Chelsea come back off the rails in Brentford defeat

LONDON – Chelsea suffered another damaging home defeat, as goals from Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbuemo gave Brentford the bragging rights with a 2-0 win in the west London derby on Saturday.

The big-spending Blues have won just one of their last 13 home English Premier League games over the past two seasons. This latest setback punctures belief that manager Mauricio Pochettino was beginning to get them back on track.

After a difficult start to the Argentinian’s reign, back-to-back victories over Fulham and Burnley were followed by an impressive performance, even though they blew a two-goal lead, in a 2-2 home draw against Arsenal last weekend.

However, Brentford leapfrogged Chelsea into 10th in the Premier League table, pushing Pochettino’s men into the bottom half again.

“It is difficult to accept the defeat because in the first half we dominated, played really well and created chances. Brentford didn’t do what they planned, we were so, so good but, of course, you need to score and be clinical,” said the 51-year-old, who added that he was not pleased with their poor home run in the league.

“When that didn’t happen, you need some luck. We conceded the first chance and then it was difficult to break down the block. It’s about confidence, better decisions... We have suffered this since the beginning of the season, the team play well and create chances. We were the better side but, in the end, we conceded two goals... really, really, really disappointed.”

Chelsea started brightly, penning the Bees back, but it was a familiar tale for Pochettino as his side lacked the clinical touch to make good approach play count.

He said on Friday that Christopher Nkunku is nearing a comeback from the knee injury that has prevented the £52 million (S$86.4 million) signing making his competitive debut.

On this evidence, the French international’s return cannot come soon enough as Chelsea’s other new striker Nicolas Jackson again failed to fire.

Noni Madueke was unfortunate when his blistering strike from a narrow angle came back off the crossbar after just 10 minutes. Marc Cucurella should have done much better with a tame effort straight at Mark Flekken, after being picked out by the impressive Cole Palmer.

The former Manchester City winger and Raheem Sterling have been the bright sparks as Chelsea’s attack has flickered into life in recent weeks. However, Sterling was also guilty of being wasteful when he blazed well off target from close range.

Brentford barely threatened before the break, but gave the hosts a warning at the start of the second period when Yoane Wissa fired into the chest of Robert Sanchez. Chelsea did not learn their lesson, and the defending for the goal will anger Pochettino as much as his forwards’ profligacy.

Mbuemo hung up a cross to the back post and Pinnock took advantage of ball watching by Madueke to power home a header at Sanchez’s near post.

After that, it was Brentford who looked the more likely to add to their lead despite Chelsea dominating possession. Sanchez flew off his line to deny substitute Yehor Yarmolyuk his first Brentford goal before Mbuemo fired inches wide.

Brentford were on the verge of a famous win at Old Trafford earlier in October only for Manchester United to score twice in stoppage time. However, this time, it was Thomas Frank’s men who sealed the three points at the death.

Sanchez’s decision to come forward for a corner in search of an equaliser backfired, as Brentford broke quickly and Neal Maupay gave Mbuemo the simple task of rolling into an empty net.

Victory means Brentford become the first side to win their first three Premier League away games against Chelsea, though Frank was not overly thrilled with his side’s display, especially in the first 45 minutes.

“There is no doubt Chelsea were better than us in the first half. I was disappointed with our performance, it was average at best… but, in the second half, we really upped the level in the way we defended,” the Dane said.

“More coolness, more quality on the ball and we started to create chances. I was very pleased with that, we kept Chelsea quiet which is quite impressive with the offensive power they have.”

Over at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal hammered Sheffield United 5-0 thanks to Eddie Nketiah’s hat-trick. The victory closed the gap on league leaders Tottenham Hotspur to two points.

Spurs’ unbeaten start to the season continued on Friday with a 2-1 victory at Selhurst Park, after a Joel Ward own goal and a strike from captain Son Heung-min gave the visitors the lead before Jordan Ayew struck in stoppage time for Crystal Palace. AFP, REUTERS