As they travelled to Brentford on Saturday, Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea were looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking Carabao Cup final loss against Liverpool last weekend, while Thomas Frank and his side needed points to avoid being dragged into a relegation fight.
BRE: Flekken; Jorgensen, Ajer, Collins; Roerslev, Onyeka, Nørgaard, Janelt, Reguilon; Toney, Wissa
CHE: Petrovic; Disasi, Chalobah, Colwill, Gusto; Gallagher, Caicedo, Fernandez; Chilwell, Palmer, Jackson
After a quiet opening quarter-hour in which neither side could find a foothold in the game, the first real opportunity came to Nicolas Jackson on the half hour mark.
The Chelsea striker rounded Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken, but fluffed his lines with an open goal at his mercy.
Five minutes later, he had made amends – opening the scoring after he found himself on the end of an excellent Malo Gusto cross to power home a header and give the visitors a vital 1-0 lead, which they would hold on to until half-time.
Embed from Getty ImagesA slow first forty-five minutes for Brentford was turned on its head in the second half, and it didn’t take long for the home side to equalise thanks to a rare goalscorer.
Mads Roerslev stole in from the right wing and got to the ball ahead of Djordje Petrovic in the Chelsea goal to poke home with only his 2nd goal in 112 appearances for Brentford.
Three minutes later, Brentford were almost ahead but Vitaly Janelt’s shot rebounded off the post as Brentford pressed a shell-shocked Chelsea defence.
The moment of the game then came from Yoane Wissa; the Brentford striker capitalising on an aerial ball to shape his body and pull off an incredible acrobatic volley from the penalty spot that flew past Petrovic and gave Brentford a deserved 2-1 lead.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen Sergio Reguilon hit the post with a header of his own with twenty minutes remaining, Brentford could have been out of sight – but it would be Chelsea who hit back through Axel Disasi. Flekken conceded a soft corner and it gave Cole Palmer the opportunity to whip in a decent cross that found the head of the Chelsea defender, who made it 2-2 after 83 minutes.
Neither side could find the winner, and would have to share the spoils – not particularly helpful for either side as they look to work their way up the table. Brentford sit in 15th, six points clear of the relegation zone while Chelsea are still in the bottom half in 11th.
With Arsenal and Manchester United still to come in March, Brentford will hope they can get a result against Burnley in a fortnight’s time, while Chelsea’s hopes of reaching a European spot hang on their hopes for the FA Cup where they face Leicester City in the quarterfinals.
