In-form striker Igor Thiago scored twice as Brentford beat Burnley 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Bees had to work hard for their win at Gtech Community Stadium. Thiago’s penalty opened the scoring on 81 minutes, but the Clarets hit straight back through Zian Flemming who also converted from 12 yards. Thiago’s close-range finish restored Brentford’s lead before Dango Ouattara wrapped up the win with a clinical strike in stoppage-time.

Head coach Keith Andrews made two changes to the side that lost 2-1 at Brighton and Hove Albion the previous weekend.

Aaron Hickey was chosen at left-back, while Mathias Jensen made his first Premier League start since August in midfield. Kristoffer Ajer and Yehor Yarmoliuk dropped to the bench.

After an uneventful opening 10 minutes, Mikkel Damsgaard was the first player to register a shot at goal, but his long-range effort was tame and comfortably held by Martin Dúbravka.

Brentford’s next chance was a big one. Ouattara’s in-swinging corner found Nathan Collins at the back post but, under pressure from Florentino, the Bees skipper glanced his header wide.

The Bees continued to probe with Damsgaard pulling the strings in midfield. Fed by Aaron Hickey, the Denmark international advanced to the byline and cut back for Igor Thiago, who lifted the ball over the crossbar.

Damsgaard then fired over from the edge of the area, having worked some space with a clever drop of the shoulder.

Caoimhín Kelleher’s first involvement came shortly before the break. Teed up on the edge of the box, Flemming whipped the ball towards the far corner and Brentford’s no.1 pushed to safety.

The Bees made a bright start to the second half. Michael Kayode’s delivery from the right was only half cleared by Kyle Walker and Hickey fired over.

Kayode then clipped another cross into the six-yard box, which Ouattara headed agonisingly wide.

Damsgaard’s corner took a nick on its way through to Collins and the centre-back’s header looped over the crossbar.

On 64 minutes, Kevin Schade combined with Damsgaard down the left and delivered a low cross from the byline. Receiving the ball with his back to goal, Thiago swivelled and got a shot away, but the striker opted for too much power and the ball landed among the fans behind the goal.

Brentford then hit Burnley on the transition, with Damsgaard releasing Schade down the left, but the forward’s low cross was gathered by Dúbravka.

The game burst into life on 77 minutes. Damsgaard cut open the Burnley backline with a perfectly weighted through ball and Ouattara raced through on goal.

The former Bournemouth man was taken out by Axel Tuanzebe and, for the third successive match, earned the Bees a penalty.

The referee's decision was confirmed after a lengthy VAR check. Thiago rolled the ball into the corner, sending Dúbravka the wrong way in the process, before celebrating with the Bees fans in the front row of the Gtech.

By converting the penalty on his 13th appearance of the season, Thiago became the fastest Brentford player to reach 10 goals in a Premier League campaign, beating the record previously held by Ivan Toney (15).

But the west Londoners’ lead was short-lived. Within three minutes of the restart, Quilindschy Hartman crossed low from the left. Kayode was first to the ball and looked to be dealing with the danger, but Jaidon Anthony nipped in and went down under the challenge of the Italian.

The referee awarded a penalty, which was confidently dispatched by Flemming.

Undeterred, Andrews’ side immediately looked to restore their lead. And they didn’t have to wait long for a second goal.

Jordan Henderson whipped a cross towards the back post, which Burnley failed to clear, and Thiago was in the right place at the right time to fire into the roof of the net.

Ouattara sealed the win in the second minute of stoppage-time. Slipped through by Henderson, the forward outmuscled Maxime Estève, leaving his marker on the ground, before finding the net with a clinical finish.

Brentford: Kelleher; Kayode, van den Berg, Collins, Hickey (Henry 74); Henderson, Jensen (Yarmoliuk 85), Damsgaard; Ouattara, Thiago (Lewis-Potter 90+1), Schade (Nelson 74)

Subs: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Onyeka, Ajer, Janelt

Burnley: Dúbravka; Walker, Tuanzebe, Estève, Hartman; Florentino (Laurent 75), Cullen (Broja 81), Hannibal (Ugochukwu 60); Tchaouna (Brunn Larsen 75), Flemming, Foster (Anthony 75)

Subs: Weiß, Edwards, Ekdal, Pires

Attendance: 17,176

Andrews: It was a well-deserved win

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews gave his thoughts on the Bees' victory over Burnley.

"It was a well-deserved win, we had to earn it," he said. "You don't get given anything in this league; every result is hard-earned.

"Naturally, when the big boys come to town, there's a feel around the club, and the feeling of getting something against a Liverpool or a Newcastle is, 'Oh that's an amazing result', which it is.

"But, today, Burnley are fighting for their lives. They're a well-drilled team with a very good coach [Scott Parker] - they're doing everything they can to stay in the division.

"It was always going to be a game we had to stay patient in, be resilient, do the basics well, keep knocking at the door, and, in the end, we were able to get the win."

Damsgaard: I had a feeling we would score again

Mikkel Damsgaard praised Brentford’s resilience in the 3-1 win over Burnley.

“Not a lot happened, but we stayed in the game, and I had a good feeling in the first 75 minutes,” he said.

“I felt we were the better team, and we just needed that goal. Thankfully, we got that.

“A mistake led to 1-1, but again I had a good feeling. I told Michael [Kayode] that I had a feeling we would score again. It was nice that we could do that.”

A constant source of creativity, Damsgaard completed 14 passes into the final third against the Clarets.

“I loved it,” he added. “It’s nice getting on the ball more. It’s one of the areas we can improve on and will improve on. Today showed that we have the quality and the talent to play.”