Goalscorer Willock was substituted in the 81st minute with a bloodied mouth after being caught by Rico Henry. The midfielder had tried to play on but was eventually removed.
The visitors almost made it three in the 86th minute but Raya yet again was able to deny Jonjo Shelvey, who fired a freekick goalwards.
Dean blew the final whistle and despite the stats leaning in favour of Newcastle, the Bees deserve some credit for playing for so long with only nine men.
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