Following in the footsteps of Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbuemo, Igor Thiago became the third Brentford player in the Premier League era to surpass the twenty-goal mark. For context, it took Manchester United seven seasons for their first player, Dwight Yorke, in the 1999/00 season to achieve that goal tally. It did not take long for Thiago to bag his twentieth as Kevin Schade won The Bees a penalty after 81 seconds, which the Brazilian converted past Everton’s Jordan Pickford.
His second goal, which seemingly secured Brentford the three points, was a lot more fortuitous as he deflected a shot from Michael Kayode with fourteen minutes remaining.
These two goals do paint the image of a poacher, but Thiago’s performance was that of a well-rounded attacker. He was never quiet in between his goals with his hold-up play in the first half, regularly initiating Brentford’s counterattacks as Everton chased for their first equaliser.
In the second half, it was his rotations with his fellow attackers Schade, Dango Ouattara and Reiss Nelson that was the most impressive. Before grabbing The Bee’s second, he almost assumed the role of creator as he occupied more of the left-wing space to put crosses into the back post, creating one chance in the process.
Unfortunately, this was not enough to secure the three points and move The Bees into sixth as Everton came back twice with a Beto header midway through the first half and the late equaliser from Dewsbury-Hall.
This is the second home game in a row where they have surrendered a lead to come out with a draw. In his post-match press conference, Keith Andrews attributed this to the depth of his squad and that opponents now “look at us (Brentford) differently.”
“It doesn’t take a genius to look at our bench in terms of the depth we have right now. There’s a lot of young players on the bench, but the players have given absolutely everything.”
This is true as Brentford were without Rico Henry, Jordan Henderson, Vitaly Janelt and Aaron Hickey to injury, with Keith Andrews making only one substitution all game. Bringing on Reiss Nelson for Mikkel Damsgaard, who to Andrews’ own admission, “was not feeling particularly well” in the build-up to the game.
These issues, though, should be taken as minor in the grand scheme of Brentford and Thiago’s season. Considering people came into this season worried about The Bees and sceptical of Igor Thiago’s talents, the fact that there is relative disappointment in not ending the day sixth should be a testament to the work done by Andrews and Thiago.
Brentford’s Next Fixture:
Home vs Fulham. Saturday 18th April, 12:30 pm (GMT +1)
