Brentford 1 West Ham United 1

Bryan Mbeumo scored his fifth goal of the Premier League season as Brentford were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham United on Saturday afternoon.

Mbeumo got the Bees off to a flyer, volleying home with just 37 seconds on the clock, but the visitors fought back and equalised through Tomáš Souček shortly after the half-time interval.

There was one personnel change and a switch of system for the west Londoners: Kevin Schade replaced Yehor Yarmoliuk as Thomas Frank opted for 4-2-3-1.

Mikkel Damsgaard partnered Vitaly Janelt at the base of midfield with captain Christian Nørgaard still sidelined with a minor injury.

Just as they had done in their previous two games against Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford took the lead inside the opening 60 seconds.

Kristoffer Ajer’s deep cross was met by Schade and Fábio Carvalho beat Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jarrod Bowen to a header inside the box, teeing up Mbeumo who volleyed beyond Alphonse Areola and into top corner.

‘Brentford in the first minute,’ echoed around the west stand. The Bees are the first team in Premier League history to score in the first minute in three consecutive games.

Once the goal was confirmed after a VAR check, West Ham came forward for the first time. Souček’s blocked shot dropped kindly for Max Kilman, who teed up Mohammed Kudus just outside the area and the forward blazed over the bar.

Midway through the half, Wan-Bissaka released Lucas Paquetá down the right. The Brazilian hung up a cross towards the back post and Kudus’s first-time effort was blocked by Sepp van den Berg. From the resulting corner, the ball broke to Bowen on the edge of the box and his shot dropped wide via Michail Antonio’s shoulder.

Flekken then stood firm at his near post to push away Kudus’s strike, with Nathan Collins cooly returning the loose ball back to the keeper with his chest.

On the half hour, Souček headed Antonio’s in-swinging cross on to the roof of the net.

Antonio and Bowen then combined, with the former dragging wide of Flekken’s left post from just inside the area.

At the other end, Damsgaard’s curling cross was headed over by a diving Mbeumo under pressure from Wan-Bissaka. Mbeumo then struck the wall with a free-kick from 20 yards, which was won by Schade.

Guido Rodríguez headed away Schade’s cross and van den Berg sent the ball over the bar with a dipping effort.

In first-half stoppage time, Flekken bravely punched away a corner at his front post and Jean-Clair Todibo hooked over the bar from the centre of the box.

Straight after the restart, Paquetá cleared the crossbar with a long-range volley.

Wan-Bissaka then charged up the touchline, peeled in from the left and saw his low cross superbly blocked by Janelt.

Konstantinos Mavropanos was next in line for a speculative effort which flew high and wide.

But West Ham were rewarded for their pressure on 54 minutes.

Some impressive link-up play between Bowen, Souček and Antonio led to the latter working some space for a shot. Collins, at full stretch, prevented the ball from reaching the target, but Souček was in the right place at the right time to prod home from close range.

Antonio lifted over the crossbar from 20 yards as the Hammers went in search of a second.

Brentford then wrestled back some control. Keane Lewis-Potter darted forward and saw his low cross, looking for Mbeumo, turned out for a corner, before substitute Yarmoliuk’s improvised effort from the edge of the area was held by Areola.

On 70 minutes, Mbeumo’s free-kick into a crowded box was headed to safety by Todibo from underneath his own crossbar.

Two of West Ham’s substitutes combined 10 minutes later. Carlos Soler strode forward and rolled the ball to Crysencio Summerville, and the former Leeds United man’s shot from the left of the box deflected behind for a corner.

Both teams continued to push for a winner: Damsgaard’s low cross was met by Areola at his front post and Lewis-Potter was also denied by the keeper having cut on to his right foot and taken aim for the far corner.

There were appeals for a Brentford penalty in the second minute of stoppage time after Ethan Pinnock went down under a challenge from Todibo, while Soler’s acrobatic attempt in the final few seconds was tipped over by Flekken, as both sides had to settle for a point at the Gtech.

Brentford: Flekken; van den Berg, Collins, Pinnock, Ajer; Damsgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Carvalho (Konak 84), Lewis-Potter; Schade (Yarmoliuk 59)

Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Mee, Meghoma, Trevitt, Roerslev, Ji-soo, Yogane

West Ham United: Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson; Rodríguez, Souček; Bowen (Irving 90+2), Paquetá (Summerville 75), Kudus (Soler HT); Antonio (Ings 75)

Subs not used: Fabiański, Cresswell, Coufal, Mavropanos, Guilherme

Attendance: 17,050