Brentford’s final game of 2025 saw them beat Bournemouth 4-1, moving them into eighth place in the Premier League table, just three points behind sixth-placed Manchester United.
Kevin Shade’s perfect hat-trick and Djordje Petrovic’s own goal lifted Keith Andrews’ side to 26 points, their best result for a Premier League club in five seasons.
This also means they have won six of their nine home league games this season, extending Bournemouth’s winless record from top four at the end of October to nine games.
Antoine Semenyo scored for the Cherries and his future is likely to dominate the headlines when the transfer window opens on January 1st.
Stars of the Shard as Brentford rise
Brentford have never lost to Bournemouth in their previous six Premier League games and set out to extend that record with a first-half goal for the first time in six Premier League games.
Igor Thiago won the ball around half way and sent a great ball straight out of Jordan Henderson’s playbook to Schade. The German forward outscored Bafode Diakité and fired a low shot past Petrovic and into the bottom right corner.
Brentford had plenty of chances to extend their lead against Bournemouth, who had not won in the league since October 26. The best moment was when Christopher Ajer headed a millimeter wide of the post, but then Chadé had two shots in quick succession. One was blocked and one was suspended.
Keith Andrews’ side have achieved back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since October.
The second goal came under strange circumstances. Thiago’s shot was saved by Petrovic but deflected over the top, and Diakite’s attempted clearance bounced off the keeper and into his own net.
Bournemouth had an xG of 0.07 at half-time and Iraola brought on David Brooks, Evan Wilson and Justin Kluivert to further boost the attacking momentum. That was certainly the case, but mainly after Schade added a second goal and Brentford added a third, guiding in Yehor Yarmoliuk’s cross with a fine first-time finish.
The Cherries had 18 shots after the break, nine of them on target, for an xG value of 2.42, but could only pull one back, Semenyo’s backheel from close range after 75 minutes.
But that was just a consolation. With just seconds left in stoppage time, Schade completed his hat-trick from inside the six-yard box, converting the ball from Mikel Damsgaard.
Andrews: We were sensational. shard was great
Brentford head coach Keith Andrews:
“Good win, good performance. Two different halves.
“I thought we were sensational in the first half. I thought we played really well and controlled the game with and without the ball.
“Maybe we could have created a little more with the areas and opportunities we had, but overall it was a very, very enjoyable afternoon.
“He (Shade) works tirelessly for the team. Having to run back as quickly as he runs forward is a trait we look for in our attacking players.”
“He’s always been a threat and in the last few weeks he’s started to get into a really good position and I feel like he’s getting really, really close.
“It was a really great hat-trick today, right foot, left foot and header. It couldn’t have been more perfect. He was fantastic today.”
Iraora: We had intentions in the second half, but it was too late.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola:
“It’s very easy to analyze today. I arrived 45 minutes late to a Premier League match. Normally when this happens you get sent off from the match.
“I definitely think we could lose the game. Brentford away is not an easy game. Even if we lose like we did in the second half, it’s not a problem. We have the intention to go on the attack and seize our chances. Everyone was pushing and pushing aggressively, so we conceded a goal on the counter. The problem was that it was slow.”
“What we have to look at is how we started, especially in the first half. I don’t think we were ourselves. From the outside it looked like we were just waiting for nothing to happen in the game.”
“In the Premier League, if you’re not aggressive and you don’t go against them, they’re going to go against you. In that case, you have to defend and accept that you’re going to have a difficult duel. Especially in the first half, we lost to them.”
“After we reacted, we improved with the subs. We were a different team, but it was too late.”
