Brentford finally picked up their first away win of the season at the 10th attempt after hammering bottom-of-the-table Southampton 5-0.
The Bees’ last win on the road in the Premier League came on May 11 when they beat Bournemouth 2-1, and two goals from Bryan Mbeumo – as well as one each from Kevin Schade, Keane Lewis-Potter and Yoane Wissa – ended their long drought in style.
Southampton remain rooted to the bottom of the table, 10 points from safety, as a result. They have now lost all three of Ivan Juric’s games in charge, conceding eight goals and scoring just one.
Brentford – correctly, in hindsight – sensed an opportunity and set about taking control of the game from the off, so it was no surprise when they were already in the lead after just six minutes.
Mikkel Damsgaard beat Joe Aribo to the ball, nudged it past Lesley Ugochukwu and released a beauty of a pass that Kevin Schade met first time to divert past Aaron Ramsdale.
It seemed a second would follow shortly after. Wissa forced a couple of saves from Ramsdale, Christian Norgaard headed onto the crossbar and Damsgaard struck inches wide after sweeping the ball away from Ugochukwu with great skill.
Bryan Mbeumo scored twice as Brentford secured their first away win of the season
The Bees could not find a way to double their lead, though, and Saints sent a timely reminder of how quickly a game can change just before the break when Aribo teed up Tyler Dibling to lash inches past the post.
But the screw started to turn early in the second half. Sepp van den Berg had a second ruled out after Wissa’s foul on Jan Bednarek was spotted by VAR, before Wissa blazed over when Schade’s flicked header put him through one-on-one.
It was 2-0 when Bryan Mbeumo and Wissa intuitively linked up, with the former smashing a lay-off high into the roof of the net – and Mbeumo made it three when he finished from the penalty spot after Ugochukwu’s clumsy foul on Van den Berg.
There was no way back after that, but it got worse for the stricken Saints in second-half stoppage time.
Lewis-Potter took advantage of an untimely slip by Harwood-Bellis to make it four after being picked out by Mbeumo and Wissa added the gloss within two minutes, coolly dispatching his 10th of the season after Yuki Sugawara headed the ball straight into his path.
Southampton remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table
Juric: Everything was wrong today
Southampton manager Ivan Juric to Sky Sports:
“I am very disappointed with the performance; disappointed in the team, in myself. We didn’t do anything well today. Very bad performance and it was too big a difference between the two teams.
“I was very hopeful after the West Ham game. I thought we could compete. After this game it’s normal that you have questions about your work. It will be big a motivation to change the situation but in this moment I can say I didn’t change the situation and I am very sorry for that.
“Maybe in my life I never played a game that I feel like there’s this big a difference between two teams. Today, everything (was) wrong, everything (was) bad.”
Frank: One of Brentford’s best Premier League wins
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Thomas Frank feels Brentford’s 5-0 win over Southampton was their best ever performance in the Premier League.
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank to Sky Sports:
“It’s nice not to be asked the question [about Brentford’s away form]! We can’t just win one game away from home this season, so hopefully more will come.
“The performance today, fantastic. I’m extremely proud of the players, of the team. It’s not an easy game to play. It [Southampton] is a team that is suffering a bit and they probably saw a good chance against us today, with a new manager, new energy, new ideas.
“We were completely on top in this game from more or less minute one to minute 90 – and we were this dominant in terms of how much we created and could easily have scored more goals. We are basically giving nothing away. That speaks a lot about the culture we have.
“I said to the players before it’s about attitude, attitude and attitude and I speak about being confident but humble; confident that they knew they are good players and a good team, but if they are not humble enough to put in the intensity, to work hard, to respect them, defend well, then it will be very difficult.
“It is, for me, one of the best wins and performances in the four years in the Premier League.”
