West Ham United vs Brentford. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance49,940.
Report and free highlights as Brentford substitute Yoane Wissa hammers home the winner with one of the last kicks of the game against West Ham; Jarrod Bowen had earlier cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo's first-half goal for the Bees
Sunday 3 October 2021 19:45, UK
Yoane Wissa scored a dramatic late winner for Brentford as they beat West Ham 2-1 and continued their impressive start to Premier League life.
It was hard to know who were the newly-promoted side and who were playing in Europe as Brentford pummelled West Ham in the first half, grabbing a deserved lead when Bryan Mbeumo's strike was awarded by the goal-line technology on 20 minutes.
West Ham responded after the break and Jarrod Bowen's pure, half-volleyed finish drew them level with 10 minutes remaining.
An assault on the Bees' goal was expected but, led by Pontus Jansson, the visitors managed the situation and created one last chance for themselves when Jansson's header was saved and the rebound was brilliantly hammered home by Wissa.
The win means Brentford head into the international break with 12 points from seven games which sees them in seventh place. Meanwhile, West Ham have now lost four of their last seven Premier League home games but sit ninth in the league.
Brentford suffered a blow in the warm-up when Vitaly Janelt suffered an injury and had to be replaced by Frank Onyeka. Any fears the switch in line-up would disrupt the visitors were quashed emphatically inside the opening 10 minutes when the Bees could have been three goals up.
Onyeka had an effort blocked away to Mbeumo following an early corner and the striker then curled an effort which left Lukasz Fabianski standing but clipped the crossbar. West Ham could not live with Brentford's energy in midfield and that platform set the tone for Rico Henry to charge away down the left, but his cross was headed wide from 10 yards by Mbeumo after just four minutes.
Ivan Toney was the next Brentford player to spurn a great chance when he smacked a volley straight at Fabianski on 10 minutes. Thomas Frank could be excused for thinking Brentford had missed their chance of taking advantage of an off-colour West Ham but they took their next major opportunity.
Toney's defence-splitting pass sent Sergi Canos crashing through on goal, and his angled shot forced a loose parry from Fabianski. Mbeumo was not only first to the rebound but also slid the ball just over the line with goal-line technology awarding the goal.
West Ham did not start to cause Brentford problems until midway through the half. Said Benrahma - playing against his former club - curled wide from 18 yards when hitting the target looked easier and Pablo Fornals wasted a fine chance with a poor final ball.
The Hammers started the stronger after the break as they pushed hard for an equaliser.
The pressure was growing on Brentford and Bowen spurned a glorious chance, heading wide from point-blank range after a neat Vladimir Coufal cross.
Coufal then tested David Raya from the angle but the Bees goalkeeper stood up to the strike. Brentford looked to be managing the West Ham threat as the game wore on but Bowen popped up with the equaliser.
A West Ham corner was only half-cleared and Bowen took full advantage of the space by striking a well-controlled finish into the net.
That looked set to be enough for a point but there was to be one more twist, with Wissa powering home in style after Jansson's header was saved by Fabianski. The away end erupted as their side created another special memory in the club's history.
Keeping tabs on Michail Antonio is probably one of the toughest tasks a Premier League defender can face. He takes you places you don't want to go as a defender with his ability to run the channels. It looked a mismatch on paper with Jansson much more suited to a physical battle than one where he needs to run but he stepped up in a big way. Antonio's influence was minimal due to Jansson's clever and brilliant concentration in dealing with Antonio's game. Not only did he do his job at the back he also popped up with the last-minute header that was beaten away and lashed home by Wissa. A proper captain's performance.
West Ham boss David Moyes: "When you become a club that win you get used to it and I think Brentford will keep on going. They ran Liverpool close and we are really disappointed we lost 2-1 if we won 2-1 I don't think anybody would have complained.
"They are a difficult team and will be for most to play against. They passed it well and when they needed to they served their centre-forwards well. For long periods we had a lot of chances and opportunities and did not take them but I have to commend Brentford for doing a good job."
Brentford boss Thomas Frank: "We came out with the confident attitude but also very humble about the situation playing against a very good team. Then in the second half Liverpool showed why they area top six team. We defended well in the box and put out bodies on the line, although I want to play better in spells. But after the storm everything seemed settled but they scored. But we kept believing and it was a fantastic way to win the game."
West Ham have a trip to Everton on their agenda after the international break, a game live on Super Sunday on October 17. Meanwhile, Brentford also are live on Sky Sports on Saturday, October 16 with a west London derby against Chelsea.
