West Ham 0-2 Brentford: Ivan Toney sustains knee harm as Hammers undergo fifth consecutive defeat

Brentford rose to ninth within the Premier League as first-half objectives from Ivan Toney and Josh Da Silva inflicted a fifth consecutive defeat on West Ham in a 2-0 win on the London Stadium.

There was a poignant minute’s applause for Pele previous to kick-off with the Brazilian Lucas Paqueta main the tributes on the centre circle however the playmaker and his team-mates regarded out of types as Brentford raced right into a 2-0 half-time lead.

Toney poked the Bees forward within the 18th minute after West Ham did not take care of an extended throw. Dasilva made it 2-0 with a composed end with two minutes left of the half and West Ham have been booed off on the break.

David Raya, within the Brentford objective, was not overly labored as a second-half rally did not materialise which means West Ham slip under Everton into seventeenth place on objective distinction forward of the weekend’s remaining fixtures.

Brentford’s evening ended on a bitter word, nevertheless, as Toney was carried off on a stretcher after showing to jar his knee when defending a late nook.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank stated on the harm: “Hopefully it’s good. I don’t exactly know how he will be for the Liverpool game in three days’ time. It’s unlikely that he would come off unless it is something. It could be a little worse. It’s never a good sign but we don’t know enough yet.”

How Brentford inflicted extra ache on Moyes

Boos greeted the ultimate whistle from the house supporters with West Ham struggling a fifth straight loss for the primary time since April 2017 underneath Slaven Bilic’s stewardship. David Moyes, in the meantime, has misplaced 5 consecutive league video games for the primary time since October 2005 with Everton.

Brentford make the brief journey again throughout London with one other derby victory of their again pocket, however this was soured within the closing phases as Toney landed awkwardly defending a set-piece, catching his studs within the turf with prolonged therapy resulting in his inevitable withdrawal.

Brentford did the league double over the Hammers final season – prevailing late on by a Yoane Wissa strike right here in October 2021 – however the hosts made the brighter begin and have been denied the opener inside two minutes when Declan Rice’s rasping effort from vary kissed the skin of the publish. The Bees have been shaken additional when Craig Dawson misplaced Ben Mee at Jarrod Bowen’s nook however the centre-back’s header was glanced simply huge.

It felt solely a matter of time earlier than the Hammers stole a march as Bowen was subsequent to have a shot on the flip deflected huge off Mathias Jorgensen – however towards the run of play, it was Brentford who struck.

Mathias Jensen’s throw-in was flicked on by Ethan Pinnock and after Lukasz Fabianski stored out Christian Norgaard’s hooked shot, Toney was readily available to prod house from shut vary.

It was Toney’s twentieth Premier League objective of 2022 – turning into solely the fourth Englishman previously 10 years to succeed in the milestone after Harry Kane, Jermain Defoe and Jamie Vardy.

The objective drained the London Stadium of environment nevertheless it emboldened Brentford’s defensive rearguard as Mee threw himself at a Bowen shot and Gianluca Scamacca headed tamely at David Raya.

The house aspect continued to patiently probe as Angelo Ogbonna dug out a cross contained in the field for Emerson to fireplace by the our bodies however Raya firmly batted his near-post shot away, however Brentford doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time. It all appeared pretty innocuous as Toney flicked on a Jorgensen throw in just for Dasilva to muscle Aaron Cresswell out of possession to tuck his end contained in the far publish.

Brentford entered the sport unbeaten on every of the final 17 earlier events in Premier League matches wherein they scored the opening objective – whereas they’d received 10 of the 11 video games they’ve been main by two objectives – the one exception between within the 2-2 draw with Tottenham 4 days in the past.

The Hammers very practically made the right begin to the second interval as referee Darren England pointed to the spot after Bowen was worn out by Mee however VAR got here to Brentford’s rescue as replays confirmed the problem occurred simply exterior the field.

It wasn’t till the sixty fourth minute that Moyes made his first change as Michail Antonio changed Emerson, shifting Said Benrahma to the left of midfield with a extra direct strategy now a necessity.

Brentford have been closing in on consecutive away Premier League wins for under a 3rd time of their historical past and after Frank turned to his bench to summon Saman Ghoddos, the Iranian midfielder reacted to Toney’s blocked free-kick to arrow a shot in the direction of the underside nook, denied by the sprawling Fabianski.

It stored the door barely ajar for West Ham as Scamacca well took Paqueta’s cross to show Pinnock and virtually shock Raya, with the Spaniard preserving his clear sheet. Dawson rose to fulfill Bowen’s nook however Raya wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

While West Ham shut 2022 with a poor run of type, for upwardly cell Brentford, their solely concern proper now could be the well-being of their talisman.

Frank: I’ll get pleasure from a glass of wine

Brentford boss Thomas Frank: “It was a fantastic away win. Us being able to come here, sometimes it can just click against some opponents but for Brentford to win three straight times against West Ham is incredible. Goals change momentum as they started better than us.

“They had one or two good probabilities earlier than we scored, which modified the momentum. We had been garbage on the ball and had thrown away possession too many instances. The Premier League is about taking your moments and we did that. In the second half we have been significantly better and it was nearer to 3-0 than 2-1.

“The team played well against Tottenham but we wanted to bring a little bit of freshness into the team. There was a good calmness and the players were composed in their defensive positions.

“I at all times need extra and I at all times need us to enhance. I’m already disillusioned with the first-half efficiency. In phrases of the place within the desk, I strive to not deal with that. My focus is on beating Liverpool. I’ll have a glass of wine tonight and look and suppose, it is not dangerous, however we can’t get complacent.

“To everyone involved in the club, it’s been a fantastic 2022. We started it by beating Aston Villa and end it by beating West Ham. Two big clubs. We should enjoy the moment and try to fly in the New Year.”

Player of the match – Ivan Toney

Through Ivan Toney’s opener, Brentford scored their fourth Premier League objective immediately following a throw-in because the starting of final season, as many as each different aspect mixed.

Unbeaten Bees – Opta stats

Brentford are unbeaten in 5 league matches (W2 D3), their longest run of video games with out defeat within the top-flight since March 1939 (6).

West Ham discovered themselves 2+ objectives behind at half-time in a Premier League recreation on the London Stadium for the primary time since November 2019 towards Spurs, underneath Manuel Pellegrini.

Brentford have scored a complete of 75 objectives within the Premier League, with Ivan Toney immediately contributing to 43% of them (24 objectives, 8 assists). In the competitors’s historical past, that is the very best share for a participant for a single membership.

What’s subsequent?

Monday 2nd January 5:00pm


Kick off 5:30pm

West Ham go to Leeds on Wednesday January 4 at Elland Road within the Premier League; kick-off 7.45pm. Brentford host Liverpool on Monday January 2, dwell on Sky Sports; kick-off 5.30pm.