Sky Sports: Brentford 4-1 Leicester: Kevin Schade scores hat-trick as size of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Foxes task laid bare.
Report and free match highlights from Brentford’s Premier League encounter against Leicester at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday. Yoane Wissa cancels Facundo Buonanotte’s opening, before Kevin Schade steals the show with a spectacular hat-trick.
Brentford defeated Leicester 4-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, with Kevin Schade scoring a fantastic hat-trick and providing another as they secured their fourth consecutive Premier League home win in front of Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Leicester got off to a good start as Jamie Vardy outmuscled Ethan Pinnock and set up Facundo Buonanotte for his fourth goal of the season.
Brentford has a reputation of scoring quickly following restarts, and it took only four minutes for Yoane Wissa to equalize after Mikkel Damsgaard’s excellent effort.
Wissa found Bryan Mbeumo on the right for his deflected cross, which Schade stroked in for his first Premier League goal since April.
The Germany international celebrated his second on the stroke of half-time as he raced onto Damsgaard’s pass to coolly lift his shot over the onrushing Mads Hermansen (45+8)
Schade, who had not scored in his previous 16 league appearances, completed his first career hat-trick on the hour-mark as he latched onto Nathan Collins’ pass to slide his finish into the net.
The result means Brentford have won four straight top-flight home games for the first time since 1937, rising to seventh in the table while Leicester stay in 16th place, a point above the relegation zone.
As one-sided a contest as you will see all season
Van Nistelrooy, who signed a three-year contract at King Power Stadium, expressed his admiration for Leicester’s heritage after being introduced as their new manager on Friday.
The former Manchester United striker was in attendance in west London, but the Dutchman will be well aware of the magnitude of his challenge in keeping the Foxes afloat when he takes over the dugout for the first time on Tuesday at home against West Ham.
Some fans turned on their club at the end, chanting against director of football Jon Rudkin and shouting ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ at the players. Many of those bedraggled faces stayed away from the away section after the final whistle.
Leicester first-team coach Ben Dawson said: “I share the sadness that we were unable to put on a 90-minute performance in front of the traveling supporters, who were once again fantastic. They are entitled to express their displeasure at times. We try to improve so that we may get their full support during the game.”
Team news
- Germany international Kevin Schade replaced Vitaly Janelt in Brentford’s only change. Janelt dropped to the bench while captain Christian Norgaard was available having won an appeal against his red card in the 0-0 draw at Everton last week.
- Conor Coady and Luke Thomas made their first Premier League starts of the season for Leicester. First-team coach Ben Dawson also recalled Facundo Buonanotte after he was suspended for the 2-1 defeat against Chelsea.
Brentford have had a relatively kind set of opening home fixtures, but the manner in which most teams have simply been dispatched here is a testament to the job Thomas Frank continues to do.
There is a unity and strength – as the Bees boss led the lap of appreciation at full-time – that is severely lacking in the fragmented Leicester ranks as they dispersed down the tunnel and into the night.
Van Nistelrooy may have had a few choice words in the dressing room for his new group of players as they front up to the challenge of somehow preserving their Premier League status.
It was against the run of play when Vardy was rewarded for his persistence to provide Buonanotte with the opening goal. But either side of that lapse in concentration from Pinnock, this was about as one-sided a contest as you will see all season.
‘We’re in a dark place at the moment’
Leicester City defender Conor Coady provides an honest evaluation of their season, adding that the squad must improve following their setback against Brentford.
Conor Coady, Leicester defender, told Sky Sports:
“We were not good enough. We are allowing too many goals and not creating enough opportunities. We’re in a difficult situation, but only we can pull ourselves together.
“We’re in a bad place right now. We have to pull ourselves together and see ourselves in the mirror. We have to look at ourselves; the new boss will be in training tomorrow. There is still a full season to go, and the new manager will start tomorrow, so we will have to take it from there.
“We are not doing things well enough. We cannot tolerate that as a club, players, or squad. We need to actually grow and improve.
On the mood in the dressing room: “Down. But there’s a lot who need to take responsibility. We need to speak to each other and get the best out of each other.
“We’ve had a few team meetings this week just players. We have to do that because we have to look at ourselves and that’s what good teams do. We’re not showing that we are a good team at the moment.
Frank explains Schade inclusion
Brentford manager Thomas Frank:
“We had complete control from the beginning. I expected it to be much more difficult than it was in the end. They switched to a 5-4-1 formation to increase their defensive capabilities. We were 1-0 down despite overwhelming domination, but we showed incredible mental toughness to score four wonderful goals.
“There were other excellent performances, but Schade stood out as the standout. I know how much he wanted to succeed after his injuries. I thought he was playing well up until now despite not scoring, but he took his goals and offered an excellent assist.
“He’s trained well and worked hard to improve his finishes. On Thursday, he worked with the coaches on a small chip with his left foot over the goalie. We expected to have another player on the final line of defence, so it’s wonderful that it paid off.”
Dawson: Copenhagen party had little effect on the result.
Leicester’s first-team coach, Ben Dawson:
Regarding the Christmas party in Denmark: “Not in my opinion [after-effects of the party]. As I mentioned in the press yesterday, they’ve got two days off. What the gamers do during their downtime is totally up to them. As I previously stated, I could not criticize their work pace and application from Tuesday to Friday.
“We attack and defend as a team. When we look back at the goals, we’ll first look at how we gave the ball away, then the team’s reaction, and then the tactical nuts and bolts.
“Ruud van Nistelrooy and I have a meeting set for tomorrow at the training facility. It will be whatever the next manager believes. We were originally planned to arrive tomorrow morning due to the tight turnaround time for the game on Tuesday night.
“It’ll be up to the new manager to use that time how he sees fit.”
Kevin Schade is the player of the match.
Kevin Schade became just the fourth German to score a hat-trick in the Premier League, joining Jürgen Klinsmann (1998), Fredi Bobic (2002), and André Schürrle (2014).
He was only the second Brentford player to do so in the tournament, following Ivan Toney (twice). Schade has only two goals in his first 41 Premier League outings before tonight.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the striker stated, “I’m extremely thrilled. It’s been a challenging period for me lately. I’m extra happier now that I’ve scored a hat-trick.
“I was very happy with the final goal. My first hat-trick in my whole career. So thrilled. I’ve been melancholy lately, and everyone is trying to push me. The squad and the fans. Working extremely hard, doing additional gym sessions.
“To be fair, we anticipate this game to be difficult. They are aggressive, like us. It’s fantastic to score four goals.”
Brentford’s impregnable fortress: Opta statistics
- Seven of Yoane Wissa’s eight Premier League goals for Brentford this season have been scored at the Gtech Community Stadium (88%); no player has more home goals in the competition in 2024-25.
- Facundo Buonanotte has scored four goals in 11 Premier League games for Leicester, as many as he has netted in 40 appearances for parent club Brighton in the competition.
- Brentford have scored 3+ goals in the first half of two Premier League games this season (also v Wolves in October), something they only achieved once in 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 combined in the competition.
- Brentford became the first side to score 20+ goals at home in the Premier League this season. After seven home games, it’s the earliest into a league season that the Bees have reached 20+ home goals since 1982-83 (also 7), and earliest in the top-flight since 1936-37 (also 7).
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