Sunderland beat Brentford 2-1
A brilliant headed goal by Igor Thiago put the Bees in front, but Sunderland score a pair of goals including the winner in the 6th minute of extra time to best Brentford 2-1.
Let's revisit our pre-game predictions.
Prediction #1
Home-town boy Jordan Henderson will start the game.
Correct. Henderson started and played until he was replaced by Frank Onyeka in the 71st minute.
Prediction #2
Henderson will lead the game in at least one key statistical area.
Sort of. Henderson led the Bees with 46 live ball touches. He also led the team with completed passes per 90 minutes (44) and carries per 90 minutes (37). He led the Bees, but not the game.
Prediction #3
At least 1 of the new starters from the Bournemouth Carabou Cup game will start the game against Sunderland.
Wrong. Keith Andrews stuck with the same lineup that he used at home against Aston Villa.
Trends that continued
Second half goals from Thiago
Thiago scored his 3rd goal of the season for Brentford, with all goals coming in the second half.
Onyeka to Thiago
For the second game in a row, Thiago's goal was set up by Onyeka. Are we seeing the birth of a new scoring partnership for the Bees?
Bees have less possession
The Bees have finished each of their 4 games this season with less than 50% possession. They wound up with 46% against Sunderland, their highest of the season thus far.
Final shot goals
Hopefully this trend doesn't repeat from last season, but ... Sunderland scored on their final shot of the game. We discussed this trend last season. Maybe this season we'll see Brentford scoring on their first and last shots to nicely bookend the game with goals.
What was different
Missed penalty
After years of near perfection from the penalty spot, Kevin Schade missed his penalty in the 59th minute. Thiago scored a penalty in the first game of the season at Nottingham Forest.
The question
We're trying something new this week. Before the game, we asked the question, What will Brentford do if they end up with more possession than Sunderland?
Perhaps this was the wrong question to ask, as Sunderland now has had more possession in 3 of their 4 games this season. The Bees seem comfortable absorbing pressure and punching back on the counter attack.
Some unrelated answers
Another new thing for this game is that we provided answers, like the game Jeopardy. Here are the answers, then we'll follow up with questions.
- Brown
- Ethan Pinnock
- The number 7
Brown
What's the colour of the Bees new away kit?
Their brown away kit is the last of their new 2025-26 kits to make an appearance in a competitive game. It's also the only colour they haven't won it. (They did win in the pre-season with it, most recently at Queen's Park Rangers.)
Ethan Pinnock
Who is the only new person to appear in a Premier League match day lineup for the Bees this week?
Back from injury, Pinnock played against Bournemouth in the EFL Cup, but had not yet made an appearance on a Premier League game sheet. He's now done that.
The number 7
We've got a few questions for this one.
- How many tackles did the Bees win?
- How many blocked passes did the Bees have?
- Frank Onyeka was perfect with his short passes. How many did he attempt and make?
- How many progressive passes did Michael Kayode receive?
- How many corners did Mikkel Damsgaard take?
- How many long passes did Nathan Collins complete?
- Which jersey number was the Brentford player with the highest expected goal total wearing?
Brentford goal contributions
| Goal number | Goal scorer | First assist | Second assist | Goal scenario | Time of goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thiago | Onyeka | Damsgaard | Open play | 77' |
This story was published on 01 September 2025. It was written by Dennis Flood. The image at the top of this story was generated using AI.
