Brentford rounded off their 2025 home programme in style as Kevin Schade’s devastating hat-trick inspired a commanding 4-1 victory over Bournemouth, lifting the Bees into eighth place in the Premier League.
Keith Andrews’ side now sit on 26 points, their strongest year-end total in five top-flight seasons, and just three points shy of the European places. For Bournemouth, the defeat extended a worrying slump to nine league games without a win, a stark contrast to their position near the top four earlier in the autumn.
Schade set the tone midway through the first half with a powerful opening goal after Igor Thiago won possession near halfway and threaded a perfectly weighted pass into his path. The German forward shrugged off his marker and drove a low finish across Djordje Petrovic to give Brentford a deserved lead.
The hosts pressed relentlessly and were unfortunate not to add to their advantage sooner, with Kristoffer Ajer heading narrowly wide and Schade seeing further efforts blocked or saved. When the second goal arrived, it came in chaotic fashion as Thiago’s effort was parried by Petrovic, only for the ball to ricochet back off the goalkeeper following a panicked clearance and end up over the line.
Bournemouth were second best before the interval, registering almost no attacking threat, and their problems deepened shortly after the restart. Yehor Yarmoliuk’s delivery from the right was met first time by Schade, who guided a superb finish beyond the stranded goalkeeper to make it 3-0.
Andoni Iraola responded with attacking substitutions, and the visitors finally showed some urgency. They peppered Brentford’s goal with shots and eventually found a breakthrough when Antoine Semenyo cleverly flicked the ball home from close range with 15 minutes remaining. Despite creating plenty after the break, Bournemouth lacked composure when it mattered most.
Any hopes of a dramatic comeback were extinguished in stoppage time when Mikkel Damsgaard slipped Schade in once more, allowing him to complete his treble from inside the six-yard box and cap a flawless individual display.
The result strengthened Brentford’s excellent home record and underlined their upward momentum heading into the new year, while Bournemouth were left to reflect on another afternoon where a sluggish start proved costly.
