Barnet 3-3 Brentford: Shaquile Coulthirst scores twice in FA Cup fourth-round draw

Barnet kept their FA Cup dream alive with a thrilling 3-3 fourth-round draw against Brentford.

Ollie Watkins put Championship side Brentford ahead in the 40th minute, but non-league Barnet replied after half-time with two goals in three minutes from Shaquile Coulthirst.

A controversial penalty from Neil Maupay - after Watkins went down in the box seemingly without any contact - and then a fine counter-attacking goal from Sergi Canos made it 3-2 to the visitors.

• Chelsea face Man Utd in fifth round

But Barnet, who beat Sheffield United in the third round, earned a replay after a stunning free-kick from Dan Sparkes in the 75th minute.

The two sides will meet again at Griffin Park on Tuesday, February 5, with the winner playing Swansea in the next round.

Brentford hit the post twice in the first half as Yoann Barbet headed against the upright from a corner and then Moses Odubajo cut in from the right and hit a curling left-footed shot across goal that struck the far post.

Barnet also threatened, with defender Dan Sweeney seeing a header saved from a corner and Ephron Mason-Clark going close after breaking through the middle.

The deadlock was broken in the 40th minute when Watkins lined up a shot from 25 yards and fired into the bottom corner.

But Barnet responded in superb fashion after the break as Coulthirst poked a shot past Luke Daniels and then, three minutes later, fired home after Brentford failed to clear their lines.

Brentford were awarded a penalty in the 60th minute when Watkins went down in the box.

Replays showed there was no contact, but with no VAR, Maupay stepped up and dispatched the penalty.

Brentford then took the lead in the 72nd minute after a sweeping counter. Maupay passed out to Henrik Dalsgaard, who played a perfectly-weighted pass into the box for Canos to finish from.

However, Sparkes' superb free-kick, which crashed against the underside of the bar and went over the line, earned Barnet a deserved draw, even though they had to hold on at the end of the match.

Opta stats

• The 3-3 draw was the highest score draw in the FA Cup involving a non-league side and a side from the top two tiers since November 1926 - non-league Weymouth recording a 4-4 draw away to second tier Reading in a first round tie in November 1926.
• Brentford are unbeaten in their last 14 matches against Barnet in all competitions (W9 D5) since a 3-6 defeat in the Football League Trophy in December 1991.
• Barnet are just one of two non-league sides to score 3+ goals in the fourth round or later of the FA Cup since 1986 (also Lincoln City v Brighton in 2017).
• Brentford have conceded 3+ goals against a non-league side in the FA Cup for the first time since a 3-0 loss to Telford in the second round in 2004.
• Barnet are one of three non-league teams to score 3+ FA Cup goals against a side from the second-tier or above since 1992 (also Lincoln v Brighton in 2017 and Forest Green v Derby in 2009).
• Barnet's Shaquile Coulthirst has scored six goals in his last seven FA Cup appearances, including goals in successive games against Championship opponents.
• Neal Maupay has scored in five of his last eight games in all competitions for Brentford (6 goals).
• Brentford's Ollie Watkins scored his first goal from outside the box since netting against Stoke in August 2018.

What's next?

Barnet play Carshalton Athletic in the FA Trophy on Saturday while Brentford host Blackburn in the Championship.

The replay takes place on February 5 while the fifth-round matches are on February 15-18.

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