Brentford boss Thomas Frank makes honest admission about 'passionate' Roberto De Zerbi after tense moment between coaching staff

A match between two European hopefuls ended in a dramatic 3-3 draw, with Alexis Mac Allister scoring a late penalty to rescue a point for Albion. Click here to see our Brighton player ratings.

The Bees took the lead three times during the match but were pegged back on each occasion. De Zerbi cut a typically animated figure on the touchline and was seen to celebrate in front of the Brentford coaching staff.

Frank admitted he felt ‘tension’ in the game but he didn’t get involved.

“I always try to learn,” he said. “I did my very best to keep out of it.

"It doesn’t do me or my team any good if I’m too interactive. Sometimes I lose my self control.

“I actually stepped away from it. I said for my staff to leave it. I noticed he [De Zerbi] ran in front of us. He’s done that before. He’s a very passionate coach, which is good.”

Frank thought the late penalty decision was a correct one – awarded after the referee checked his pitchside monitor for an Aaron Hickey handball. He added that he thought it was correct for Michael Oliver not to award a second spot-kick after claims Hickey handled again from Solly March’s last-minute cross.

He said: "It was a fine game, with just two incidents. Small margins.

“I agree [it was manic]. Both teams were aggressive when they went forward. I love that in many ways.

“It was a very intense game.”

In-form March had countless chances to score and was often left in wide open space to take a shot at goal. He also provided an assist for Danny Welbeck.

Asked if he would have asked his players to man-mark March in hindsight, Frank said: “No. I wish we did better on doubling up, which is a key thing.

"On the day we didn’t hit our highest performance and normal high defensive level. We just lacked a little bit. There was a lot of effort and a lot of running.”

On the result, Frank said it was a ‘good point’, which moves Brentford above Liverpool into seventh and level on points with Brighton, albeit having played two games more.

“When you are leading three times you always want more,” he said. “Especially when you are leading until the 89th minute, it’s always tougher to take.

"I think Brighton did well. We also did well. We looked very dangerous going forward.

"Being able to come here and score three goals is top quality. I’m very pleased with that.

"We led three times and with the rhythm of the game we never looked like losing.

"I’m aware if they scored earlier in the second half then maybe but, hey, they didn’t. We had a good goalkeeper in David today and a lot of determination in terms of defending. We were closer to scoring 4-3 goals in last few minutes.”