Brentford beat West Ham to earn first away win of the season

London, Oct 21 (IANS) Brentford claimed its first Premier League away win of the season with a commanding 2-0 victory over West Ham, spoiling Nuno Espirito Santo's first home match in charge of the struggling Hammers.

The visitors, who had lost all three of their previous away league games, were the superior side throughout as goals from Igor Thiago and substitute Mathias Jensen condemned West Ham to another dismal defeat that leaves them 19th in the table.

Brentford deservedly went ahead in the 43rd minute when West Ham failed to clear a long ball forward. Kevin Schade nudged it into the path of Thiago, whose low shot had just enough power to cross the line despite Alphonse Areola's touch.

Thiago seemed to have doubled the lead moments before half-time, but the effort was correctly ruled out for offside. Officials had to revert to last season's manual offside system after a global technology outage disabled the Premier League's semi-automated system.

The hosts were booed off at the break, prompting an angry Nuno to make three defensive substitutions in an attempt to steady his side. But Brentford remained in full control and nearly added a second when Schade headed against the bar from close range just after the hour mark.

West Ham never looked like finding an equaliser, and the Hammers' frustration deepened when Jensen sealed the win for Brentford in stoppage time, rifling the ball into the roof of the net to secure all three points.

West Ham have lost five successive home games in the top flight for the second time in their history, previously doing so in April 1931.

Brentford have won two of their last three Premier League games (one loss), one more than in their previous seven matches (two draws, four losses), while ending a run of four successive away games without a win (one draw, three losses).

--IANS

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