André Green swung his boot, and the shot went shockingly wide.
Instead of testing the goalkeeper, the ball sailed high and completely off-target, flying straight into the stands behind the goal.
"I can't believe it! André Green has somehow missed the target entirely!" Gary Weaver shouted on the Sky Sports broadcast. "Theodore Bjorn put that on an absolute silver platter for him and he has put it into Row Z!"
"It is a staggering miss, Gary," Don Goodman added, shaking his head in disbelief. "Bjorn's pass completely took the defense out of the equation. If Tammy Abraham is on the pitch, that is a guaranteed goal. Aston Villa are severely missing their main striker right now."
On social media, the Aston Villa fanbase immediately erupted in frustration over the missed sitter.
@HolteEndHero: "Did Green forget what sport he's playing?! How do you miss that?!"
@VillaTillIDie: "My nan could have scored that with her eyes closed. We are absolutely toothless without Tammy."
@BrummieUltra: "I have never seen a striker look so lost. Bjorn is doing literally everything he can, but he can't put the ball in the net for them!"
Inside the Brentford penalty area, Green immediately put his hands on his head, his face twisted in regret.
He had made the right run, but his technique completely failed him at the crucial moment.
On the touchline, Dean Smith remained outwardly calm, though his jaw was clenched tight.
As the head coach, he knew exactly what the technical drop-off was between his starting striker and his backup.
If Abraham hadn't suffered that muscle strain in the pre-match warmups, Green would never have started a match of this magnitude.
But his hands were tied.
The match ticked toward the 40th minute.
Aston Villa dominated possession during this stretch, desperately pushing to equalize.
Theodore consistently dictated the tempo from the midfield, threading several more highly dangerous passes into Green's path.
But the backup striker continued to struggle, either firing his shots over the crossbar or dragging them wide.
In football, wasting chances always comes with a heavy consequence.
In the 40th minute, Brentford made them pay.
It started with a rare mistake from Jack Grealish.
Trying to force the issue, the Villa captain attempted to dribble his way through the left flank. Brentford's defense refused to give him an inch.
Full-back Yoann Barbet, center-back Ezri Konsa, and defensive midfielder Romaine Sawyers rapidly closed in, trapping Grealish in a tight triple-team.
They muscled Grealish off the ball, and Sawyers immediately looked up the pitch. Without hesitating, the Brentford midfielder launched a sweeping, accurate long pass forward.
"Brentford wins it back, and they are moving quickly!" Weaver announced, the tension in his voice rising.
"This is a massive counter-attacking opportunity!"
"This is exactly the danger Villa faced by committing so many bodies forward," Goodman analyzed as the play developed. "They have left massive gaps at the back, and Brentford has the pace to exploit them."
Saïd Benrahma brought the long pass down flawlessly and instantly accelerated down the wing.
Aston Villa's defensive shape was a mess.
Full-back Alan Hutton had pushed high up the pitch to join the attack, leaving only Mile Jedinak and the two center-backs, Tyrone Mings and Tommy Elphick, to defend the transition.
It was a clean 3v3 break.
Benrahma carried the ball, supported by Neal Maupay and the already red-hot Ollie Watkins running through the center.
Jedinak stepped up to confront Benrahma. While the veteran Australian had great physical strength, he lacked the lateral quickness to deal with an elite, technical winger.
Benrahma knew it.
With a rapid step-over, the Brentford attacker easily threw Jedinak off balance and accelerated right past him.
Breaking into the space, Benrahma cut sharply inside.
He glanced at Maupay's run to freeze the center-backs, but he didn't pass. Instead, he opened his body and struck a curling shot with his left foot.
The ball curved beautifully through the air, sailing out of Lovre Kalinić's reach and finding the far corner of the net.
3-1!
"Benrahma makes it three!" Weaver roared as the home crowd erupted. "The Bees are swarming tonight! A devastating counter-attack leaves Aston Villa completely exposed!"
"It is a brilliant finish," Goodman praised. "Brentford are giving Aston Villa an absolute lesson in clinical attacking. They defend in numbers, win the ball, and immediately punish the gaps. Dean Smith's side is staring down a heavy defeat here."
The Brentford Community Stadium was shaking.
Over ten thousand home fans were on their feet, celebrating wildly as their team dismantled their promotion rivals.
Over in the away section, the traveling Aston Villa supporters sat in stunned silence.
Across the vast stands, only one person was still cheering for Aston Villa.
More precisely, cheering for Theodore Bjorn.
That person was Dilraba.
...
The fight seemed to have completely drained out of the squad, and a few frustrated fans were already shouting angry criticism toward the pitch.
In the final five minutes of the half, Aston Villa desperately threw numbers forward, trying to salvage a goal before the break.
But Brentford's center-back pairing of Konsa and Julian Jeanvier stood firm, blocking shots and clearing crosses with ease.
Combined with André Green's poor touches in the box, Villa's attacks simply fizzled out.
The referee blew his whistle, bringing a disastrous first forty-five minutes to a close.
Halftime.
During the break, the major English sports outlets quickly published their halftime match reports.
Sky Sports: Aston Villa Trail 3-1 at Brentford! Wasteful Finishing Proves Costly for Dean Smith's Men!
BBC Sport: Watkins and Benrahma Run Riot in the First Half! Villa's Attack Falters Without Tammy Abraham!
On the Aston Villa fan forums, the mood was incredibly grim.
@VillaFanTV: "Bjorn's passing is an absolute joke, he is serving up chances on a plate. It's just a tragedy that Green's shooting technique is so ass."
@HolteEnder: "We are going to lose this match purely because we don't have a striker. Bjorn has given everything in that midfield, but he can't finish the chances himself."
@BrummieBoy: "The brilliance of Bjorn's vision is just highlighting how incompetent our backup forwards are. Missing sitters left and right. Dean Smith needs to change something at halftime or this is going to get ugly."