Kevin Schade scored a hat-trick as Brentford ended 2025 with a 4-1 win against Bournemouth in the Premier League.

The German netted either side of a Djordje Petrović own goal to put the Bees three goals ahead at Gtech Community Stadium. Antoine Semenyo replied for the Cherries before Schade headed in his third in stoppage-time.

In the only change to the side that beat Wolves 2-0 at Molineux seven days earlier, Kristoffer Ajer replaced Sepp van den Berg, who missed out after picking up a knock.

Semenyo had the first half-chance inside the opening two minutes. Alex Scott dispossessed Yehor Yarmoliuk with a perfectly-timed tackle, with the Cherries countering down the left wing before Caoimhín Kelleher fell on a tame effort from the corner of the box.

Five minutes later, it was 1-0 to the Bees. Igor Thiago expertly brought down a pass on his chest midway inside his own half before playing a one-two with Vitaly Janelt and releasing Schade in front of him, and the Germany international did the rest. Having latched onto the ball, he shrugged off Bafodé Diakité before coolly slotting past the onrushing Petrović with his left foot.

Brentford could have doubled the lead with just over 10 minutes played, too. Michael Kayode picked up a loose ball in his own area before sending the ball over the top of Diakité for Thiago to chase. The Brazilian had Mathias Jensen in support but opted to go for goal and saw his effort saved.

Keith Andrews' side looked threatening every time they had the ball. Moments later, after Kayode had been brought down by Semenyo on the right flank, Janelt's inswinging free-kick was flicked narrowly wide of the far post by Ajer.

The chances kept coming. Yarmoliuk played the ball forward to Jensen, who pulled the ball back to the edge of the six-yard box. Bournemouth could only clear as far as Schade, who saw one shot blocked before his second attempt was claimed by Petrović.

Six minutes before the interval, the west Londoners finally got the second goal that their dominance deserved. Yarmoliuk played the ball up the line for Thiago, who drove into the right corner of the box before seeing his low shot loop up and over the keeper. Diakité's goal-line clearance, under pressure from Schade, ricocheted off Petrović and into the back of the net.

Bournemouth made three changes at the interval, but just over five minutes after the restart, the hosts added a third goal, with Schade starting and ending a blistering counter attack.

The German took possession on the edge of the D and drove 80 yards before Álex Jiménez poked the ball away from him. It fell to Thiago, who played it wide to Yarmoliuk, and he sidefooted into the area for Schade to emphatically finish, first time, into the roof of the net.

The Cherries' best period of the game followed and they came close to pulling a goal back twice inside the space of 30 seconds. First, Kelleher pulled off a brilliant reaction save to tip Evanilson's shot from six yards around the post and, after the resulting corner had been played short, David Brooks' back-post delivery hit Justin Kluivert and cannoned against the post.

Bournemouth got on the scoresheet with 15 minutes remaining. Jiménez managed to get in behind Rico Henry and saw a drive from a tight angle blocked by Nathan Collins, but it fell to Semenyo, who bundled in from a yard out.

That sparked the game back into life. Less than a minute later, Kayode was in the right place to clear Kluivert's goalbound effort from a narrowing angle after a low cross had been allowed to go right the way through the box. The Bees countered and, after Thiago had done well to hold the ball up and switch the play to put Schade in on goal, he won the 50/50 with Petrović but was denied by the recovering Scott.

Janelt was inches away from putting the game to bed late in the 90, but his piledriver from 25 yards was palmed onto the inside of the post and Keane Lewis-Potter nodded the rebound wide from close range, although the assistant referee's flag was already up for offside.

Moments after Reiss Nelson - making his first appearance in a month - had curled just wide, the Bees did get their fourth.

Jordan Henderson played it inside from the right wing to Mikkel Damsgaard, who crossed for Schade to head in from close range and complete a perfect hat-trick, the second treble of his career after netting three when Brentford beat Leicester City by the same scoreline last November.

That win means the Bees head into 2026 with the most points (26) at this stage of the season in the club's Premier League history.

Brentford (4-3-3): Kelleher; Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Henry (Hickey 77); Janelt, Yarmoliuk (Nelson 89), Jensen (Damsgaard 77); Lewis-Potter (Henderson 89), Thiago, Schade

Subs: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Konak, Donovan, Nunes

Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Petrović; Smith (Evanilson HT), Diakité (Brooks HT), Senesi, Truffert (Soler 78); Scott (Adli 84), Cook; Jiménez, Tavernier, Semenyo; Kroupi Jr (Kluivert HT)

Subs: Dennis, Christie, Hill, Enes Ünal

Attendance: 17,152

Andrews discusses Bournemouth win

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews was impressed with the Bees' win over Bournemouth and gave his thoughts on the game at Gtech Community Stadium.

"I'm really pleased because Bournemouth can be a very difficult opponent," said Andrews. "I recently watched the two games from last season back and they were very difficult.

"The matches they've played recently... their performances haven't given them the results they've maybe deserved. We're very respectful of the individuals and the capabilities that they have.

"So, to play the way that we did, particularly in the first half, to control the game, was impressive."

Asked how comfortable he was with the defending his team had to do in the second half, the Bees boss added: "Not entirely! But it's not always down to you, obviously. It's down to them and the bodies they threw forward.

"The momentum built against us isn't always easy to deal with, but we got the fourth goal and it made it a bit more comfortable for the last 60 seconds. It was never going to be easy against them today."

Schade on his perfect hat-trick

Kevin Schade reflected after scoring three goals in Brentford's 4-1 win against the Cherries.

"For the first one, I focused on taking out the defender first then, after, a calm finish into the right corner," he explained.

"The second one was very quick. To be honest, I didn’t even think that much, I just got it back from Yarmo [Yarmoliuk] and tried to hit it.

"And the third one, I knew Dams [Damsgaard] always sees me and I hoped he’d cross it, and he did."

The Germany international, who had seen an effort cleared off the line before scoring his third, added: "I was very angry at that moment! I wanted the hat-trick and I’m very happy that I got it.

"I haven’t scored for a while now, and now I’ve got three, similar to last season. I’m just happy for my second hat-trick here at Brentford."