COLLINS IS THE HERO FOR BEES Irishman soars high to sting Hammers
WE ALL really ought to have learnt by now to stop writing Brentford off. Time after time they have proved the doubters wrong since they reached the promised land of the Premier League — add this result to that collection.
Some questioned how a club selfdeprecatingly known by fans as ‘just a bus stop in Hounslow’ could survive in the cut-throat, big-spending world of the Premier League. They haven’t just survived, they have thrived.
Some wondered if the Bees would lose their sting without star striker Ivan Toney, who is missing for eight months due to a ban for breaking FA betting rules.
Instead, this group of hard-working, talented players — led by a manager in Thomas Frank whose stock only continues to rise by the week — continue to fly.
The way West Ham played in the first half, few would have given much thought to a comeback after Brentford fell behind. Again, they proved us wrong.
‘Every win in the Premier League feels fantastic and coming back after being 2-1 down against a good team as well,’ said boss Thomas Frank.
‘In the end, I think it was a fully deserved win. Overall it was a good performance and it makes me a happy man. I love my team, I think they’re fantastic.’
After the high of beating Arsenal to progress to the League Cup quarter-finals in the week, David Moyes’s side were left with the low of defeat in a game they could have been out of sight before half-time in. The good times looked set to keep rolling when Mohammed Kudus’s magnificent volley drew the Hammers level in the first half.
If the Ghana international’s goal in the success over Arsenal was sublime, then file this strike under ‘sensational’.
Michail Antonio’s deep cross looked to be curling away from the winger’s reach.
But the Ghanaian, facing his own goal, pirouetted on his standing right leg and made the sweetest of connections with his left foot.
From the moment the ball left his laces, there was no doubting its final destination. Mark Flekken in the Brentford goal stood no chance.
But the absence of key figures in the spine of West Ham’s team — Kurt Zouma in defence and Edson Alvarez in midfield — was already clear to see before Kudus sent the travelling support into ecstasy.
It is hard to imagine the sequence of events which led to Brentford’s opener would have been allowed to play out if the authoritative figure of Zouma had been present on the pitch.
Tomas Soucek’s team-mates had failed to give him the shout to allow Vitaly Janelt’s cross to drop harmlessly out of play.
Soucek nodded the ball straight back into the path of Frank Onyeka, who scuffed his volley into the ground.
But Neal Maupay reacted quicker than the rest and stole in front of his marker to end a 412-day barren run in the league with a glancing header.
‘We weren’t talking about anything that was absolutely weird and wonderful,’ said a frustrated Moyes. ‘But we’ve found we’ve not dealt with things which, as a player, I’d have been disgusted with myself for not being able to deal with it much better.
‘I don’t think my teams do that and that’s why I’m annoyed and not been able to defend when we were put under pressure.’
The Hammers hit back, though, first through Kudus and then through Jarrod Bowen, who became the first player in Premier League history to score in each of their side’s first six away games of the season after squeezing home Said Benrahma’s cross.
The hosts were undeterred by the setback and grew stronger in the second half.
The visitors, meanwhile, lost their way.
Bryan Mbeumo’s testing ball into the box left Zouma’s replacement, Konstantinos Mavropanos, with no option but to try and make some contact with the ball with Vitaly Janelt lurking.
The Greek defender could only head past his own goalkeeper, Alphonse Areola.
Both sides had their chances to win it but it was another moment where Zouma’s absence stuck out like a sore thumb that settled the game. The visitors failed to deal with another ball into the box, this time from Mathias Jensen.
Defender Nathan Collins rose highest to head past Areola to secure Brentford’s third successive victory and leave the Hammers without a league win since the end of September. BRENTFORD (4-3-3): Flekken 5.5 (Strakosha 45mins, 6); Ajer 6 (Roerslev 79), Pinnock 6, Collins 6.5, Janelt 6.5 (Mee 91); Onyeka 6.5, Norgaard 7, Jensen 6.5 (Yarmolyuk 78); Mbeumo 6.5, Maupay 6, Wissa 6 (Ghoddos 89). Subs (not used): Zanka, Olakigbe, Brierley, Mayowa Adedokun. Booked: Ajer.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Areola 5.5; Coufal 6, Mavropanos 5, Aguerd 5.5, Emerson 5.5; Ward-Prowse 6, Soucek 6; Kudus 6.5, Bowen 6, Benrahma 6 (Fornals 64, 6); Antonio 6 (Ings 64, 5.5). Subs (not
used): Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Cornet, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Mubama. Booked: Emerson, Soucek, Moyes, Mavropanos, Ings. Referee: T Bramall (Manchester).