LONDON (AP) – Goals late in both halves gave Brentford a 2-0 win in the Premier League on Monday as West Ham snapped a fourth consecutive home defeat, but it could have been an even bigger victory had the visiting team taken more chances.
When the match started, West Ham had lost all three of their home games this season, and Brentford had lost all three of their away games in the league, but at the London Stadium, the away team dominated from the start.
Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade both missed good chances to score, but Thiago finally broke the deadlock two minutes before half-time. The Hammers’ defense was unable to deal with the long ball and Chade was able to connect with Thiago to score. Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola tried to shoot, but was unable to stop the shot from crossing the line.
Some West Ham fans boycotted the match in protest of mismanagement by the club’s owners, and there were more empty seats than usual at the former Olympic Stadium, which became the club’s home ground in 2016 after being relocated from Upton Park.
The home side made few mistakes as they had the second-best result overall, with 22 shots on goal compared to West Ham’s seven.
Still, it took until the 94th minute for Brentford to score their second goal. Another long ball confused the West Ham defense and Kean Lewis-Potter cut back for Matthias Jensen to slot home.
“We probably could have done more,” Brentford midfielder Mikel Damsgaard said. “We created a lot of chances and had a lot of set plays, but I’m glad we were able to get the three points.”
As a result, Nuno Espirito Santos’ team has won four points from eight games, with the worst goal difference in the league, placing them in 19th place.
Brentford have moved up to 13th place with 10 points after eight games.
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