Brentford made it four straight Premier League away wins and deepened Leicester City's relegation fears with a thumping 4-0 success at the King Power Stadium on Friday.
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Three goals in the space of 15 first-half minutes put Thomas Frank's Bees in command, with Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo and Christian Norgaard on target.
Mikkel Damsgaard assisted the first two goals, picking out Wissa with an intelligent flick for the opener, before finding Mbeumo free in the area for a curled finish.
Leicester never threatened a fightback, and Brentford added a late fourth through substitute Fabio Carvalho as they leapfrogged Brighton & Hove Albion to go 10th in the table.
After a 10th defeat in their last 11 league matches, Leicester stay 19th, two points adrift of 17th-place Wolverhampton Wanderers, having played an additional game.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
25 | +9 | 41 |
| 8 |
Fulham
FUL
|
25 | +5 | 39 |
| 9 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
26 | -3 | 39 |
| 10 |
Brentford
BRE
|
26 | +5 | 37 |
| 11 |
Brighton
BHA
|
25 | 0 | 37 |
How the match unfolded
Leicester had two huge early chances, but Mark Flekken stood tall at his near post to deny Woyo Coulibaly, then made a strong save from Jamie Vardy.
But Brentford soon got on top and broke through in the 17th minute. Damsgaard flicked a sumptuous outside-of-the-boot pass through for Wissa, whose shot bounced in.
Ten minutes later, Mbeumo doubled Brentford's lead with a curling strike from the right of the box, having been found by Damsgaard, who has now produced 10 assists this season, the most of any Brentford player in a single campaign in the competition.
The Bees were in cruise control from there as Norgaard added a third when he nodded home Mbeumo's free-kick.
They could have had a fourth before half-time. Kevin Schade nodded against a post, then Keane Lewis-Potter’s scruffy finish was disallowed, as the ball bounced off his arm before nestling in the corner.
Only a spectacular fingertip save from Mads Hermansen stopped Yehor Yarmoliuk from extending Brentford's lead in the 69th minute after the substitute glanced Mbeumo's cross goalwards.
But Brentford would cap a memorable outing with another goal, Carvalho drilling home after Boubakary Soumare failed to clear following a goalmouth scramble.
No home comforts for Leicester
Ruud van Nistelrooy's team have now lost six successive Premier League matches at the King Power by an aggregate score of 15-0.
Leicester showed signs of life in attack early on, with Coulibaly bustling his way into the area to test Flekken, before Vardy rolled back the years with a darting run off the back of Ethan Pinnock. All that was missing was the finish as Flekken made himself big to smother the shot.
But a litany of defensive errors cost the Foxes again. Norgaard was unchallenged six yards out when he scored Brentford's third, and Soumare teed up Carvalho's fourth when he attempted to clear after Hermansen parried Mbeumo’s shot.
A newly appointed Van Nistelrooy had a watching brief for November's return fixture at Brentford, which ended in a chastening 4-1 defeat, and there is little evidence of the defensive issues they displayed on that day being resolved.
With the Dutchman under increasing pressure, Leicester visit West Ham United on Thursday, before a daunting run of fixtures pits them against Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Brighton and Liverpool.
Bees buzzing after club record fourth away win in a row
In the early stages of 2024/25, Brentford were imperious at the Gtech Community Stadium but could not buy a victory on the road. They failed to win any of their first nine away games this season, losing seven and drawing two.
But they have now won four in a row on their travels for the first time as a Premier League club, a run that began with a 5-0 thrashing of Southampton in early January.
This victory was just as comprehensive as that one, with Frank's team exerting total control after Wissa opened the scoring. They had Damsgaard's moment of inspiration to thank for that goal, as his delicate flick split Leicester's static backline.
Damsgaard added another assist for Mbeumo's goal to cap his lively midfield performance, taking him to 10 for the season. Only Mohamed Salah, with 15, has more in the Premier League.
Nottingham Forest, AFC Bournemouth and Fulham have all been tipped to upset the established order and push for European qualification this season, but Brentford have gone under the radar.
Sitting just four points adrift of the top seven and with a home game against 14th-placed Everton up next on Wednesday, perhaps the Bees can also dare to dream.
Club reports
Leicester report | Brentford report
What the managers said
Thomas Frank: "I think I would go as far as saying we have a front four and Damsgaard really gets them going. The second goal, a great run from Wissa to open up the space for Bryan and then of course he does the hard work. The way they connect, I think in the front four we have all the abilities you need. It's OK."
Ruud van Nistelrooy: "You have to acknowledge it's a huge step back. There was hope after recent performances, the beginning of the game was hopeful with three chances. It could have changed the game. After the bright start from us we were never in the game again and at half-time the game was done."
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Match facts
This was Leicester’s sixth consecutive home defeat without scoring in the Premier League – the longest run of home losses without a goal by any side within a single season in English top-flight history.
Brentford have won four successive away games in the top flight for the first time in their history – it’s the longest ongoing away winning run by any current Premier League side.
Mbeumo and Wissa have both scored in the same match six times for Brentford in the Premier League this season – the joint-most by any pair of players in the competition in 2024/25 (Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah also 6).