It took Kevin Schade 22 appearances to score his first Brentford goal - but it was a strike that was well worth the wait.

The 21-year-old picked up Christian Norgaard’s switch on the left, then toyed with Joel Ward before firing a powerful effort past Sam Johnstone.

Surprisingly, Schade’s stunner was scored with the forward’s first and only shot on target of the 2023/24 season so far and it could be a catalyst for more goals this year.

Schade certainly has the ability to score. When at Freiburg in the 2021/22 season, he featured 24 times and netted five times in all competitions – only three Freiburg players scored more goals than him that season and they all played more games.

Adding Schade to the list of goalscorers shows how Thomas Frank’s side are sharing the responsibility for Ivan Toney’s prolific output ahead of the striker’s return.

The front three have each opened their accounts for the campaign and have scored all of Brentford’s six league goals so far this season: Bryan Mbeumo (3), Yoane Wissa (2) and now Schade off the mark as well.

It seems like Frank has recalibrated his side to make up a more even front three.

For example, last season Brentford leaned to the left – ranking joint-top in the Premier League for percentage of attacks down that side of the pitch (41 per cent of attacks down the left flank in total for 2022/23).

And while it’s still early days in the new campaign, there has been a shift in the balance. Brentford are one of two sides (Aston Villa the other) to have balanced attacks on either wing. So far, the Bees have directed 36 per cent of their forays forward on the left and another 36 per cent on the right with the remaining 28 per cent coming down the middle of the pitch.

And we can now see how much the front three can contribute this season.

Mbeumo is joint-top of the Premier League scoring charts and has shown just how unwavering he is from the penalty spot – especially handy given that Brentford are the most-fouled team in the league (suffering 41 fouls so far this season)

Only two players have had more shots on target than Wissa (5) in the first three games of the season - Solly March (6) and Erling Haaland (7) - while only four players (Anthony Gordon, Jordan Ayew, Max Aarons, and Bruno Guimarães) have down more fouls than the forward.

Finally, Schade is among the goals now as well. But he’s also providing an aerial threat too – Schade’s two aerials won per game on average ranks him on the top 10 for Premier League attackers this season.