Report and reaction: Brentford 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (5-4)

Brentford Secures Quarter-Final Spot In Cup

During the penalty shootout, Brentford successfully scored on all five of their attempts. Mark Flekken then made a crucial save against Liam Palmer's shot, helping the Bees advance in the competition.

Thomas Frank introduced five alterations to the lineup that won against Ipswich 4-3 in the Premier League on Saturday.

Ben Mee and Jayden Meghoma joined the defense, while Mathias Jensen and Fábio Carvalho took positions in midfield. Schade was chosen to be part of the attacking trio up front.

Ethan Pinnock, Mads Roerslev, Mikkel Damsgaard, and Yoane Wissa were among the players on the bench, while Christian Nørgaard took a break.

The Bees took the lead in the 11th minute with their initial significant opportunity of the match.

Keane Lewis-Potter, coming off a standout performance over the weekend, sent a perfectly lifted ball over the opposition's defense to Schade. The striker charged into the penalty area and had his first attempt blocked. Fortunately, the ball bounced off Wednesday defender Gabriel Otegbayo and fell right into the path of the German international, enabling him to easily score into an unguarded net and register his first goal of the season.

Two minutes later, Lewis-Potter tried to score after making an assist, but after he got the ball and maneuvered past a defender in the box, his left-foot shot was stopped.

The ex-Hull player kept up his attack as he connected with Bryan Mbeumo's curling cross and sent it towards the goal. However, Wednesday's goalkeeper, Pierce Charles, made an impressive leaping save, pushing the ball around the goalpost.

In the middle of the half, Carvalho had two opportunities to score within just a couple of minutes. He first sent a shot wide from 25 yards out, and shortly after that, his strong attempt was blocked in a crowded penalty area.

Frank's team had a couple more chances to increase their lead right before the end of a strong first half. Mbeumo raced past two defenders and took a left-footed shot that was fumbled, allowing Dominic Iorfa to clear the ball away.

Just two minutes later, the Bees' leading scorer connected with Mathias Jensen from a corner kick, but the night's captain ended up sending his volley from near the penalty area just off target.

Carvalho set up a chance early in the second half by passing the ball out to Mbeumo. Mbeumo then delivered a cross into the box, but it barely eluded Lewis-Potter.

Wednesday brought the game level with less than an hour gone. Gassama snatched up Flekken's throw-in just past the halfway line in Brentford's territory and fired a powerful shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.

That energized the second half, as both teams aimed to take the lead in the matchup.

Palmer took a long-range shot directly at Flekken, while Iké Ugbo missed his attempt, sending it wide for the Owls. These two moments were surrounded by a low shot from Mbeumo at the opposite end, which was deflected away.

In the last 10 minutes of the match, Schade had a chance to score but was stopped by Charles, who was in goal for Wednesday, after receiving a pass in the penalty area.

Marvin Johnson's powerful shot was redirected just above the goal shortly after.

Neither team managed to score a late goal, resulting in the match finishing as a draw.

Mbeumo, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Wissa, and Vitaly Janelt all successfully made their penalty kicks during the shoot-out. Then, Flekken made a great save to his right, stopping Palmer's penalty and securing advancement for the Bees.

Brentford's lineup included Flekken in goal, with Van den Berg, Collins, Mee, and Meghoma in defense (Roerslev came on in the 70th minute). In midfield, they had Janelt and Jensen, who was substituted for Damsgaard in the 66th minute, while Carvalho also made way for Wissa at the same time. Up front, the attacking trio consisted of Lewis-Potter, Schade, and Mbeumo.

Unused substitutes: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Yarmoliuk, Konak, Trevitt, Maghoma.

Sheffield Wednesday's lineup included Charles in goal, with Iorfa (substituted by Bernard in the 60th minute), Otegbayo, and Fusire (who was replaced by Palmer in the 59th minute) in the defense. The midfield featured Lowe, Paterson, Ingelsson, and Johnson. Up front, Musaba was substituted by Windass in the 69th minute, and Gassama came off for Smith also in the 69th minute. Ugbo was replaced by Lowe in the 68th minute.

Unused substitutes: Hamer, Barrett, McNeill, Reed

Frank: 'Fantastic Feeling' Reaching Carabao Quarters

Brentford's manager Thomas Frank shared his happiness over the team moving on to the next stage of the Carabao Cup.

He expressed his happiness by saying, "I'm extremely glad we've made it through. It serves as a reminder that nothing is ever straightforward! I hope the fans found the thrill enjoyable—being on the winning side of a penalty shootout is such an exhilarating experience."

"I really wished we could have finished the game off with a solid 3-0 victory; I felt we were heading in that direction during the first half. We played really well, but my only issue is that we didn’t manage to get that second goal. We were just a bit short on urgency in those final moments."

In the second half, we got off to a strong start once more and really put them on the back foot. However, out of nowhere, they scored and leveled the match, which shifted the momentum in their favor. Sheffield Wednesday played with a lot of determination. It seemed like we needed to regroup, as I never felt we truly gained control of the game.

"The positive takeaway is that by the end of the match, we successfully converted five excellent penalties, and Mark [Flekken] made an impressive save."

Flekken: Thrilled To Make Key Save

Brentford's goalkeeper Mark Flekken was happy to redeem himself after contributing to Sheffield Wednesday's goal by stopping the crucial penalty in a 5-4 shootout win during the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

Flekken's pass was picked off by Djeidi Gassama, who surged ahead and fired a shot into the bottom corner, sending the match to a penalty shoot-out. The Dutch goalkeeper then stopped Liam Palmer's penalty, securing the Bees' spot in the quarter-finals.

He mentioned, "After delivering that cross, I noticed a chance to speed things up but made the wrong decision. As we all know, that’s when Djeidi Gassama struck it perfectly and scored to bring us level."

"My error allowed them to level the score, which shifted the momentum in their favor. Suddenly, the match became very competitive. I'm really relieved that I was able to regain control and finish strong."

"After missing the mark with my first two saves, I felt I improved with each penalty kick. I was really pleased to finally pull off that game-changing save at the end."