Brentford win over West Ham was more impressive than Chelsea result, says Thomas Frank
- Joe Hewlett
- 10 April 2022
Thomas Frank claimed Brentford’s performance against West Ham was their best of the season after a 2-0 win moved them 12 points clear of the Premier League drop zone.
Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney eased relegation fears for the Bees, and in the process, made a huge dent to West Ham's hopes of claiming a Champions League spot.
According to their manager, Brentford's performance was even better than the one they put in to defeat Chelsea 4-1 at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
"I think it was close to a complete performance," Frank said. "It was the first time all season we have more or less controlled the game from minute one to minute 90.
"Winning 2-0 against a very good side, a side in the quarter-finals of the Europa League and challenging for the top four, and restricting them to just five shots, that's 'wow' for me.
"I'm very proud of the performance, it was possibly even more complete than the Chelsea one. The way we did it shows how far we've come.
"It's a combination of a top performance and a good win, that's the big thing. Of course I looked at the table, but I want to focus on the next game."
Brentford have won every game in which Christian Eriksen has started 💯 pic.twitter.com/fCrYJDJMv7
— GOAL (@goal) April 10, 2022
After a quiet first half, Brentford opened proceedings just two minutes into the second from a quick throw-in. Toney flicked on a ball to Mbeumo who struck it low into the net.
Mbeumo then returned the favour for Toney in the 64th minute for Brentford's second.
Yoann Wissa fed Rico Henry down the left and his cross was steered first-time onto the head of Toney from six yards.
Finishing fourth may be over for the Hammers but their quarter-final clash against Lyon remains in the balance after a 1-1 draw.
They will have to try and get past the French team without Kurt Zouma though, after he limped off with a twisted ankle.
"Him coming off is not a good sign," admitted manager David Moyes.
The Scot felt this was a match too far for his increasingly stretched squad.
"It was disappointing, but just maybe playing Thursday and Sunday caught up with us," he added. "We lacked intensity and hardly made any chances.
"It was a really low level game in the first half but we gave them a leg-up in the second with a really poor, shoddy goal from our point of view."
