Igor Thiago’s hat-trick gave Brentford a 4-2 win over Everton, the Bees’ third away win of the season, and lifted Keith Andrews’ side into the Premier League’s top seven.
The Brazilian forward put in a great performance, starting with a header on the goal line to head home James Tarkowski’s early goal at one end, and putting the Bees ahead in the 11th minute from Vitaliy Janert’s superb cross at the other end.
Everton were denied Dwight McNeil and Tierno Barry in the first half by great saves from Caoich Kelleher, but were booed at the Hill Dickinson Stadium during the interval as Brentford should have taken a two or three point lead.
Thiago and Kevin Shade saw two great chances saved by Jordan Pickford before the break, but Brentford got the goals they deserved with a ferocious start to the second period.
Five minutes after the break, Nathan Collins headed in Janert’s corner kick from close range to make it 2-0. It was Brentford’s first goal from a corner kick this season, and the last senior team to manage a game this season.
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Nathan Collins heads Brentford’s corner to double their lead against Everton
And 94 seconds later, Brentford’s excellent Matthias Jensen slipped in for Schade for a chance, and while he was stopped midway through, Thiago collected the ball and slotted it past Pickford for Brentford to claim their third goal.
Everton were left stunned by the confusion early in the second half, but substitute Beto, who came on at half-time, got the ball back with a nod in Jack Grealish’s cross.
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Beto takes goal back against Everton
However, after threatening to complete a hat-trick early in the match, Thiago eventually broke through alone to chip Pickford and claim the match ball.
Barry pulled one back for Everton soon after, but there was no doubt as to who was the best striker on the park.
Spotlight: Thiago’s spectacular hat-trick
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Thiago scores first Premier League goal since November in Brentford’s opening game
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Thiago’s double gives Brentford a 3-0 win.
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Thiago scores a hat-trick
Andrews: “Thiago is impressive even without scoring”
Brentford head coach Keith Andrews told Sky Sports:
“Pride. Even though it’s my first time here, it’s not an easy place to come to. The away game against Everton is overall a very difficult game, given their manager, their coaching staff and their equal ability in the playing area. It takes real courage to come here and play like we did.”
“At half-time we could have been leading 1-0 or more. If we had stayed on track and been more flexible we could have taken our chances. We wanted to start the second half on a positive note and we knew there would be a reaction from the bench. The grit, personality and character we showed as a club was really impressive.”
“Thiago is great, he’s going to get us into the play-offs. He’s selfless in his game. Goals get the headlines, but Shade scored a hat-trick a few games ago against Bournemouth, he’s got players in the game and he’s surpassed himself. Thiago has been as impressive as him in terms of scoring goals.
Analysis: Andrews just found a way
Sam Blitz of Sky Sports:
There is a very strange phenomenon in Brentford, the more you take away from them, the stronger they become.
Many thought the sale of Brian Mbeumo and Yoan Wissa for a combined £125m would represent a setback for them and would limit them to relegation candidates.
But not only does Thiago currently score twice as many goals in the Premier League as Mbeumo and Wissa combined (14), Andrews has one more goal than Thomas Frank and threatens to take this team to Europe.
Still, Brentford are not at their best. Despite Dango Ouattara being away for the African Cup of Nations, Jordan Henderson missing all games and Fabio Carvalho and Antoni Mirambo all out this season, Andrews still finds a way.
Jensen was given an unconventional right-wing role at Everton, bringing out the best in Mikel Damsgaard, who had been off the bench for the past four games but was the second-best player on the park.
Damsgaard’s quick passing created more space for Brentford, and Thiago also benefited.
It was Brentford’s third away win of the season, but if they can manage to pick up an away win to counter G Tech’s threat, they could be the surprise package of the season, perhaps rather than Sunderland, who they face on Wednesday.
And maybe Andrews could be a real candidate for Coach of the Season.
Moyes wasn’t surprised by result despite poor goals
Everton manager David Moyes told Sky Sports:
“I don’t think I was too surprised. We knew we were relatively weak in some areas, but in the areas we expected us to be strong, we didn’t perform as well as we should have.
“We gave away an away goal. The first goal was a poor one. To their credit, they scored early and finished well. But from our point of view it was a poor goal. And the second goal came from a corner kick, which made it very difficult.”
“If we had scored a goal, it wouldn’t have been a big deal in the first half, but that goal had a big impact on the game itself. We realized we were chasing and we spread the game too wide. We tried to play more with our forwards and trouble them a little more (by making half-time substitutions), but it had the opposite effect.”
“I don’t think any of the goals were particularly good. We always went into the game 1-0. When we went out at half-time, we knew we had a game at home and we tried to be positive. But it ended with two goals.”
