Sergi Canos wants Brentford to make the Community Stadium their fortress in the Premier League.
The newly-promoted Bees finally christened their new ground, a year after it opened in the midst of lockdown, as a full house roared them to a 2-0 victory over Arsenal.
Former Liverpool youngster Canos scored their historic first goal in the Premier League and Christian Norgaard headed the second on a memorable night in west London.
“It was a fantastic night and the fans deserve it so much after the year we’ve had with the pandemic. We all deserve this,” Canos told the club website.
“When I saw the ball hit the net I couldn’t believe it.
“I felt nervous. I’m not going to lie. It was the first game in the Premier League for a lot of players. We were playing Arsenal and we have so much respect for them.
“But I think we showed we are here in the Premier League because we deserve it.
“It was a tough game. They are a great team and they pushed in the second half. But the second goal made us a little calm and we got the three points.
“I hope this is going to be our fortress this season. I hope the fans do this every week because we need them. We are all one as a club. It’s going to be a hard league so we need their support.”
Victory meant Brentford had come full circle, albeit at the pace of Halley’s Comet. Their last match in the top flight was a 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal, 74 years ago in May 1947.
The spotlight is already on the Gunners, who were missing captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and fellow striker Alexandre Lacazette through illness.
Ben White, the £50million signing from Brighton, endured a difficult debut while fellow defender Pablo Mari put in an error-strewn display.
With Chelsea and Manchester City next up, Mikel Arteta’s side could well find themselves bottom of the pile come the first international break.
Asked if their performance would prompt some activity in the transfer market, Arteta said: “My focus is with the players that we have to try to make them play as best as possible and to get the best out of the team and try to find a way to win football matches, and it’s the same in the next one.”
