It’s happened before. Recently even. Wolves were promoted to the Premier League and finished seventh, securing European football. Currently, Brentford occupy that position.
It is with thanks to their substitute Yoane Wissa that Thomas Frank’s side are flying so high. His winner, with the last kick of the game, saw the visitors snatch all three points at the London Stadium. Not bad for a ‘bus stop in Hounslow’, as the away supporters were singing.
West Ham thought they’d done enough to leave with a draw when Jarrod Bowen equalised late on. They’d grown frustrated at Brentford’s sneaky tactics. How they take their time from goal-kicks and free-kicks. How they milk seconds out of throw-ins.
Yoane Wissa (centre) smashed in the winner late on for a superb victory for the visitors
The substitute came on to make his mark and break West Ham hearts at the death
Thomas Frank celebrated with his match-winner having brought him onto the pitch
Frank’s side are a streetwise bunch and they’re clinical, taking their chance in stoppage time and winning. Seven games in, they’re seventh, which is beyond their wildest dreams for their first season in the Premier League.
Ten minutes before kick off, a tweak was made to Brentford’s line up. Vitaly Janelt was injured in the warm up and so Frank Onyeka would be starting instead. You only needed to look at the replies to Brentford’s announcement on social media – ‘oh God no’, ‘f*** sake’ and ’s***’, to name a few – to understand that this was a blow.
Not that this late switch dampened Brentford’s desire to take the game to West Ham. They could have been three goals to the good inside a breathless opening 10 minutes at the London Stadium.
Bryan Mbeumo, starting up front alongside Ivan Toney, came closest to opening the scoring, curling a left-footed shot from 20 yards on to the crossbar then narrowly heading wide.
Jarrod Bowen scored the equaliser for West Ham but they conceded late on to drop points
The forward fired his shot home from an angle to the relief of those inside London Stadium
Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring for Brentford with a smartly taken rebound
Toney was the next to have a go, volleying a nice ball from Ethan Pinnock straight at Lukasz Fabianski. Following that, Sergi Canos saw his effort blocked as Brentford probed.
The closest West Ham could come to posing a threat was from set pieces, with Kurt Zouma heading Aaron Cresswell’s deep corner wide. Otherwise, they were defending for their lives.
After 20 minutes, Brentford got their goal. Toney threaded a lovely through-ball into Canos, who forced a save out of Fabianski. Mbeumo met the rebound and West Ham fans were celebrating after it seemed like their goalkeeper had got back in time to stop it from going in.
The visitors forced an opening and Sergi Canos’ effort was parried into Mbeumo’s path
Lukas Fabianski might look back on the goal and think he could have done better
Kurt Zouma overbalances when trying to head the ball in competition with Ivan Toney
He hadn’t. Referee Peter Bankes’s watch was buzzing and it was 1-0 to Brentford, or the ‘bus stop in Hounslow’ as the away supporters started to chant cheerfully. Replays showed it was only by a matter of millimetres that the ball had crossed the line.
Brentford deserved this lead. They’d been the better side. West Ham’s home support pleaded with their team to attack and before the break, a Vladimir Coufal cut-back prompted panic in the box. Michail Antonio fell, claiming he was fouled, but neither the referee nor VAR bought it.
Brentford know how to kill a game. Whether by taking their sweet time with a goal kick, as David Raya often did in this second half, or by milking an innocuous injury. West Ham’s supporters were quick to remind the referee whenever this was happening.
David Moyes, too. In the 67th minute, the manager wrestled with Brentford’s Mathias Jorgensen for the ball on the touchline. There was no time to lose. Later, when Brentford won a throw-in close to the technical area, Jorgensen cheekily picked up the ball and offered it to Moyes.
Angelo Ogbonna slides in for a tackle with Frank Onyeka in full flight for the visitors
West Ham were largely frustrated in front of their home crowd against Thomas Frank’s men
Pablo Fornals has his shot blocked by Rico Henry with the Hammers knocking on the door
Michail Antonio was unable to continue in his rich vein of goalscoring form
The hosts could have been level when Coufal clipped in a cross for Bowen, who sent his header wide. Moments later Pablo Fornals’ shot was blocked by Rico Henry, before Coufal’s low drive was beaten away by Raya.
In the 80th minute, West Ham were back in it. Pinnock cleared Cresswell’s corner but only to Bowen, who found the bottom right corner from 12 yards. There was no reaction from Moyes but the rest of the London Stadium erupted. The hosts wanted a winner, but they wouldn’t get it.
In stoppage time, Brentford won a free-kick, with Angelo Ogbonna fouling Wissa. Mathias Jensen whipped it in, Pontus Jansson’s header was palmed away by Fabianski but Wissa was charging in. He whacked the rebound into the back of the net and Brentford were the winners.
The Bees celebrated in front of the travelling supporters who had a thrilling finale