Questions surrounding the atmosphere in the London Stadium and its suitability to be the Hammers’ home have largely disappeared under Moyes’ stewardship, with the Scot transforming their fortunes in recent years. Perhaps though, a return of the toxicity may spell the end for Moyes after his side were booed off at the break.
Declan Rice came inches away from making it the perfect start, as his shot from range struck the post inside the opening five minutes. Craig Dawson then headed narrowly wide, before the game started to unravel for the hosts. Brentford took the lead against the run of play, as Ivan Toney was first to respond to a rebound after Christian Nørgaard’s effort was stopped by Łukasz Fabiański, and the forward made no mistake in slotting home.
The Hammers were knocked out of stride, and Thomas Frank’s men only added to their woes by doubling their lead moments before the interval. A seemingly innocuous ball over the top from Toney was pursued by Josh Dasilva, and the Bees midfielder showed incredible pace and strength to destroy Aaron Cresswell in a foot race before beautifully finishing his third goal of the season.
Despite the second half introduction of Michail Antonio, West Ham’s attacks remained rather toothless and David Raya was little more than an interested spectator for large periods. The Hammers are now at the mercy of the teams around them as to whether they start 2023 inside the relegation zone; something that was unthinkable given their performances over the last few seasons.
Things are much rosier for Brentford though, who have now won back-to-back league games on the road after starting the season by failing to win any of their first seven away games. They temporarily leapfrogged London rivals Fulham and will enjoy the New Years celebrations inside the top half as they continue to punch above their weight.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ivan Toney (Brentford)
