Key Takeaways
- West Ham United lost 3-0 to Brentford FC at the Gtech Community Stadium
- The Hammers remain only two points above Tottenham Hotspur in the relegation battle
- Brentford moved up to sixth place after ending a seven-match winless run
Brentford FC secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over West Ham United on Saturday, dealing a serious blow to the Hammers’ fight to stay in the Premier League. The defeat leaves West Ham precariously positioned just two points clear of Tottenham Hotspur, who now have the opportunity to climb out of the bottom three with a win against Aston Villa.
The home side ended a poor run of seven matches without a victory to strengthen their push for European qualification. They now sit three points above Chelsea in ninth place.
Brentford took the lead after fifteen minutes when Konstantinos Mavropanos accidentally turned the ball into his own net. The Greek defender diverted the ball past his goalkeeper after Michael Kayode had already struck the post from Keane Lewis-Potter’s cross.
West Ham responded well and thought they had equalised when Mavropanos headed in from a free-kick. However, the Video Assistant Referee disallowed the goal for offside. The visitors suffered further bad luck as they struck the woodwork three times during the match. Taty Castellanos hit the post twice in the first half, while Crysencio Summerville crashed a curling effort against the crossbar in the second period.
The home side doubled their advantage when Igor Thiago scored from the penalty spot. El Hadji Malick Diouf fouled Dango Ouattara inside the area, and Thiago calmly converted the spot kick for his twenty-second league goal of the campaign.
Mikkel Damsgaard sealed the victory late in the match with a low shot into the bottom corner. The midfielder was named Player of the Match for his performance.
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen called for unity after the final whistle. “We must react in the right way,” he said. “Today hurts because we created good chances. We have three games left and every one is a cup final. The senior players must stand up and lead the team forward.”
Player Ratings:
Brentford: Kelleher (7), Kayode (7), Collins (7), Van den Berg (7), Lewis-Potter (7), Jensen (7), Yarmoliuk (7), Damsgaard (8), Ouattara (8), Thiago (8), Schade (7).
West Ham: Hermansen (6), Walker-Peters (6), Mavropanos (5), Disasi (5), Diouf (5), Fernandes (6), Soucek (6), Bowen (6), Pablo (6), Summerville (6), Castellanos (6).