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Brentford announced their arrival in the Premier League by kicking off the 2021-22 season with a 2-0 win over Arsenal. West London beat North London on the opening evening of the campaign with The Bees scoring a goal in each half. Brentford’s first top flight game since 1947 finished with a well-earned victory thanks to goals from Sergi Canós and Christian Nørgaard. Canós struck midway through the first half, becoming the first Brentford player to score a top division goal since Len Townsend more than seven decades ago. Nørgaard headed home in the second half to seal a win that The Bees deserved. David Raya, in the
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home goal, made one spectacular save late on, but Bryan Mbeumo hit the post for The Bees and there was little doubt that the better team won on the night. For Brentford head coach Thomas Frank, it was a hugely satisfying evening. He joined a very select club during the evening, becoming only the second person from Denmark to lead a team in a Premier League game. He’s certainly following in special footsteps. Michael Laudrup took charge of Swansea City and helped
them win the EFL Cup in 2013. In an interview with Sun Sport, Thomas discussed his admiration for Michael Laudrup and also Peter Schmeichel, who is best known for his time as Manchester United goalkeeper. He mentioned that Schmeichel had been in touch in recent weeks. Thomas told SunSport: “I’ve always loved English football. I started watching in the mid1980s and used to love Danish midfielder Jan Molby when Liverpool dominated. Then in the 1990s, I also followed
Schmeichel. He was a fantastic keeper. He was named world’s best twice and won us the Euros in 1992 single-handed. “Michael was one of the greatest players in the world with everything he achieved at Barcelona and Real Madrid. Denmark is a small nation, so I’ve met Michael a lot of times. For a Danish person, it’s huge that I’m going to be the only person with Michael to have managed in the Premier League. Peter has been in touch since we got promoted and texted me: “well done, congratulations” and about how he is looking forward to following Brentford.” www.brentfordfc.com
