Thiago brace sends Brentford FIFTH after win over Sunderland

Igor Thiago’s red-hot form continued as his brace helped Brentford to a superb 3-0 win over Sunderland at the Gtech Community Stadium.

The visitors were left to rue Enzo Le Fee’s penalty miss on the hour-mark, with the midfielder’s attempted Panenka being saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.

Thiago put Brentford ahead in the 30th minute before doubling his tally (below) five minutes after Le Fee had squandered that golden chance to level.

And the victory was sealed by Yehor Yarmoliuk, who smashed home his first goal for Brentford to seal yet another win on home soil for Keith Andrews’ side.

Brentford are flying high in the Premier League, with Wednesday’s result moving them up to fifth, within a point of the top four, while Sunderland remain inside the top half.

How the match unfolded

Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs was called into action just 34 seconds in, and Brentford’s dominance continued as Thiago fired narrowly wide after a mistake from Le Fee.

But Thiago made no mistake from his next chance, rounding Roefs to coolly finish.

Keane Lewis-Potter’s free-kick clipped the crossbar in first-half stoppage time, and Sunderland seemed set to make that luck count when Brian Brobbey was tripped inside the Brentford box by Kristoffer Ajer, but from the resulting penalty, Le Fee’s attempted chip proved to be catching practice for Kelleher.

Watch: Kelleher's penalty save from Le Fee

And that miss was punished shortly after when Kevin Schade, who had struck the crossbar moments earlier, teed up Thiago, who expertly nodded into the bottom-right corner.

Yarmoliuk added further gloss to the scoreline with a thumping finish from Mathias Jensen’s corner in the 73rd minute, while Mikkel Damsgaard struck a post before Thiago forced another stop from Roefs late on.

Thiago leading Brentford’s European charge

Brentford had been tipped to struggle this season, with talismanic duo Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, as well as boss Thomas Frank, all departing for pastures new.

But under the guidance of Andrews, the Bees are buzzing around the European places after 21 games, and their charge up the table has been led by Thiago, whose tally of 16 Premier League goals is only bettered by Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.

The Brentford No 9 had endured a goal drought before smashing in a hat-trick against Everton, and with the Brazilian back in form, Brentford are a force to be reckoned with.

However, it is not just Thiago who is starring. The likes of Jensen, Schade and Reiss Nelson, who missed a glorious chance in the closing stages, all offer a threat in attack for the Bees, who have made a name for stinging their top-flight opponents at home.

Only Arsenal, Man City and Aston Villa have managed more wins on home turf than Brentford’s seven, and that form in front of their home supporters could be key if they are to miraculously challenge for a place in Europe.

After six league matches unbeaten, Brentford’s attention will now turn to Sheffield Wednesday in the third round of the FA Cup this Saturday, before a trip to Stamford Bridge to face fellow top six contenders Chelsea, in what will be Liam Rosenior’s first game in charge of the Blues, on 17 January.

Black Cats pay the penalty

Sunderland will think what could have been after seeing Le Fee fluff his lines from the spot, with his missed penalty not the first time a spot-kick has decided a game between these two sides.

You would only have to go as far back as the reverse fixture in August, when Sunderland emerged 2-1 victors. Schade missed a penalty before Le Fee and Wilson Isidor helped the Black Cats to victory at the Stadium of Light.

But after a confident start that saw Granit Xhaka’s free-kick gathered by Kelleher, Sunderland uncharacteristically lost their way as the game got away from them.

Two lapses in concentration led to nervy moments, with Jensen pinching possession from Omar Alderete, which led to a chance for Brentford, before Le Fee’s attempted flick was cut out by Michael Kayode, with that move seeing Thiago's shot flash just wide.

And though they improved after the break, with Le Fee’s influence growing, they were unable to really test Kelleher again until late on, through Romaine Mundle’s shot from the left-hand side.

But Le Bris and his players must dust themselves down for a trip to Merseyside to face Everton in the FA Cup third round this weekend.

Club reports

Brentford report | Sunderland report

What the managers said

Keith Andrews: "The spirit, resilience, personality and intensity [pleased me most]. I wanted to play with intensity tonight. I didn’t want the time of year and the congested period to be an excuse. We want to attack every game and we did that really well tonight."

Regis Le Bris: "The penalty miss was probably the main turning point in the game. Today, Brentford were better than us. It is important to repeat that we lose as a team."

Next five PL fixtures

Key facts

Brentford have accumulated 33 points from their opening 21 matches in the Premier League this season (W10 D3 L8), the Bees’ joint-best ever return at this stage of a campaign in the competition (also 33 in 2022/23).

Thiago scored his 15th and 16th Premier League goals of the season; with his tally this season the highest of any Brazilian player across a single campaign in the competition.

Sunderland suffered their joint-heaviest defeat of the Premier League season (also 3-0 at Man City last month), with the Black Cats last suffering a heavier away defeat across the top four tiers in January 2022 at Bolton Wanderers in League One (6-0).