Brentford beat West Ham to earn first away win of the season

Igor Thiago and Mathias Jensen earned Brentford a 2-0 win over West Ham United, prolonging Nuno Espirito Santo’s wait for a first win in charge, and handing him a first loss at the London Stadium.

Brentford dominated throughout and broke the deadlock just before the break when Thiago beat Alphonse Areola for power, having previously hit the crossbar.

The Brazilian had a second goal ruled out for offside, and though Brentford saw more chances go begging, Jensen’s stoppage-time strike ensured Keith Andrews’ team earned their first Premier League away win of the season.

West Ham, who saw Jarrod Bowen go closest only to be denied by Caoimhin Kelleher, offered little in return as they fell to a fourth consecutive loss at home.

Brentford rise to 13th on 10 points, while West Ham remain in the relegation zone, three points behind Burnley in 17th.

How the match unfolded

The Bees came to life 30 minutes in, with Thiago getting the first in a flurry of chances when he turned Dango Ouattara’s knockdown on to the crossbar.

Mikkel Damsgaard’s glancing header then forced Areola into a fine stretching save as Brentford continued to cause problems with set-pieces before Ouattara’s thumping effort was cleared off the line by Bowen.

However, Brentford’s goal came from a long ball in the 43rd minute. Kevin Schade brought it down between two defenders before squaring it to Thiago, and Areola could not stop it going into the net despite getting a full hand to it.

Kelleher then tipped Bowen’s shot wide before Thiago thought he had a second. He latched on to Damsgaard’s through-ball and dinked over Areola on the stroke of half-time, but the goal was disallowed for offside following a VAR check.

An unmarked Schade then rattled the crossbar with a powerful header just past the hour, before Keane Lewis-Potter whipped a curler narrowly wide late on.

However, substitute Jensen rifled his effort into the roof of the net in the fourth minute of stoppage time to cap off a commanding win.

West Ham’s home woes continue

After two away games to start his West Ham tenure, Nuno stepped out for his first match at the London Stadium, with the Hammers looking for their first points on home soil this season.

And West Ham started well, forcing several early corners without reward, before being put on the back foot, with Brentford using set-pieces to exploit their defensive fragility.

Amid chaos in the box, the hosts initially threw bodies on the line to thwart Brentford. However, they were exposed for Thiago’s goal by Kristoffer Ajer’s long ball, with Schade darting between two defenders to bring it down. Areola will also feel he should have done better.

There were signs of life in first-half stoppage-time, as Bowen found a pocket of space to register their first real chance, but they did not build on that, instead, almost giving up a goal immediately after.

A triple change from Nuno preceded the second half as he sought defensive stability, but their struggles at the other end also continued. Crysencio Summerville and Lucas Paqueta, on his 100th Premier League appearance, both fired well off target when chances fell their way.

Boos rang out at the London Stadium at the end of both halves, and Nuno will be hoping to get off the mark at West Ham on Friday away to promoted Leeds United.

Brentford show total dominance

Brentford had lost all three of their away games before Monday, but having won more Premier League matches against West Ham than any other team, they will have been confident ahead of this game.

They took time to grow into the contest, and even though they took a 1-0 lead into the break, they could easily have had more. Schade saw two shots go to waste in the first 10 minutes, poking a low effort into the side-netting before a looping header was claimed by Areola after two counter-attacks.

Thiago refused to let up the pressure, as he contributed heavily to Brentford’s 15 first-half shots – their most in a Premier League away game – and proved a thorn in West Ham’s side, getting a stroke of luck with his goal.

Having lost out on a second by the offside flag before the break, Thiago kept Areola busy in the second, with the goalkeeper getting down sharply to deny him from a tight angle late on.

With West Ham down to 10 men in the closing stages, due to Konstantinos Mavropanos’ injury and having made five substitutions, Brentford took advantage, with Jensen, in acres of space, showing excellent composure to wrap up the three points.

They now return home, looking to build on this victory against struggling champions Liverpool at the weekend.

Match reports

West Ham report | Brentford report

What the managers said

Nuno Espirito Santo: "Today was a disappointing evening because it was a disappointing performance. It was not good enough.

"I think we had a good spell. In the first 15/20 minutes we had a good spell and there's a chance and then after that we got ourselves in trouble. Brentford were aggressive."

Keith Andrews: "The worst part about being a player is being injured. Thiago came to the country at a similar time I joined Brentford and I felt bad for him. I really feel like he was hurting. When he came he got injured so early on he couldn't do what he loves doing, so I always make an effort with injured players because I've been in that situation, I know how it feels.

"I've got a lot of belief in Thiago. I think he's a phenomenal person, the appetite to get better every single day and the positive nature he brings and his demeanor every day. And as everybody's seen now, he's a handful."

Next PL fixtures

Key facts

West Ham have lost five successive home games in the top flight for the second time in their history, previously doing so in April 1931.

Brentford have won two of their last three Premier League games (one loss), one more than in their previous seven matches (two draws, four losses), while ending a run of four successive away games without a win (one draw, three losses).

Brentford’s win against West Ham United was their seventh against the Hammers in the Premier League since their promotion to the top flight in 2021 (one draw, one loss) – only Arsenal against Wolves, Liverpool against Newcastle United and Manchester City against Wolves (all eight) have more wins against an opponent in the competition since the start of 2021/22.

Brentford have scored the opening goal in eight of their nine Premier League matches against West Ham United (seven wins, one draw), only Manchester City against Brighton and Hove Albion (nine) have opened the scoring in more games against an opponent in the competition since the start of 2021/22.