Brentford vs Luton Town. Sky Bet Championship.
Griffin ParkAttendance11,287.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Griffin Park
Monday 2 December 2019 09:02, UK
Josh Dasilva grabbed his first Football League hat-trick as Brentford ran riot in a 7-0 rout of strugglers Luton.
The former Arsenal man made sure he kept the match ball, finishing from the penalty spot with four minutes to go, to add to strikes from Bryan Mbeumo, Ollie Watkins, Mathias Jensen and Said Benrahma.
The Bees took just six minutes to break the deadlock, Mbeumo capitalising on a mix-up between Dan Potts and goalkeeper James Shea to squeeze the ball home inside the near post.
They stretched their lead on the half hour as Dasilva teased his marker before slipping a slide-rule pass to top scorer Watkins, who turned and fired low past the keeper from close range.
It was three shortly afterwards when patient build-up play was rewarded as Jensen passed the ball home with a clever reverse finish inside the near upright.
Dasilva grabbed his first of the afternoon five minutes before the break when he toyed with two Hatters defenders before moving the ball onto his left foot and curling a beauty just inside the far post from the edge of the box.
He added to his tally in first-half stoppage time, firing home a low drive with his less-favoured right foot after a slick eight-man move.
Luton's cause was not helped when half-time substitute Brendan Galloway went down off the ball moments after the restart and was stretchered off leaving Luton to play out the game with 10 men.
Brentford were ruthless, and despite being in the comfort zone they added two more to their tally, leaving them two short of the club-record 9-0 win over Wrexham in 1965.
First Pelly Ruddock inexplicably hauled down Watkins in the box with the ball going out of play and Benrahma coolly sent Shea the wrong way from the spot in the 70th minute.
And the mauling was complete four minutes from time when the Bees carved open the visitors' defence once more and Potts felled Benrahma for Dasilva to secure his hat-trick.
It could have been double figures for the Bees in a one-sided affair that saw Bees goalkeeper David Raya only forced into action once when Ruddock forced a smart save low down to his left early on.
Watkins was denied by the legs of Shea midway through the first half after a lightning-quick interchange between Dasilva and Benrahma, before centre back Ethan Pinnock saw a far-post header cleared off the line by James Bree.
The Hatters survived what looked like a clear penalty shout when Mbeumo was hauled back in the box, but it was only a temporary reprieve.
After the interval, Dasilva and Mbeumo both went close with long-range dipping efforts before Benrahma forced a save from Shea with a cheeky free-kick that almost beat him at the near post.
In the end the whistle could not come soon enough for Luton, who have not shipped seven since a 7-1 FA Cup defeat at Grimsby in 1996 and were only one off the 8-1 defeat suffered at Lincoln in December 1966.
Brentford's Thomas Frank: "He [Dasilva] knew he had to work on the defensive side of his game. He's done that and is the fittest he's ever been, and we're now seeing the player he can be. I was delighted for him but I was also very proud that when we got the late penalty, Said, who usually takes them, ran to grab the ball and passed it over to Josh to get his hat-trick.
"Last season we knew we were conceding too many goals and we have addressed that, but now I have a nice dilemma when Julian Jeanvier finishes his suspension. We have 22 points from 11 games and that is good but we have to try to maintain it."
Luton's Graeme Jones: "I was so embarrassed with that performance. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We were fragile defensively and attacked with no intensity. We just collapsed and I have told the players that.
"I feel sorry for our supporters. They travelled in numbers and I need to apologise for that performance. But the boys have asked me to say that they will take responsibility for the performance today, which was big of them."
