West Ham’s survival bid rocked by Brentford to open door for Tottenham

Compliments mean little to West Ham at this stage of the season. They need points more than a patronising pat on the head for playing quite well in a defeat. West Ham hit the woodwork three times, created a host of chances and contributed to an entertaining game. Well, all of that would have been fine if they were coasting in mid-table, but given West Ham’s perilous position the overriding sense was this was a costly afternoon in their battle to stay up. The frustration lay in blowing an opportunity to make 18th-placed Tottenham squirm before facing Aston Villa on Sunday evening.

Compliments mean little to West Ham at this stage of the season. West Ham hit the woodwork three times, created a host of chances and contributed to an entertaining game. Well, all of that would have been fine if they were coasting in mid-table, but given West Ham’s perilous position the overriding sense was this was a costly afternoon in their battle to stay up. The frustration lay in blowing an opportunity to make 18th-placed Tottenham squirm before facing Aston Villa on Sunday evening. He was happy with elements of West Ham’s performance against high-flying Brentford , but was worried about their reaction to Igor Thiago making it 2-0 with a penalty early in the second half.

They were more clinical than West Ham. Kayode charged in, Summerville reacted too late to the right-back’s run and West Ham were all at sea. West Ham were too open during a breathless first half. West Ham had an equaliser disallowed when an offside Mavropanos headed in from Diouf’s free-kick. That bluntness cost West Ham.

West Ham grew ragged. Summerville hit the bar for West Ham, but the third goal arrived when Lewis-Potter found Damsgaard, who used Mateus Fernandes as a shield and threaded a low shot past the unsighted Hermansen. Perhaps West Ham should have known they were fighting a lost cause. Brentford have won three of their past 16 London derbies. The problem is that all those victories came against West Ham.

Explore more on these topics Share Reuse this content Compliments mean little to West Ham at this stage of the season. West Ham hit the woodwork three times, created a host of chances and contributed to an entertaining game. Well, all of that would have been fine if they were coasting in mid-table, but given West Ham’s perilous position the overriding sense was this was a costly afternoon in their battle to stay up. The frustration lay in blowing an opportunity to make 18th-placed Tottenham squirm before facing Aston Villa on Sunday evening. West Ham’s survival bid rocked by Brentford to open door for Tottenham