West Ham 0-1 Brentford: Bees silence misfiring Hammers as Kevin Schade’s fourth-minute strike hands new boss Graham Potter back-to-back home defeats

If anything should be feel predictable these days, it’s that a game between Brentford and West Ham is decided by an early goal.

Thomas Frank‘s side have become masters of striking quickly while the Hammers have made a habit of slow starts and this was another as Kevin Schade bagged the winner for Brentford after just four minutes at the London Stadium.

West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola thought he’d clawed Schade’s effort off the line after a saving his initial shot only for goal-line technology to show the ball had crossed the line.

It was the seventh time Brentford have struck in the opening 10 minutes of a Premier League match this season and the 10th time West Ham have gone behind, both the most in the division.

The only mystery was how Brentford, who made it three away wins on the spin, only scored once. Yoane Wissa twice had goals ruled out for offside, the second after a beautiful passing move, and Schade hit the post for what could have been a second.

‘We should have been at least 3-0 up at half-time,’ said Brentford boss Thomas Frank. ‘It was a very impressive first half where we were in complete control and dominated West Ham.’

Graham Potter’s side have not won a game in over a month, their last coming on January 14

Meanwhile, Brentford are closing in on the top half and trail Brighton in 10th by just three points

The Bees have logged back-to-back away league wins for the first time since April 2022

This was supposed to be the day that West Ham boss Graham Potter unleashed his attacking talent with Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta starting under him for the first time and new loan signing Evan Ferguson making his debut off the bench.

Yet their first-half performance was as ragged and unorganised as anything served up by predecessor Julen Lopetegui. Brentford cut through them at will.

A half-time triple change improved things and Ferguson showed immediate promise to set up Kudus for the best chance of the game that the winger blazed over the bar.

Potter also thought West Ham had a good shout for a penalty when Bowen was bundled over by Keane Lewis-Potter.

The result, though, means Potter has now lost four and won just one of his first six games in charge with the side two places lower in the league table than when Lopetegui was sacked.

‘The first-half was nowhere near where we want to be,’ said Potter. ‘The second half was a positive response, I was happy with the subs, they gave some personality and quality. That was a lot more like we want to look. We are still trying to find the right balance. We have a lot to learn from the game.’