Igor Thiago scored a hat-trick as Brentford marked their first visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium with an impressive 4-2 victory over Everton in the Premier League.

Thiago converted Vitaly Janelt’s cross to give the Bees an early lead on the banks of the Mersey. Nathan Collins headed home, and Thiago netted another, as Keith Andrews’ side took control with two quickfire goals after the break.

Substitute Beto pulled one back for the Toffees, before Thiago capped a dominant display with a composed finish beyond Jordan Pickford. Thierno Barry reduced the deficit in stoppage-time.

Andrews made three changes to the side that lined up against Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Day.

Aaron Hickey, Mathias Jensen and Mikkel Damsgaard came into the team at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Rico Henry, Jordan Henderson and Keane Lewis-Potter were the three players to make way, with the trio named among the substitutes.

Caoimhín Kelleher was called into action inside the opening five minutes. Jack Grealish darted forward and rolled the ball back to Dwight McNeil on the edge of the box, and the former Burnley man took his shot first time. The Brentford goalkeeper got down quickly and pushed the ball past his left post.

The resulting corner, whipped in by McNeil, was headed goalwards by James Tarkowski and Thiago made a clearance on the goal line.

Thiago’s next involvement came at the other end. Tarkowski’s poor pass was intercepted by Janelt on the left, and the German picked out Thiago with an inch-perfect cross which he guided beyond Pickford.

Midway through the half, Tim Iroegbunam pounced on Yehor Yarmoliuk’s loose pass and dragged wide from 20 yards.

Brentford went straight up the other end. Thiago latched onto Jensen’s flick-on and raced towards goal. The forward was slowed by Michael Keane and then saw his shot blocked by the outstretched legs of Vitalii Mykolenko.

Barry’s header, connecting with Mykolenko’s cross from the left, was comfortably held by Kelleher.

Damsgaard then led a charge into Everton’s half and slid the ball to Kevin Schade on his left. The forward advanced into the box and his low drive was blocked by Jake O'Brien.

The pair combined again on 42 minutes. Damsgaard’s delivery from the right was glorious but Schade shot straight at Pickford.

Pickford made another impressive stop in stoppage-time. Jensen’s through ball cut open the Toffees’ backline and the England goalkeeper made himself big to narrow the angle and deny Thiago.

In the final seconds of the half, Barry stooped low to meet Grealish’s driven cross from the left of the box, but his header was instinctively kept out by Kelleher.

Introduced at the start of the second half alongside Merlin Röhl, Beto sought to make an immediate impact.

The forward won the ball from Hickey and advanced towards goal, but Janelt had sensed the danger and made a block.

Brentford doubled their lead on 50 minutes. Janelt swung in a corner from the right and Collins darted to the front post to score an emphatic header.

The Bees added a third goal straight after the restart. Jensen threaded the ball into Schade, who held off O'Brien on the penalty spot. Thiago then charged in, took the ball from his team-mate and lifted over Pickford to put Brentford in the ascendancy.

Everton continued to fight. Kelleher was at full stretch to push Tarkowski’s thumping header over the crossbar after James Garner had delivered from the right flank.

And the Toffees pulled a goal back on 66 minutes. Stood up by Michael Kayode, Grealish dropped a shoulder to work some space for a cross, and Beto guided the ball into the far corner with his head.

Damsgaard’s cross from the right was flicked on by Lewis-Potter and Thiago’s shot took a deflection on its way through to Pickford.

Thiago completed his hat-trick in the 88th minute. Röhl surrendered possession to Collins, and the Brentford captain released Thiago with a long kick over the top.

The Brazilian carried the ball 60 yards before dinking over the on-rushing Pickford to score his 14th goal of the Premier League campaign. Only Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) and Kylian Mbappé (PSG) have netted more goals in Europe's top five leagues this season.

Barry headed in Grealish’s deep cross in stoppage-time, but it was too little, too late for the Toffees.

Andrews' Bees moved up to seventh in the Premier League with their impressive win on Merseyside.

Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Garner, Iroegbunam (Armstrong 77); Dibling (Beto HT), McNeil (Röhl HT), Grealish; Barry

Subs: Travers, King, Patterson, Aznou, Welch, Campbell

Brentford (4-3-3): Kelleher; Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Hickey (Henry 76); Janelt, Jensen (Henderson 64), Yarmoliuk; Damsgaard, Thiago (Peart-Harris 90+2), Schade (Lewis-Potter 64)

Subs: Valdimarsson, van den Berg, Pinnock, Nelson, Donovan

Andrews: We played with courage, personality and conviction

Head coach Keith Andrews was delighted with his side’s performance at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

“I thought we played really well,” he said. “We played with a lot of courage, personality and conviction.

“You have to be brave coming to a place like this; it’s a tough place to come.

“We did all the basics really well and then showed so much personality on top of that. It was such a pleasing performance.”

On Igor Thiago, Andrews added: “The quality of the goals were high level, elite. The conviction, calmness and confidence. How he produced – and the timing of it. His overall performance was excellent. I’m really pleased for him.”

Thiago on first Premier League hat-trick

Igor Thiago thanked his team-mates, club staff and Brentford supporters after scoring his first Premier League hat-trick in the Bees’ 4-2 win at Everton.

“It’s a very good feeling,” said the Brazilian.

“I’m happy for my performance today and to get the three points from a tough game.”

The Bees striker, holding the match ball signed by his team-mates, added: “Everyone supports me, everyone believes in me, so thank you to my team-mates, the staff and the fans as well.

“It means so much to me. It means they [fans] support me, they believe in me, they trust me and they push me, so I’m really happy when they sing my name and when they support me.”