Opening day defeat against Bees
The 2026/27 campaign began in disappointing fashion on Saturday with a 3-0 defeat at Brentford.
Lining up with a number of fresh faces amidst a summer of change, our new-look side struggled to get going at the Gtech Community Stadium and paid the price against a ruthless Bees outfit who established control early on and never looked back, Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt putting them two goals to the good with just over half-an-hour gone before Michael Kayode netted a third with the second period only four minutes old.
The scoreline could have been even worse for us, but Igor Thiago saw his 55th-minute penalty cannon back off the post after Rodrigo Bentancur was deemed to have fouled Kevin Schade in the box. Mikey Moore had our best chances to get off the mark in the second half but was denied three times by home goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher as Brentford capitalised on our period of transition to register their first-ever home Premier League win against us.
With our rebuild still in progress and a handful of players working their way back to fitness, Roberto De Zerbi handed full debuts to four of our six new signings in Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson and Sandro Tonali, with a fifth – Mateus Fernandes – coming off the bench as we tried to mix things up at the break. Academy product Moore, who spent last season on loan at Rangers, also came in for his first Premier League start since May, 2025, with Archie Gray leading the team out as our youngest-ever captain, but we found it tough going against a slick Bees outfit that threatened from the off.
Robertson had to glance Mathias Jensen’s venomous free-kick over his own crossbar while Nathan Collins diverted a header just wide in the opening stages before a fluid move which new signing Mamadou Sangare was at the heart of led to Brentford’s opener on 12 minutes, the midfielder playing a neat give-and-go before cutting the ball back for the free-roaming Lewis-Potter to plant past Antonin Kinsky.
Thiago’s headed effort crashed off the bar but the offside flag was raised in the build-up while Dango Ouattara threatened in our box a couple of times before the Bees doubled their advantage, Richarlison unable to hold up Kinsky’s clearance and Jensen shimmying past Lucas Bergvall before seeing his shot repelled by our goalkeeper, with Janelt in position to slide home the rebound with 32 minutes on the watch.
We introduced Fernandes and Rodrigo Bentancur into midfield at the break but with less than four minutes of the second half played we found ourselves 3-0 down, Sangare’s shot superbly saved by Kinsky after a corner had been nodded back across the box with Kayode pinging home the rebound.
Moore saw two low attempts thwarted by Kelleher – the second in particular a real chance with the young attacker picked out in space for a shot by Robertson’s sweeping delivery – before Bentancur was penalised for his challenge on Schade in our box and the Bees had a chance to go 4-0 up, but Thiago hit the post with his penalty. Seven minutes later, Moore wriggled into space behind Lewis-Potter and this time put his laces through the ball, but was again denied by a good stop from Kelleher. Kristoffer Ajer saw his late header from a corner kept out by Kinsky at the other end, but there was to be no further addition to the scoreline as our campaign began on a difficult note.
Line-ups
Brentford (4-2-3-1): Kelleher, Kayode (Hickey 76), Ajer, Collins (c), Lewis-Potter, Jensen (Yarmoliuk 66), Sangare (Damsgaard 76), Ouattara (Anthony 66), Janelt, Schade, Igor Thiago (Wilson 83). Substitutes (not used): Valdimarsson, Henry, Pinnock, Schuster.
Spurs (4-2-3-1): Kinsky, Gray (c) (Udogie 85), van Hecke, Senesi, Robertson, Tonali, Bergvall (Bentancur 46), Moore (Maddison 67), Gallagher (M Fernandes 46), Tel, Richarlison (Solanke 67). Substitutes (not used): Dubravka, Davies, Danso, Williams-Barnett.
Match data
Goals: Brentford – Lewis-Potter 12, Janelt 32, Kayode 49.
Yellow cards: Brentford – Janelt 78; Spurs – Gallagher 34.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Venue: Gtech Community Stadium, Brentford.
Weather: Sunny, light winds, 21 degrees.
Attendance: 17,180.