Brentford head coach Keith Andrews believes Igor Thiago's form means he deserves to be mentioned alongside some of Europe’s top strikers.
The 24-year-old’s first Premier League hat-trick in the 4-2 win at Everton on Sunday means only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Bayern Munich’s England captain Harry Kane have scored more in Europe’s top five leagues this season.
After ending a six-match drought in style, he needs just two more goals to become the highest-scoring Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign.
"Not bad, is it? I thought the finishes today were outstanding, really clinical, outstanding, calm, confident," said Andrews, whose side are now within four points of fourth place.
"A little bit mad he hasn’t scored in a few weeks, but two games ago we played against Bournemouth and he was the basis for us winning the game.
"The names you’ve just mentioned (Haaland, Mbappe, Kane) – he’s in pretty esteemed company there, but he’s earned it.
"He’s been on a journey where he was injured for a lot of last season and he settled into the club behind the scenes, I suppose, not in the spotlight where everybody would see it.
"But he is such a popular player and person amongst our group, and a special person that he deserves everything he gets because he works so hard, he’s selfless in terms of his performances.
"Thankfully today, obviously the goals come off the back of that unselfish way he plays the game because he leaves everything out there."
A mistake by James Tarkowski led to Thiago’s opener, a lovely cushioned volley, and Republic of Ireland defener Nathan Collins then got in front of the centre-back to nod home Brentford’s first goal from a corner in 96 attempts this season.
Thiago scored his second in a two-on-one and although Beto pulled one back, the Brentford striker completed his hat-trick to ensure Thierno Barry’s added-time goal had no significance.
"We gave away a terrible goal and the rest of the half we were chasing it and never got to grips with it," said Everton manager David Moyes, whose side had kept four clean sheets in six previous matches.
"It was unlike us: the first goal and the other goals never gave us a chance of winning so it was poor defensively.
"I don’t think it is something we do too often, concede four goals. I thought we conceded them in a shabby manner if you think how well we defended in midweek compared to today – it just didn’t stack up.
"At home we are trying to be more open and work to make things happen, and I thought they punished us in the moments we did that."
