Brentford 1-1 West Ham: Tomas Soucek cancels out Bryan Mbeumo’s opener as the Hammers continue their unbeaten start to the season away from home
The danger could not have been clearer for West Ham, whose analysts will have been scrutinizing Brentford’s tactical strengths and weaknesses all week.
What they really had to keep an eye on was the clock. Because against Brentford, who have built a reputation as the fast starters in the league, you have to be on your guard from the start.
Two weeks ago, away at Manchester City, Yoane Wissa needed 22 seconds to open the score against Manchester City. At Tottenham they proved last week that it was no fluke. Bryan Mbeumo showed it was a trick earlier, finding the back of the net after 23 seconds.
Mbeumo’s wait against West Ham was a little longer, although the very rich reward made it worth it. 38 seconds after referee Simon Hooper blew his whistle for the first time this afternoon, Mbeumo was given space to unleash a perfect volley into the top corner from the West Ham box after the Hammers failed to clear their lines .
It was a historic goal, with the home side becoming the first team in Premier League history to score in the opening minute in three consecutive matches.
It was also a blow West Ham desperately needed to avoid after an agonizing week that started with a first-half capitulation against Chelsea before they suffered a demoralizing 5-1 defeat at Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. But credit to Julen Lopetegui’s side who continued their unbeaten start away from home with a show of determination in the second half.
They took full advantage of Brentford’s slightly more undesirable record. Those are the team that has dropped more points from winning positions than any other team since the start of last season.
Tomas Soucek put the finishing touches to a clever passing move before racing away in delight towards the visiting support in the far corner. Lopetegui sat motionless on the bench, but must have known exactly how important that strike was in pacifying his early critics.
He would have been particularly pleased as he had barely gingerly reached the touchline before seeing his side fall behind. The bruise to his right calf hurt after he jumped in frustration at Anfield, but more painful would have been the way he saw his side give Brentford the upper hand early on.
Kevin Schade was given the time and space to tackle Kristoffer Ajer’s clipped pass. The danger could have been averted when the ball was passed to Fabio Carvalho. But the diminutive Portuguese forward rose higher than the rest and nodded the ball in Mbeumo’s direction. With plenty to do, the 25-year-old maneuvered his body and finished with aplomb after just 38 seconds, smashing past Alphonse Areola for his fifth goal of the season. A lengthy and somewhat inexplicable VAR check followed, but could not give West Ham a reprieve.
Almost 25 minutes had passed before the visitors made their first goal attempt, but shortly afterwards a better opening presented itself. Only Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen managed to get in each other’s way as they made their way towards the Brentford before Antonio finally slotted wide.
Mbeumo should have given the two hosts the lead when Wan-Bissaka was caught on the wrong side of the ball defending a Sepp van den Berg cross. Instead, he went there and got a slap for his troubles.
But it was the visitors who started the second half better and an intricate one-touch move involving Tomas Soucek and Bowen ended with Antonio squeezing the ball back to Soucek, who was able to stay on his feet just long enough to slot past Flokken finish.
That was the highlight of a fairly quiet second half, in which there was no lack of effort, but quality was lacking. Brentford were awarded two late penalties, but referee Hooper rightly waved away those rather desperate calls.
More to follow