Watford conceded twice late on after taking the lead away at fellow promoted side Brentford as they suffered a 2-1 defeat.

Emmanuel Dennis headed the Hornets ahead after a tricky start to the match before a scrappy second half saw chances reduced for both sides, only for Pontus Jansson to level five minutes from time.

A mindless challenge from William Troost-Ekong in stoppage time handed the hosts a late penalty, which was converted by Bryan Mbeumo to complete the turnaround.

It was a bitterly disappointing end to the game for the visitors, who had put themselves within touching distance of their first clean sheet of the season, but they had only themselves to blame for a second half in which they camped deep inside their own half and invited wave after wave of pressure. 

Ahead of the match Claudio Ranieri had told Danny Rose he needed to improve his fitness and the head coach left the full back on the bench. In his place stepped Jeremy Ngakia. Elsewhere, Juraj Kucka and Cucho Hernandez came into the fold, with Imran Louza and Joao Pedro making way.

Brentford were forced to hand Yoane Wissa a first start of the season, with Ivan Toney and Sergi Canos ruled out through coronavirus and suspension. Defender Ethan Pinnock also missed out after testing positive for Covid-19, with Mathias Jensen brought in to replace him.

Prior to kick off, fans were treated to a dramatic light show, with the floodlights used to generate a buzzing atmosphere inside the Brentford Community Stadium. It took just three minutes for the game to reach its first flashpoint, with Daniel Bachmann forced to tip over from Shandon Baptiste’s volley inside the box after a cross from the right had flicked up kindly off Ngakia’s leg.

The Hornets were on the back foot for the opening stages of the match, with their high press being absorbed by the hosts’ back line. Where Chelsea and Manchester United had insisted on passing the ball out from the back, Brentford’s back five were happy to go long over the danger, any time they felt threatened.

It was a tactic that in itself created a couple of openings in behind Watford’s defence, with Rico Henry forcing intervention from Bachmann with a cross from the left in the 11th minute.

It took the Hornets until the 20th minute to win so much as a corner, which they were unable to do anything with, after Ngakia’s cross from the left had been nodded behind by Jansson.

They were then fortunate to concede a corner at the other end after Mbeumo latched onto a ball over the top by Baptiste. He shrugged off Troost-Ekong to work some room for a shot, but Bachmann pulled off an impressive save away to his right.

Two minutes later the visitors were ahead, albeit against the run of play, through a familiar source. Joshua King’s guided effort ricocheted behind for a corner off a Brentford defender after it smacked the foot of the post. Dennis then leapt above the significantly taller Jansson to head Tom Cleverley’s delivery in from six yards to claim his seventh of the season.

Brentford’s attempts to respond quickly were stifled by Watford’s defending, with Mbeumo’s shot from the edge of the area sailing over the bar.

Charlie Goode was a bit closer five minutes before the break when he climbed highest in the area to meet a corner with his head. The effort had Bachmann stretching, but nestled on the roof of the net.

It was to be the last attack in the game for quite some time, with the second half failing to match the attacking quality of the first.

In fact, it took until the hour mark for the first sniff of an opportunity to arrive, with Brentford creating the danger.

Mads Roerslev’s cross from the right looked destined for Mbeumo in the centre but Troost-Ekong headed away before he could make contact, while Henry could only find Watford defenders on the follow up.

Prior to that Ranieri had introduced Joao Pedro to replace Cleverley, to try and inject some creativity into a match that had rather descended into something of a midfield melee.

Yet it was once again the hosts who looked more dangerous as they began to grow in confidence and push higher up the pitch.

Even though the Hornets were doing a good job of thwarting each wave of attack before anything too testing came their way, there was a growing sense that something was building.

Brentford then made their move from the bench with Marcus Forss and Saman Ghoddos replacing Wissa and Jensen, but it was Watford’s sub who almost made a telling impact.

Pedro’s through ball to Moussa Sissoko seemed to have the put the Frenchman in behind the home defence, only for a tug on his shirt from Jansson to prevent him from shooting.

The foul earned the home side’s skipper a yellow, with Goode covering to prevent Michael Oliver from dishing out worse punishment. From the resulting free kick, Hernandez fired well over.

As the game entered the final quarter-of-an-hour, it finally produced two moments of genuine attacking intent, with each side testing one another’s goalkeepers.

Vitaly Janelt drew a save from Bachmann with a sweeping effort from the right-hand side of the box before the Hornets broke down the other end, allowing Dennis to find King, only for Alvaro Fernandez to deny him down at his near post.

The final five minutes arrived with Brentford continuing to press in search of their equaliser, with substitute Frank Onyeka's shot deflecting behind off Ngakia.

The leveller eventually came after King cleared the initial delivery away from the resulting corner, only for Janelt to send it back into the box where Jansson turned in at the back post after Forss' flick on.

The drama didn't end there though, as Brentford went close to snatching a winner with yet another corner. This time the ball ricocheted wildly around the box after the delivery and Pedro had to clear away on the line.

With five minutes of added on time almost up, it seemed like the game would be ending in a draw, but a brainless challenge from Troost-Ekong on Ghoddos gave Mbeumo the perfect chance to snatch the win from the spot, which he did coolly, sending Bachmann the wrong way.

It leaves Watford with a run of four defeats, and still without a clean sheet this season, as they prepare to head into Wednesday night's clash away at Burnley.