Newcastle took an early lead at West Ham in their last away outing, so you’d be forgiven for expecting a fast start from them. That’s now how things materialised, though, with neither side particularly seizing the initiative in the opening exchanges, as a diving header from Kevin Schade, which drifted well wide of the target, was as close as either side came to finding an early breakthrough.
It was the Bees who manufactured the first positive opening of the half when Mikel Damsgaard’s teasing delivery was turned goalwards by Aaron Hickey, forcing Nick Pope to make a smart stop before Newcastle eventually managed to scramble clear.
That proved to be a crucial moment in the scheme of the game as Newcastle hit the front not long after. Harvey Barnes was the man who got it, pouncing on a loose ball inside the area and leaving two Brentford defenders in his wake before rifling beneath the legs of Caoimhin Kelleher.
As most teams have found out this season, Michael Kayode’s throw-ins are difficult to deal with, and Newcastle were struggling to cope with them like most other teams as they came under pressure before the break, requiring Pope to twice deny the Bees when it looked like a long throw had yielded a leveller.
One of Kayode’s throws was always likely to bear fruit eventually, and shortly before the hour mark it duly did. Kayode’s long throw into the area was headed out of the gloves of Pope by Sven Botman, and Schade had the simplest of tasks to head into an unguarded net from inside the six-yard box.
Newcastle were on the ropes by that point and were handed a huge stroke of luck just minutes later when Dan Burn seemingly tripped Dango Ouattara inside the area, but despite Burn looking dejected knowing he’d tripped the Brentford man, Stuart Attwell booked Ouattara for simulation and VAR incredibly agreed with him.
The pair were soon duelling in the area once more, and this time Burn was penalised for his challenge on Outtara inside the area, and his misery was compounded by being handed a second yellow card.
He was ultimately triple whammied as Igor Thiago stepped up from the spot and coolly fired the Bees ahead with a little over 10 minutes to play, and it proved to be an advantage they weren’t going to pass up.
At a man disadvantage, Eddie Howe’s men were always unlikely to get back on level terms, as their worst start to a PL season under his stewardship continues.
Brentford, meanwhile, continue to defy the odds and climb up the table, adding the icing to the cake in stoppage time when Thiago added their third of the afternoon.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kevin Schade (Brentford)
