I’ve missed the last 2 Bees games due to illness and injury, something us Brentford fans have become far too familiar with over the last few seasons, but today I kept up my 100% record at home league games this season as the Bees looked to maintain theirs against a West Ham team who had only won once so far this season under Julien Lopetegui.
Brentford had made fast starts at the Etihad and the Tottenham Hotspur stadium recently and they made it a hat-trick here. They took their sweet time about it though, taking a full 40 seconds to score today.
Bryan Mbuemo made it back to back openers for the hosts as he spun on a dime to volley home first time from the penalty spot, after a cross was nodded back his way from the back post.
It was a gloriously fast start to the game but, as with the previous matches we failed to capitalise in a first half that stumbled like the least co-ordinated drunk all the way to half-time. The home fans could at least feel content with the lead but there is a reason this match is last up on Match Of The Day.
Both keepers could happily have gone to sleep, no-one would have known.
The away fans booed their team down the tunnel at half time which, combined with a double substitution seemed to have the desired effect.
The Hammers came out swinging in the second half and 9 minutes into the half they were level.
Brentford’s opener was a thing of beauty, West Ham’s equaliser was a scrappy shovelling over the line by Thomas Soucek but they all count and despite being on the ropes for most of the match the East Londoner’s were now level.
Just like their hosts in the first half though, the visitors were unable to seize the momentum of the goal as, once again, naps were the order of the day for both keepers throughout the second half.
There were a few decent passes being strung together in midfield but both teams seemed to have caught a bug that stopped them being able to complete a pass of more than 5 yards. It got even worse for the Irons, in the final 20 minutes they seemed unable to complete a pass of any length.
Brentford were never truly troubled throughout the half, but the lack of reinforcements off the bench was a key contributing factor in their inability to change the course of the game in either half.
Our squad looks paper thin and with all our experienced fresh legs injured we are going to continue to struggle to convert our fast starts into results.
On the positive side at least this time we improved on the result from our last 2 fast starts and remain unbeaten at the Gtech.
Winless Wolves are our next visitors, so maybe a win in less than a week away.
The Football tourist 