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brentford Head coach Keith Andrews believes Igor Thiago’s form means he deserves to be mentioned alongside some of Europe’s top forwards.
First time at 24 years old Premier League Hat-trick in 4-2 win over Everton means only Manchester City Erling Haalandreal madrid Kylian Mbappe England captain with Bayern Munich Harry Kane Europe’s top five leagues have scored more goals this season.
After ending a six-game drought in style, he needs just two more goals to become the Brazilian’s top scorer in the Premier League in a single season.
“Not bad, isn’t it? I thought it was a great game today, very calm, good, calm, confident,” said Andrews, whose side are now just four points off fourth.
“He hasn’t scored for a few weeks, which pisses me off a bit, but he was fundamental to the game we won against Bournemouth two games ago.
“The names you just mentioned (Haaland, Mbappe, Kane) – he is a very respected person there but he has earned it.
“He went through a bit of an injury journey last season and I think he integrated into the club behind the scenes rather than being in the spotlight where everyone would see it.
“But he’s such a popular player and character on our team and a special guy who deserves everything he gets because he works so hard and he plays so unselfishly.
“Thankfully, today’s goal was obviously a result of his unselfish way of playing because he left everything behind.”
James Tarkoski’s error led to Thiago opening the scoring with a beautifully cushioned volley before Nathan Collins scored Brentford’s first of 96 corner kicks this season in front of the centre-back.
Thiago scored the second goal in a two-on-one situation and, although Beto pulled one back, the Brentford striker completed his hat-trick and ensured Tierno Bari’s stoppage-time strike was meaningless.
“We conceded a terrible goal and spent the rest of the second half chasing the ball but never really taking advantage of it,” said Everton coach David Moyes, whose team had kept four clean sheets in its previous six games.
“It was different to us: the first goal and the other goals never gave us a chance to win, so the defense was poor.
“I don’t think it’s something we do very often, conceding four goals. If you think about how good our defense was in midweek compared to today, I think we conceded goals in a ragged way – it just didn’t add up.
“At home we tried to be more open and try to make things happen and I think they punished us the minute we did that.”