Beto and David Moyes left fuming by outrageous Igor Thiago behaviour in Everton collapse
Igor Thiago scored a hat-trick to contribute to a miserable afternoon for Everton but added plenty of insult to injury on top of his goals.
Everton were heavily beaten 4-2 by Brentford at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday afternoon in large part to a very poor defensive performance.
James Tarkowski led a superb Everton showing at the back in the 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest to end 2025, but the centre-back was at fault for giving away possession in the first half leading to Thiago‘s first goal.
Nathan Collins and Thiago again struck twice in two minutes early in the second half as the Toffees looked set to fall apart, and it was the Brazilian striker’s reaction to his second strike surviving a VAR review which was deemed to incite his opposite number.
Igor Thiago celebrates Brentford goal with Beto
In the 51st minute the visitors caught a surprisingly-slack Everton in possession once more in midfield before Mikkel Damsgaard found Kevin Schade in attack.
The forward turned Jake O’Brien heading into the Toffees box and Thiago took on the loose ball and slipped it past Jordan Pickford to give the hosts a mountain to climb.
Anthony Taylor halted the restart while the VAR reviewed the goal for a possible offside in the build up, which was then cleared.
As the goal was given Thiago grabbed Beto, standing near him on halfway, and hugged him in celebration before the Toffees striker pushed him away, as David Moyes looked on stoney-faced from the touchline.
Commentating live on Sky Sports Gary Weaver said: “And Igor Thiago trying to celebrate with Beto, which won’t go down too well.”
Reacting alongside him ex-Toffee Leon Osman added: “No, not exactly, [neither] David Moyes or Beto would have wanted to see that.”
Beto himself would manage to pull one back for Everton shortly afterwards but that was as far as the comeback went in a hugely-disappointing first outing of 2026, as Thiago went on to complete his hat-trick before Thierno Barry added a consolation in added time.
Thiago public enemy number one for Everton defence
Thiago may have sparked a goalscoring reaction from Beto, and Barry, which is some achievement given the well known difficulties in front of goal for Everton strikers this term.
But he could afford to after an afternoon where he tormented Tarkowski and company with both his finishing and his infuriating antics.
It appeared to be a a deliberate strategy for Keith Andrews’ side to make things uncomfortable for the big Toffees defenders in the air, no doubt in response to their excellent performance at Forest, as Thiago and Schade frequently jumped into Everton players without even looking at the ball.
They got what they wanted when Tarkowski made the error leading to the first, while it was the Englishman who left Collins a free header for the second.
Thiago and the Everton captain clashed late on as well as the Brazilian continued his clowning by going down screaming and clutching his head from apparently minimal contact, with the pair jabbing fingers in each other’s faces afterwards.
But he scored another to have the last laugh and ensure Moyes, the defence, and the fans, would be sick of the sight of him by full time, not least due to the fact he has 14 Premier League goals this term and is exactly the sort of player Everton would love.
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