LONDON (AP) — Igor Thiago celebrated his first call-up to the Brazil squad by scoring Brentford’s second goal in a 2-2 thriller against Wolves in the Premier League on Monday.
Nearing halftime, the striker tapped into the empty net for his 19th league goal of the season.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers' Tolu Arokodare celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Brentford's Michael Kayode, second right, celebrates scoring with teammates during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Yerson Mosquera, left, and Brentford's Kevin Schade in action during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Brentford's Igor Thiago celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
Brentford's Igor Thiago celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
A few minutes earlier, Michael Kayode's glancing header put Brentford 1-0 up. It was his first goal in his 41st league appearance for the Bees.
Adam Armstrong pulled a goal back for Wolves a minute before halftime to round off a thrilling half.
Wolves, the league's bottom side, equalized with 13 minutes left when Tolu Arokodare headed home at the back post.
The result extended Wolves' unbeaten league run to three games but it remained bottom of the table, 12 points from safety.
“We know where we are in the league, it hasn’t been good enough," Armstrong said, "but since I’ve come in it’s been very positive. The results have been changing. To get my first goal is nice but the main thing is to get the three points. We didn’t quite get that today but we’ll take the positives.”
Brentford stayed in seventh place, two points ahead of Everton but three behind Chelsea.
"We’re disappointed to have let the game slip," Bees captain Jordan Henderson said.
Just hours before kickoff, Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti named Thiago in the squad for friendlies against France in Boston on March 26 and Croatia in Orlando four days later.
The former Cruzeiro, Ludogorets and Brugge striker was one of nine forwards included in a 26-man list that featured Endrick of Lyon, Rayan of Bournemouth, and João Pedro of Chelsea but no Neymar, who has underperformed recently at Santos.
He has excelled for Brentford this season and could have scored one or two more against Wolves. His 19-goal tally is the highest ever by a Brentford player in one Premier League season.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers' Tolu Arokodare celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Brentford's Michael Kayode, second right, celebrates scoring with teammates during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Yerson Mosquera, left, and Brentford's Kevin Schade in action during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Brentford's Igor Thiago celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
Brentford's Igor Thiago celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers in London, Monday March 16, 2026. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
HAVANA (AP) — Officials in Cuba reported an islandwide blackout Monday in the country of some 11 million people as its energy and economic crises deepen and its power grid continues to crumble.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines on X noted a “complete disconnection” of the country’s electrical system and said it was investigating, noting there were no failures in the units that were operating when the grid collapsed.
It was the third major blackout in Cuba over the past four months.
Tomás David Velázquez Felipe, a 61-year-old resident of Havana, said the relentless outages make him think that Cubans who can should just pack up and leave the island. “What little we have to eat spoils,” he said. “Our people are too old to keep suffering.”
By Monday evening, state-owned media reported that crews had restored power to 2% of Havana's residents, representing some 18,000 customers, as well as a handful of hospitals across the island. Officials said they would prioritize the communications sector next, all while warning that the small circuits restored so far could fail again.
Cuba’s aging grid has drastically eroded in recent years, leading to an increase in daily outages and islandwide blackouts. But the government also has blamed its woes on a U.S. energy blockade after President Donald Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. The Trump administration is demanding that Cuba release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalization in return for a lifting of sanctions. Trump also has raised the possibility of a "friendly takeover of Cuba."
On Monday, he said he believes he’ll have the “honor of taking Cuba.”
“I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I could do anything I want with it,” Trump said about Cuba, calling it a “very weakened nation.”
The U.S. Embassy in Cuba wrote on X on Monday that “there is no information on when power would be restored.”
“Cuba’s national electrical grid is increasingly unstable and prolonged scheduled and unscheduled power outages are a daily occurrence across the country,” it wrote. “Take precautions by conserving fuel, water, food, and mobile phone charge, and be prepared for significant disruption.”
William LeoGrande, a professor at American University who has tracked Cuba for years, said the country's energy grid hasn't been maintained properly and its infrastructure is “way past its normal useful life.”
“The technicians working on the grid are magicians to keep it running at all given the shape that it’s in," LeoGrande said.
LeoGrande said that if the island drastically reduces consumption and expands renewables, it can struggle along for a while without oil shipments. “But it would be constant misery for the general population, and eventually, the economy could collapse just completely and then you would have social chaos and probably mass migration,” he said.
To ramp up solar power even faster than Cuba did last year, LeoGrande said other countries, principally China, would have to be willing to double or more their provision of such equipment.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Friday said the island had not received oil shipments in three months and was operating on solar power, natural gas and thermoelectric plants, and that the government has had to postpone surgeries for tens of thousands of people.
Yaimisel Sánchez Peña, 48, said she was upset that the food she buys with money that her son in the U.S. sends keeps spoiling, adding that the outages also affect her 72-year-old mother: “Every day, she suffers."
Mercedes Velázquez, a 71-year-old Cuban resident, lamented yet another blackout. “We’re here waiting to see what happens,” she said, adding that she recently gave away part of a soup she made while it was still fresh so as not to throw it out. “Everything goes bad.”
A massive outage over a week ago affected the island’s west, leaving millions without power. Another major blackout affected western Cuba in early December.
Critical oil shipments from Venezuela were halted after the U.S. attacked the South American country in early January and arrested its then-president, Nicolás Maduro.
While Cuba produces 40% of its petroleum and has been generating its own power, it hasn’t been sufficient to meet demand as its electric grid continues to crumble.
“And on top of all that, the Cuban government doesn’t have the hard currency to import spare parts or upgrade the plant or grid itself. It’s just a perfect storm of collapse," LeoGrande said.
He noted that the thermoelectric plants also have been using heavy oil, whose sulfur content is corroding the equipment.
On Friday, Díaz-Canel confirmed that Cuba was holding talks with the U.S. government as the problems continue to deepen.
Coto reported from San José, Costa Rica. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed.
People walk outside during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man walks outside during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People ride a bicycle during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man rides a tricycle with his leashed dog running alongside him during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man finishes putting fuel in his car's tank, located in the back of the car, during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People walk outside during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man speaks with a person in a car during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People ride their bicycles along the Malecón during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People line up in the street to buy bread in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
