West Ham’s Premier League survival is no longer in their own hands after Brentford boosted their European bid with a 3-0 win.
The Hammers, who could have moved five points clear of trouble with a victory, will now find themselves back in the bottom three if Tottenham beat Aston Villa on Sunday.
Brentford looked ripe for the taking having not won in six matches, but they have become West Ham’s bogey team since they were promoted and have now won eight of their 10 Premier League meetings.
A Konstantinos Mavropanos own goal, Igor Thiago’s penalty and Mikkel Damsgaard’s strike did the damage for the Bees, who are right back in the mix for European qualification for the first time in their history.
West Ham were left to rue Mavropanos having an equaliser ruled out for a tight offside, while Taty Castellanos hit a post twice and Crysencio Summerville rattled the crossbar.
Brentford took the lead after 15 minutes when Keane Lewis-Potter floated the ball to the far post.
Summerville challenged Michael Kayode as the ball clipped the inside of a post and as it rolled across goal, the Bees full-back stretched out a leg, only to catch Mavropanos on the ankle as the Hammers defender put the ball into his own net.
West Ham went straight back on the attack and Castellanos struck a post before Mavropanos thought he had made amends when he headed home a deep cross from El Hadji Malick Diouf, but a VAR check pulled him up for offside.
The Greece defender took centre stage again moments later, colliding with his own goalkeeper Mads Hermansen outside the area, with Damsgaard curling the loose ball just wide of an unguarded net.
West Ham’s luck was out again when Castellanos headed Jarrod Bowen’s corner against the other post, before a point-blank Hermansen save kept out Lewis-Potter’s header.
In stoppage time, Bees goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher tipped a Castellanos drive over, and the Argentinian striker then planted a header wide when it looked easier to score.
Seven minutes into the second half Brentford doubled their lead after Diouf tripped Dango Ouatarra on the edge of the area and Thiago sent Hermansen the wrong way from the spot.
The killer third arrived eight minutes from the end, Damsgaard firing low past Hermandsen to complete a superb win for the hosts and cap what could prove a costly afternoon for West Ham.
