Brentford claimed a valuable 2-0 victory over West Ham in the Premier League's Monday night fixture. It was a deserved victory for the Bees, who frankly could have had a bagful of goals had they shown more of a clinical edge.
Luckily for Keith Andrews' men, their lack of end product would not come back to haunt them, as the Hammers put in a simply dismal display at home that was met by more boos at the full-time whistle.
Thiago, who could have had multiple goals himself, did open the scoring, his effort rolling over the line after Areola initially got a touch.
This momentum continued throughout the second half, as West Ham looked completely devoid of ideas, and the attackers were starved of touches.
Mathias Jensen's effort sealed the victory in the final moments of the game as the Hammers were yet again dominated in their own backyard.
Story of the match:
It was a positive start to proceedings from the Hammers, who put some early pressure on the visitors, forcing a series of corners. Ultimately, nothing came from these set pieces, but they provided West Ham fans, who have had very little to cheer about, with some early encouragement.
But the concern for the home side would have been just how open this game was looking, as Brentford were also experiencing some joy in their opponent's final third. This game certainly had an end-to-end feel in the opening stages; the momentum was constantly swinging from side to side.
Despite this feel, neither Caoimhin Kelleher nor Alphonse Areola had been worked too hard by the opposition. However, this would soon change for the latter, as the Frenchman's goal was suddenly put under siege, as West Ham began to look shaky at the back once again.
The hosts were simply failing to win almost all of their aerial duels, as it always seemed to be a Brentford head on the end of the ball. This, of course, started the chances flowing for the Bees, who had seemingly gained the ascendancy of proceedings.
The golden chance fell to Thiago on the half-hour mark. Michael Kayode's cross was flicked on towards the striker by Dango Ouattara. Brentford's top scorer in all competitions this season got on the end of the ball, but struck the crossbar from point-blank range. West Ham had been let off the hook.
A flurry of chances followed for the Bees, who would have been left wondering how they were not in the lead of the contest. All their attempts failed to find the back of the net as the Hammers were seemingly clinging on to their clean sheet, looking like it could be ripped away from them at any point.
But Thiago would get a chance to make up for his earlier miss in the 42nd minute, finding the back of the net on this occasion to finally break the deadlock in this encounter. Yarmoliuk's ball was received by Kevin Schade ahead of Max Kilman as the ball was laid off to Thiago.
Areola did get a touch on the effort, but the ball rolled agonisingly slowly over the line as the Hammers found themselves behind yet again.
Thiago thought that he had a second goal in stoppage time, but VAR intervened to deny him, deeming the Brazilian to be offside. It was a matter of minuscule margins for the Bees, but West Ham remained in this game by the skin of their teeth. They had to be better in the second half.
After boos echoed around the London Stadium yet again, West Ham knew they would need a response in the second half. Appreciation was shown for Crysencio Summerville, one of the few bright sparks on the side, when he went on another of his ventures forward. Despite it concluding without any end product, it at least showed that the Dutchman remained hungry.
Brentford would get themselves back on the front foot swiftly as they hunted for a goal to extend their lead and make the game a whole lot more comfortable for the visitors.
This really should have been the case on the hour mark when Kayode put in, yet another superb cross to find Schade in the box. The German was wide open, but could only guide his headed attempt onto the bar from a close range. He would be left hoping that his miss would not come back to haunt the bees later in this encounter.
Nuno Espirito Santo had made all his changes by the 70th minute, desperate for his team to find a way back into this one. A surprise for the home fans was the fact that Callum Wilson was not one of these changes, as the head coach opted for the young Callum Marshall.
The 20-year-old was struggling to get a touch; his service was dire as he struggled to make any sort of impact on the game. He registered just three touches in a quarter of an hour after being brought on, as the night was shaping into a difficult one for the academy graduate.
There were more problems for West Ham in the 85th minute when substitute Konstantinos Mavropanos went down in pain. Having made all their changes already, the hosts were forced to see out the remainder of the match with ten men, as the Greek defender looked in no shape to continue.
Four minutes of added time bore no fruit for the Hammers; in fact, quite the opposite, as Brentford finally sealed their result. Mathias Jensen fired his effort into the top-left corner from the edge of the box, to pile the misery on the Hammers.
The full-time whistle being marked by an echo of boos will yet again make the headlines as West Ham fell to a fourth successive home defeat to start the season.
It's been said a lot already this season, but it was yet another disastrous performance from the Hammers, who remain 19th, just two points off the foot of the table.
Brentford, who on another night would have won by a landslide, claimed a third victory under Keith Andrews, taking three points back with them to West London.
Player of the match:
Michael Kayode:
Certainly one of his finest performances in Brentford colours, Kayode was simply unstoppable against West Ham and will likely be left wondering how he did not get an assist to his name.
The Italian's chance creation was second-to-none on the night, registering a total of seven chances created, the most in a single game by any Brentford player in the club's history.
He also provided a threat from his long throws, which caused panic in the West Ham box on multiple occasions. Another fine display from Kayode, who is having a good season for the Bees.