Chelsea held at Brentford, Potter unbeaten run remains intact

Chelsea manager Graham Potter will deny his side took victory for granted and his decision to rest half his side were major factors in dropping two points, but it looked like Chelsea were guilty on both counts from the sidelines.

Wed, 19 Oct, 2022 - 21:45

Nick Callow

BRENTFORD 0-0 CHELSEA

VICTORIES for Brentford are so rare in this lesser known of the capital's derbies, their last win at home against their west London rivals pre-dates the Second World War.

That has much to do with the Premier League upstarts spending so long out of the top flight. They will get another crack next season to end the winless run that dates back to 1938, but they happily went toe-to-toe with their wealthy neighbours 84 years on.

Victory would have cemented Chelsea's place in the top four after their slow start to the season. Instead, the match ended with their faces expressing frustration and exasperation while Brentford men punched the air as they moved into to the top half of the table A draw was possibly the fair result but Brentford were the more ambitious side.

And they betrayed their intent from the very start as Ivan Toney had a great chance from an early counter attack. The England World Cup hopeful created the opportunity with some lovely close skill but was thwarted by the calm goalkeeping of Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Spaniard has re-established himself as the most reliable NO.1 under Graham Potter, who made FIVE changes from his starting line-up for the weekend win at Aston Villa.

It sparked a relentless flow of traffic in the direction of the visitors' goal as Chelsea were kept firmly on the defence for most of the first half.

Kepa hardly had a quiet moment and made a more spectacular stop to keep out a Toney header soon after.

Chelsea simply could not cope with the intensity of Brentford's tackling and passing. Perhaps Potter was already regretting so much rotation ahead of his side's weekend match against Manchester United and next week's Champions League trip to Salzburg.

The new Chelsea manager was forced into a decision against his will after only 15 minutes when key midfielder Conor Gallagher hobbled off to be replaced by Mateo Kovacic.

Young England international Gallagher had been one of the players Potter wanted to see more of so he will be hoping his injury is not as serious as the ones already keeping out the likes of key men Wesley Fofana, N'Golo Kante and Reece James.

There was some brief respite for Chelsea in the form of a half chance for Armando Broja and a long-range effort from captain Cesar Azpilicueta. The speed of Broja, making his first Premier League start under Potter, was probably Chelsea's best option on the rare occasions they were able to break forward While Brentford's David Raya was by far the less occupied of the two keepers,. Toney was denied by Kepa for a third time after Ruben Loftus-Cheek got the wrong side of the Brentford striker.

Kepa was good, but the over riding feeing at half-time was Brentford could live to regret being so profligate in front of goal.

Chelsea were growing into the match in terms of possession and it felt inevitable Thomas Frank's men would find it difficult to sustain their level for another 45 minutes.

Yet it was still Brentford making the running after the break and Toney's striker partner Bryan Mbuemo failed to make the most of a 50th minute free header, which was possibly their best chance to take the lead.

It was indicative of Chelsea's struggles that Potter withdrew two of his favoured players Mason Mount and Marc Cucurella with half an hour to go. The attacking replacements were the proven Raheem Sterling and teenage super star in the making Carney Chukwuemeka.

'We'll sing on our own' roared out the Brentford fans sensing blood.

They took it up another level when Rico Henry had a shot deflected inches side by the desperate lunge of Azpilicueta.

The Chelsea faithful, wedged into a small corner of this atmospheric, compact stadium struggled to respond with any real conviction even though the three points remained very up for grabs going into the final ten minutes.

Hopes were possibly raised when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replaced Havertz to lead the final charge. The former Arsenal man so nearly set up a late winner for Sterling and it took a great block by the impressive Ethan Pinnock to deny him.

Brentford: Raya 6, Henry 7, Pinnock 7, Mee 7, Jorgensen 6, Jensen 6 (Dasilva 73), Janelt 6 (Ghoddos 90), Onyeka 7 (Baptiste 60), Roerslev 6, Toney 8, Mbuemo 7 (Wissa 72).

Subs: Cox, Ajer, Canos, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard.

Chelsea: Arrizabalaga 8, Cucurella 7 (Pulisic 61), Koulibaly 6, Chalobah 6, Azpilicueta 6, Jorginho 6, Loftus-Cheek, 6 Gallagher 5 (Kovacic 15), Havertz 5 (Aubameyang 81), Mount 6 (Chukwuemeka 62), Broja 6 (Sterling 62).

Subs: Mendy, Silva, Zakaria, Ziyech.

Ref: Jarred Gillett 6.