West Ham failed to take advantage of Manchester United and Arsenal slipping up as they fell to defeat at Brentford.
Brentford created the better chances across a rather flat first half which also saw West Ham lose Kurt Zouma to injury.
West Ham had been sluggish before the break and were not alive to Bryan Mbuemo sneaking behind the back line early after the interval as the forward fired home his first League goal since December.
The forward then laid on a cushioned cross for Ivan Toney to head home Brentford’s second and ensure a League double over West Ham for the Bees this season.
Here is how Jack Rosser rated the Hammers...
Lukasz Fabianski 6
Brentford could have been out of sight were it not for Fabiasnki’s saves in the first half.
Vladimir Coufal 5
Making his first start since surgery earlier this year. Struggled to get forward and make any real impact.
Craig Dawson 7
Battled on after a whack to the face in the opening minutes. Didn’t do much wrong and put a superb challenge in on Toney to prevent a third for the Bees.
Kurt Zouma 6
A couple of clearances early on before being forced off injured.
Aaron Cresswell 5
Tormented by Mbuemo for most of the afternoon and was pinned back by the Brentford winger so could not get forward.
Tomas Soucek 5
Sent one soft header straight at David Raya. Largely bypassed in midfield.
Declan Rice 6
Not at his usual high level but worked to get West Ham moving in the second half. Cut a frustrated figure.
Jarrod Bowen 5
Could not add to his tally of two goals in two games. Struggled to get past Rico Henry down the right.
Manuel Lanzini 5
First game back after being involved in a car crash and struggled to make an impact before being hooked before the hour mark.
Pablo Fornals 5
Worked as hard as always but offered very little going forward.
Dominated by the Brentford defenders and did not cause the trouble he had managed in recent weeks.
Substitutes
Issa Diop 6
Didn’t do too much wrong but left too much space for Mbuemo and Toney for Brentford’s second.
Said Benrahma 6
A couple of nice moves on the ball - the only West Ham forward to really stretch Brentford.
Nikola Vlasic 5
Made almost no impact off the bench.
