Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Brentford - London Stadium, London, Britain - February 15, 2025 West Ham United's Tomas Soucek in action with Brentford's Kevin Schade Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
LONDON (Reuters) - Kevin Schade's early goal gave Brentford a 1-0 win at West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday, after the hosts recovered from a woeful first half but were unable to find an equaliser.
Brentford took the lead inside four minutes after Schade's shot was stopped and clawed away by West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who blocked the German winger's follow-up but from behind the line.
The Bees were rampant and played through West Ham with ease, with Bryan Mbuemo drawing a good save from Areola after the Hammers gave away possession in midfield.
Yoane Wissa twice thought he had doubled Brentford's lead only for VAR to rule out his efforts, either side of Schade thudding a shot against the post, as the Bees thoroughly dominated.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank admitted he was worried at halftime that his side's failure to capitalise could be costly, telling reporters: "We should have been ... at least 3-0 up."
The closest West Ham came to a chance before the break was when Jarrod Bowen's teasing ball found no one, so it was no surprise to see on-loan striker Evan Ferguson introduced in a triple change by Hammers boss Graham Potter at halftime.
Potter said his side's first-half performance was "nowhere near how we want to be", which he attributed in part to conceding an early goal.
He told reporters: "When we conceded the goal that we did, it almost plays into the game that (Brentford) want it to be, which is they defend deep well, it's hard to create real opportunities against them."
Ferguson almost had an immediate impact, finding Mohammed Kudus in front of goal with a lovely pull-back but Kudus horribly sliced his effort over the bar from close range.
The home side briefly built some momentum after the restart, with substitute James Ward-Prowse delivering a series of dangerous corners which Brentford defended well.
But the Hammers' push for a leveller fizzled out after a lengthy pause in play when Brentford defender Sepp van den Berg was injured around the hour mark.
Bowen wanted a penalty with just over 15 minutes left after going down in the box under contact from Keane Lewis-Potter, but his appeals were waved away.
Potter told reporters that there was "certainly a case" for a penalty, saying: "I was surprised the VAR didn't have a look to be honest."
He added: "It just happens. We have to focus more on our first-half performance and doing better there."
Brentford were relatively comfortable in holding on for a third straight away league win, which kept them 11th in the standings with 34 points from 25 games.
West Ham – who have now lost four of six games under Potter in all competitions – are 16th with 27 points, 10 above the relegation zone.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Pritha Sarkar)
