Schade hits hat-trick as Brentford blow Bournemouth away

Kevin Schade scored a hat-trick as Brentford soared into the top half of the Premier League table with a 4-1 thrashing of AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.

Schade opened the scoring before an own goal from Bournemouth goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic in the 39th minute put Keith Andrews' men in control.

It got even better for Brentford six minutes after the restart when Schade notched his second goal, though Antoine Semenyo's 75th-minute flick offered hopes of a late turnaround.

However, despite the Cherries' best efforts, Schade completed the scoring and his treble in second-half stoppage time, diving in to nod Mikkel Damsgaard's cross into the net.

Watch Schade's header to complete his hat-trick

Brentford’s win - their second in a row - moved them up to eighth place in the Premier League table, while Bournemouth are down in 15th after continuing their poor run of form.

How the match unfolded

The Bees needed just six minutes to open the scoring when Schade was sent through on goal by Igor Thiago, with the forward shrugging off Bafode Diakite’s challenge and applying the finish.

Thiago and Schade would spurn further chances but Brentford still made their dominance count just before the break, albeit in comical fashion. Thiago’s deflected shot at goal was cleared away on the line by Diakite, only for the ball to rebound against Petrovic and into his own net.

Schade then poked Yehor Yarmoliuk's cross into the roof of the net early in the second half to put the result seemingly beyond doubt, though Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher had to make a fine save to deny Evanilson and Justin Kluivert also went close for Bournemouth, hitting the post with a header.

Semenyo's improvised finish from inside the six-yard box sparked Bournemouth into life, but their fate was sealed in the 96th minute as Schade rounded off a fine individual display by sealing his hat-trick.

Bees continue to buzz on home turf

Brentford’s strong home form has been a key feature of their season under Andrews so far, and they made a fine start here, going in front early on and also creating numerous opportunities to add to their tally during the entirety of the first half.

Schade took all his goals superbly and was a constant livewire throughout, while Thiago also played his part, with his intelligent forward runs befuddling the Bournemouth defence and creating more space for the likes of Yarmoliuk and Mathias Jensen to make incisive darting runs from midfield.

They did not let their foot off the gas in the second half, despite already dominating the match up to that point, scoring again and having more chances, with Schade denied by a David Brooks block on the line, while Keane Lewis-Potter missed an open goal.

Andrews’ side were also forced to dig deep during the latter stages as their opponents improved, but they were fantastic value for their sixth home win of the campaign so far, a total only Aston Villa (seven), Manchester City and Arsenal (both eight) can better.

Brentford will be hoping to continue their impressive home form into 2026 when they welcome former boss Thomas Frank back to the Gtech Community Stadium, with a clash against his Tottenham Hotspur team up next on New Year’s Day.

A day to forget for Cherries as poor form continues

A late goal conceded at home to Burnley stretched Bournemouth’s worrying winless run to eight matches last time out, and it was vital for Andoni Iraola’s men to make a strong start in the capital.

However, the Cherries were under the cosh from the very off, making uncharacteristic errors at the heart of the defence and going behind early on with a goal that was too easy in its construction, as one pass split apart their entire backline.

Bournemouth were much improved after the break, with Iraola making a triple substitution, as they created several opportunities and found a way of maximising the threat of the impressive Semenyo, who would score for the third match in a row.

Nevertheless, the damage was already done after a listless first-half display, which ranks among the worst of the season so far for the Cherries, as they were second-best to Brentford in virtually every single department.

Iraola and Bournemouth must dust themselves off quickly, as they have to face Chelsea on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge, where they'll search for that elusive win to reignite a now stuttering league campaign.

Club reports

Brentford report | Bournemouth report

What the managers said

Andoni Iraola: "I think the game is quite easy to analyse. We cannot start playing in the second half. If we lose in the second half I'm all in for it.

"But in the first half we weren't recognisable. We were not aggressive, we did not want to attack. I'm very disappointed with our performance in the first half. We completely deserved the 2-0."

Keith Andews: "I'm very respectful of the individuals they [Bournemouth] have, so to play the way we did, in particular the first half, and control the game was really nice."

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Key facts

Brentford have won four consecutive league games against Bournemouth for the first time since May 1966 (five), while the Cherries are the only side that they’ve played more than two Premier League games against and never lost (P7 W5 D2).

Schade became the first ever German player to score two or more Premier League hat-tricks. It's the fourth hat-trick by a Brentford player in the competition, with Schade now matching Ivan Toney's two.

Bournemouth had 11 shots on target against Brentford, the most they’ve had in a Premier League game that they’ve lost, only having more in any game in the competition on two occasions (12 v both Watford in January 2019 and v Sheffield United in March 2024).

The three highest expected goals tallies in a Premier League game this season have involved Bournemouth (6.5 v Crystal Palace in October, 6.0 v Brentford today and 5.3 v Manchester United this month), while only their match at Man Utd (18) in Matchweek 16 has had more shots on target than this match (17) in 2025/26.