Thiago has conceded that he “wasn’t expecting to score this much”, with Brentford manager Andrews also admitting to being left pleasantly surprised. He said of his powerful No.9 after seeing another two goals recorded against Sunderland: “To come from the Bulgarian league, then the Belgian league, have a year out injured, and affect the league like this – he’s exceeded expectations.
“He’s been sensational and it’s not just the goals but the selfless way he plays the game. His mentality is as good as I’ve ever come across. He’s a complete centre-forward. I wouldn’t swap him for anybody.”
Thiago is so important to the Brentford cause that they took him off with eight minutes remaining against the Black Cats – denying him the chance to record back-to-back hat-tricks. Explaining that decision, Andrews said: “He’s precious to us. So, when he took a knock, it was always in my mind to look after him and take the edge off the full game.
“But when he’s on two goals, I know what way he’s wired, so that was always a difficult dilemma. I had to just make that decision, which obviously wasn’t entirely popular with him.”