Chelsea managed to get a somewhat lucky win at home vs Brentford thanks to two mistakes from the visitors.
Liam Rosenior got his first Premier League win for the Blues. Though it did come in their worst performance of his short tenure so far, all things considered.
Joao Pedro’s wonder strike put them 1-0 up halfway through the first half. Later on in the second half, Cole Palmer sent Caoimhin Kelleher the wrong way from the penalty spot and sealed the deal.
But even though the 2-0 score might indicate an easy win, the story of the game was quite the opposite.
How did Chelsea beat Brentford?
Brentford gift-wrap three points for Chelsea
It’s hard to put it any other way. Brentford actually defended well most of the time and limited Chelsea’s opportunities throughout the game.
| Stats | Chelsea | Brentford |
|---|---|---|
| Shots (on target) | 6 (2) | 15 (5) |
| Big chances | 2 | 2 |
| Touches in the opp box | 10 | 31 |
The match marked the second fewest shot attempts by the Blues this season (6), ahead only of the five in the loss to Manchester United back in September. For context, Robert Sanchez was sent off five minutes into the game that day.
But the Bees’ defensive woes started on the ball rather than off. Michael Kayode, who has otherwise been sensational this season, tried to clear the ball inside his own box but it ricochetted off of Enzo Fernandez and fell to Joao Pedro, who scored a stunner.
In the second half, completely unmarked, Nathan Collins played a poor back-pass to Kelleher. The Irish goalkeeper failed to control the ball and ended up taking Liam Delap down as he stole the ball, giving away a penalty.
Those two chances aside, Chelsea had just one clear-cut goalscoring opportunity and attempted only four shots. Meanwhile, on the other end, Brentford were creating chance after chance.
The mid-block dilemma
That did happen for a specific reason. From the start of the game, Liam Rosenior decided not to press Brentford so intensely. Some teams push their lines up against the Bees to perform offside traps and limit Kevin Schade’s and Igor Thiago’s attacking impact. Chelsea sat a little bit deeper than usual.
However, they were mostly in a mid-block. The Blues didn’t press the opponents initiating build-up, but at the same time didn’t sit deep enough to eliminate space in behind. So they were often caught in a sort of “limbo” that allowed the Bees defenders to play passes and the forwards to run into space.
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Schade went through on goal, face to face with Sanchez, twice. On the first time he decided not to shoot and inexplicably passed the ball, and on the second he couldn’t put it away.
Igor Thiago received a few through balls to the wings to get the team in the attacking half and brought teammates into play for that. Ultimately they failed to have a truly positive impact in the game, but got themselves in great situations time and time again.
Things got better in the second half when, surprisingly, the Blues sat even deeper. They gave up on the ball (35% possession in the final 45 minutes) and took a few steps back. Not enough to make for an actual low-block, but lower than the previous mid-block.
Brentford had to rely on set pieces to try and create something. Five of their eight shots in the second half came that way. But the hosts looked safe in that department – a positive sign considering how exposed they looked in the air against Charlton and Arsenal.
Chelsea’s struggles
Going forward, Chelsea had a tough time today. Their game was oriented more to the wings and Brentford did a great job not leaving Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto in one-on-one situations in rhythm.
The only time it actually happened, Neto left Garnacho with an open net but the Argentine somehow missed it.
The Bees’ man-to-man press also made it hard for the Blues to play out from the back. As a result, Chelsea attempted 29 long balls – more than in both of their other games under Rosenior combined (18 vs Arsenal, 7 vs Charlton).
Chelsea’s rest defence was also problematic. Every time they lost possession (and it did happen quite often), it was in dangerous positions with Brentford counter attacking in a very organized manner. Every transition of theirs felt like a big chance waiting to happen at the other end.
Liam Rosenior switched the in-possession structures a few times, mainly between 2-4-4 and 3-2-5. The players looked to have more freedom to rotate around than in the previous two games, but it wasn’t enough to unlock their build-ups.
It’s still early days in the Rosenior tenure, but the performances have dipped from game to game.
A solid and dominant debut against Charlton, a tough time in the Carabao Cup semifinals first leg – though it was against league leaders Arsenal and with a few players that would never start in a league match-up and a lucky 2-0 win over Brentford.