For the second time in five days, Brentford began a game fantastically and raced out to a 2-0 lead, but this time the Bees held firm to close out a 2-0 victory, away to West Ham on Friday.
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Despite leading Tottenham 2-0 after the hour mark on Boxing Day, Brentford (23 points - 9th place) came away with just one point in a thrilling 2-2 draw. Thomas Frank’s men learned from their Monday missteps and turned in a complete, 90-minute performance against West Ham (14 points - 17th place).
At what cost, though? Star striker Ivan Toney left the field on the back of a golf cart after suffering what appeared to be a serious injury to his right knee. The 26-year-old, who earlier in the game bagged his 11th goal of the Premier League season (3rd-most, behind Erling Haaland and Harry Kane), was in considerable pain as he received treatment for nearly five minutes before he was carted off.
The latest update (December 31) is that Brentford are waiting for the swelling to go down before Toney has a scan. Thomas Frank will speak to the media on Sunday, Jan. 1 to preview Brentford’s home game against Liverpool on Monday, Jan. 2. We will then likely find out more about the severity of Toney’s injury.
Ivan Toney is karted off the field with an apparent leg injury. #MyPLMorning pic.twitter.com/UWka04WNXn
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 30, 2022
It was Toney who lifted the ball over Lukasz Fabianski to open the scoring in the 18th minute, after the West Ham goalkeeper made a diving save to deny Christian Norgaard’s initial effort but was unable to secure the ball afterwards. Another well-rehearsed set-piece play resulting in a goal for Brentford, with Mathias Jensen taking a long throw to the near post for a flick-on header by center back Ethan Pinnock.
It was 2-0 in the 43rd minute, when Aaron Cresswell misjudged a throw-in over top of the West Ham defense. Josh Dasilva sped past Cresswell and gathered the ball — and himself — before slotting it past Fabianski with a left-footed finish.
Toney’s injury occurred with the clock just about to turn over 90:00, marring an otherwise stellar evening for the Bees in east London.
WATCH WEST HAM vs BRENTFORD FULL MATCH REPLAY
How to watch West Ham vs Brentford live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 2:45pm ET, Friday (Dec. 30)TV Channel: USA NetworkOnline: Stream via NBCSports.com
Key storylines
The Hammers are in a bad run of form and they just haven’t looked like themselves for much of this season. At least in the Premier League. Everything is fine in Europe but in the PL they keep making defensive mistakes. Declan Rice is doing his best to hold things together but Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio and Gianluca Scamacca just aren’t seeing enough of the ball and West Ham aren’t creating enough chances.
Brentford’s main man Ivan Toney has been charged by the FA over alleged betting breaches so they are waiting to see the outcome of that investigation. On the pitch they are looking very good despite plenty of injuries. Frank’s side are such a well-drilled outfit and are so tough to play against. They are looking to push for a top 10 finish and there remains a really positive vibe around them.
In-form players to keep an eye on
Declan Rice is West Ham’s main man but he needs help defensively and for West Ham to start connecting passes to spring their trademark counter attacks which led to their success over the last few seasons.
Brentford’s Ivan Toney is the obvious threat up top as he has 11 goals this season and only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane have scored more. Christian Norgaard coming back into midfield was a big boost for the Bees.
West Ham team news, injuries, lineup options
David Moyes has said Gianluca Scamacca could return for this clash but Nayef Aguerd returned from the World Cup with a virus so won’t be available. Kurt Zouma (knee) and Maxwel Cornet (calf) are still missing.
Our final line-up of 2022 looks like this! ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/HJ1pcCHnPv
— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 30, 2022
Brentford team news, injuries, lineup options
Kristoffer Ajer (knee), Thomas Strakosha (ankle), Aaron Hickey (ankle) and Shandon Baptiste (unknown) remain out for the Bees.
🐝 Your final Bees line-up of 2022#BrentfordFC | #WHUBRE | @BlueJeansNet pic.twitter.com/WGQURqQYJR
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 30, 2022
