German midfielder Vitaly Janelt scored his first goal of the season in our 1-1 draw with Everton on Saturday afternoon.
He latched on to the end of a flick-on by Keane Lewis-Potter to ensure the points were shared on home soil, cancelling out Anthony Gordon’s first-half strike in West London.
After the game, the 24-year-old spoke to the media about coming off the bench and finally netting the leveller on a day where we hit the woodwork three times.
“I think I came on at a good time,” Vitaly told The Sun, shortly after the final whistle at the Gtech Community Stadium. “I scored to get us the draw but I still think we deserved more. The first half was not our best but we still had four or five good chances.”
Vitaly was keen to focus on the strong mentality of the team, which has helped us recover from conceding first in three games so far this season.
“You saw it against Leicester,” he said. “You saw it against Fulham. Even when we were two-nil down, we came back to make it 2-2 and just lost it in the last second. Everyone knows what we are like on the pitch, our mentality is to never give up.
“The coaching staff tell us we have to stay in the game, we know the chances will come. Everyone knows that we do well on set-pieces, today we scored one again.”
The goal was thoroughly checked by VAR Official Lee Mason, leaving Thomas Frank with a nervy wait in the 84th minute before celebrating with the fans. Vitaly admitted that he had a long look at the Assistant Referee on the far touchline.
“I looked across. Now with VAR sometimes you have to be aware, you try to celebrate, but the margins are tight. I didn’t watch it back but everyone said the gap was tiny so you have to wait.”
The Germany youth international has played a part in all of our matches so far this season, be it from the bench at the weekend or captaining the side against Colchester United in the Carabao Cup.
“I think we have a very strong bench, especially with five subs, you need a good squad. Some players won’t get a chance in one game but they will in another. You look at Mads Roerslev, he didn’t play against Leicester but then he started our second game against Manchester United and we won 4-0.
“I think we all know that we need everyone, including me. I started the first game, then I’m on the bench, that’s football.”
https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/vitaly-janelt-praises-squad-mentality
