Igor Thiago finds himself in “pretty esteemed company” according to Brentford’s head coach, Keith Andrews, after the striker dismantled Everton with a cool and clinical hat-trick. The same will be true of Brentford themselves should this emphatic victory herald the end of their troubled away form.
Only Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane have scored more goals than the Brazilian across Europe’s top five leagues after he reached 14 for the season at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Only Wolves and Burnley have lost more away games in the Premier League this campaign than Andrews’s team but Brentford’s previous results on the road defied comprehension on this evidence. The visitors were commanding and fully deserving of only their third away win of the season. Everton were dreadful, the perfect tonic for a visiting team in search of confidence, and repeatedly punished by the unstoppable Thiago.
“His finishes were outstanding,” Andrews said. “Really clinical, calm and confident. The names you’ve just mentioned [Haaland, Mbappé and Kane], he’s obviously in some pretty esteemed company there but he’s earned it. He was injured for a lot of last season. He is such a popular player among our group and a special person who deserves everything he gets because he works so hard and is so unselfish. He leaves everything out there.”
The atmosphere in the stadium was flat before kick-off and David Moyes’s side mirrored the mood. The hosts started brightly, in fairness. Dwight McNeil forced the former Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher into a good save from a Jack Grealish layoff and, from the resulting corner, James Tarkowski’s goalbound header was cleared on the line by Thiago.
That was in the fourth minute. Everton did not threaten again until the fifth minute of time added on in the first half for a head injury to Kristoffer Ajer. Absences undoubtedly played a part in the lack of creativity from the home team, although did not stop Everton from winning at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, but the contributions from Tyler Dibling and McNeil were nonexistent. The defensive resilience on show at the City Ground vanished too.
Brentford, by contrast, were composed, well structured and threatened repeatedly. With more precision in the final ball the visitors could have been out of sight before half-time. That security came six minutes into the second half.
Everton could not handle the strength and movement of Thiago but he did not have to work hard for his opening goal. The hosts switched off after the Brentford forward Kevin Schade went down looking for a foul and Tarkowski played a careless ball straight to Vitaly Janelt. The midfielder swept a first-time cross behind Michael Keane for the unmarked Thiago to guide into the bottom corner.
Schade should have doubled Brentford’s lead from a similar chance when Grealish squandered possession on the right, but placed his shot from Mikkel Damsgaard’s cross straight at Jordan Pickford. The Everton goalkeeper denied Thiago a second with a fine save after the striker had been slipped in by Mathias Jensen.
Moyes’s side briefly flickered again when Grealish beat Michael Kayode and crossed for Thierno Barry, who steered a diving header – or shoulder – at Kelleher’s legs. The Everton manager had seen enough and replaced Dibling and McNeil at half-time with Beto and Merlin Röhl. Dibling was Everton’s most expensive summer signing at £35m and his continued struggles must be a concern to Moyes. Brentford gave him more problems.
Everton’s hopes of second-half improvement were quickly extinguished with two goals in the space of 95 seconds. After 95 corners without a goal this season, Brentford broke their duck at the 96th attempt when their captain, Nathan Collins, ghosted across the six-yard area and headed Janelt’s delivery beyond Pickford. Shortly after the restart Tim Iroegbunam lost possession and Jensen, having nutmegged Keane, carved open the Everton defence with a delightful ball into Schade. The German forward held the ball up inside the box for Thiago to clip a cool finish past Pickford, a trick he would repeat for the hat-trick.
Everton improved at 3-0 down – they could hardly get any worse – and Beto glanced home a fine header from Grealish’s left-wing cross. In pushing for an unlikely comeback Moyes’s side left themselves exposed to the counterattack repeatedly and were finally punished when Röhl scuffed an attempted cross straight to Collins. The defender sent Thiago running clear from inside his own half and, with the certainty of a striker at the top of his game, the Brazilian flicked another nonchalant finish beyond Pickford.
Barry’s stoppage-time consolation from Grealish’s inviting cross ensured the final scoreline flattered Everton. “We don’t concede four goals too often and we conceded them in a really shabby manner,” Moyes said. “If you compare how we defended in midweek to today it just doesn’t stack up.”
