Southampton thrashes Brentford 4-1

Southampton smashed Brentford 4-1 on Tuesday night to climb into 11th place in the Premier League table.

The South Coast side, coming off a crazy win in the FA Cup on Sunday, extended their league unbeaten run to four games (2W 2D).

Jan Bednarek opened the scoring after just five minutes when he met James Ward-Prowse’s corner kick to give Saints a 1-0 lead.

Vitaly Janelt levelled for Brentford from an unmarked position in the box on 24 minutes and nearly doubled his tally moments later, but was denied by Fraser Forster.

Brentford would rue the missed opportunity as Ibrahima Diallo pushed Saints in front 2-1 with a thunderous effort that hit the post and bounced off the keeper for an own goal against Alvaro Fernandez.

Armando Broja continued to write his story at Saints when he made it 3-1 four minutes after the restart before second-half substitute Che Adams marked his return from COVID-19 protocols with a goal of his own.

Saints have lost just once in their last six outings, which has seen them jump from a relegation battle to one point outside of the top half of the table.

Southampton was efficient in attack, scoring four goals on six shots on target.

Southampton (3-5-2): Forster; Salisu, Lyanco, Bednarek; Perraud, Diallo, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Tella (S. Armstrong 70); Broja (A. Armstrong 78), Redmond (Adams 65)

Unused subs: Caballero (GK), Simeu, Small, Long, Stephens, Chauke

Goals: Bednarek (5), Fernandez (37 OG), Broja (49), Adams (70)

Bookings: None

Brentford (3-5-2): Fernandez; Pinnock (Jensen 68), Jansson, Ajer; Canos (Stevens 76), Baptiste (Wissa 56), Norgaard, Janelt, Roerslev; Toney, Mbeumo

Unused subs: Lossl (GK), Bidstrup, Ghoddos, Thompson, Sorensen, Forss

Goals: Janelt (24)

Bookings: Toney (45+2)