FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE – Chelsea made life troublesome for themselves whereas nonetheless incomes a 2-1 victory over Brentford on Sunday night.
The Blues took a 2-0 lead regardless of squandering a glut of probabilities earlier than Bryan Mbeumo compelled a nervy conclusion with a strike within the Ninetieth minute. The Bees could not discover a means via, however Marc Cucurella was labored up sufficient to gather a second yellow card after the ultimate whistle.
Victory, nonetheless testing, strikes Chelsea simply two factors behind league-leading Liverpool, who do have a sport in hand.
How the sport unfolded
On a sleepy Sunday night unusually missing the chew of a mid-December evening, each groups eased their means into this west London derby.
The shortage of fluency seeping into either side was captured by a three-second sequence which noticed Mads Roerslev and Marc Cucurella take turns firing the ball into their very own teammate whereas aiming for a completely totally different colleague.
Fittingly, it took a mistake for the primary clear sight of purpose to emerge. Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken did not even discover the midriff of one other Brentford participant together with his wayward move within the closing phases of the primary half, as a substitute rolling the ball straight into the stride of Noni Madueke. The Dutch keeper rapidly made up for his error, toeing Madueke’s low effort past the far put up.
That opening enlivened the hosts, sparking a late flurry which culminated in a headed opener for Cucurella. Sneaking between Sepp van den Berg and Roerslev, Chelsea‘s diminutive full-back met Madueke’s completely measured cross on the again put up, producing two audible thumps as first his brow then hair linked with the ball.
Chelsea tidied up the slack touches which had littered the primary half to exert extra of a stranglehold after the interval, penning Brentford not solely into their very own half however their defensive third for giant swathes. Nicolas Jackson spurned an excellent opening to double Chelsea’s benefit, spooning over from contained in the six-yard field after a penetrative piece of wriggling from Jadon Sancho.
Sancho discovered himself in entrance of purpose as soon as once more quickly after. Strolling on to Cole Palmer’s slipped via ball, the Manchester United loanee skipped round Flekken however took himself too large. Sancho slickly rolled the ball previous the goalkeeper on the byline, but could not tee up a teammate.
Emboldened by a proactive method from Thomas Frank, three Brentford substitutes nearly made Chelsea pay for his or her inefficiency. Kristoffer Ajer teed up Fabio Carvalho for an effort which clattered the crossbar. Kevin Schade, one other sub, skied the follow-up.
Jackson doubled the hosts lead within the eightieth minute. Benefiting from Brentford’s desperation, the misfiring ahead discovered the underside nook, twisting Ethan Pinnock inside out within the course of.
Mbeumo’s Ninetieth-minute strike proved nothing greater than a comfort, however the post-match scuffle which earned Cucurella a second yellow may show to be expensive within the weeks to return.
Full participant scores from Chelsea 2-1 Brentford could be discovered right here.
It may all the time be the hair. Very similar to a superhero’s cape, Cucurella’s cartoonish scurrying is heightened by his flowing mane. The image of perpetual movement scarcely takes a beat to catch his breath.
Early on within the second half, Chelsea’s left-back discovered himself charging throughout to the best aspect of the pitch with no intention apart from to land an elbow in between Yoane Wissa’s shoulder blades. Cucurella is not all the time so chaotic.
The Euro 2024 winner was in the best place on the proper time to make the most of the hall of uncertainty which all the time exists between a wing-back and large centre-back. It was not the primary or final surge which Cucurella made into that space of the pitch. However then once more, he seemingly coated each different blade of grass.
Cucurella’s distinctive model of mayhem can’t be contained by the confines of a match. After the referee’s whistle had been blown, the argumentative full-back nonetheless managed to earn himself a crimson card after gathering his second reserving.
Stamford Bridge rose in unison to applaud Jackson off the pitch. But, an more and more stressed crowd had spent many of the earlier 80 minutes bemoaning their quantity 15.
Proper from the opening whistle, Jackson had appeared hell-bent on marking his fiftieth Premier League look with a purpose. The Senegal worldwide flashed a header large inside the primary three minutes and completed the sport with a match-high seven pictures. Jackson’s clearest sight of purpose got here within the sixtieth minute, but he in some way conspired to shank Sancho’s cut-back over the bar.
Along with his last effort from a usually enthusiastic show, Jackson lastly picked out the underside nook to carry up his twenty third purpose in England’s high flight. By the use of comparability, Didier Drogba solely rating 20 targets in his first 50 Premier League appearances.
Brentford’s Gtech Group Stadium is to not everybody’s liking – in contrast to its predeccessor Griffin Park, it lacks a pub on each nook for starters – but, the Bees worth house comforts greater than another Premier League membership.
From what Frank has repeatedly known as “a little bit bus cease in Hounslow”, Brentford have taken 22 factors from a doable 24 – one of the best file of any aspect within the division. Nonetheless, Sunday’s end result leaves them with one level from eight away journeys.
The identification of Brentford’s opponents presents an easy rationalization. Chelsea are the sixth workforce from final season’s high eight to host the Bees. In contrast, not one of the conventional elite have travelled to the Gtech as of but.
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