Lineup
The blues lined up in what looked like a back five. Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, and Ben Chilwell came into the starting lineup. Chilwell was further forward in possession and Colwill went on the left. Malo Gusto was high up on the right side. Noni Madueke and Mykhalio Mudryk dropped to the bench. Mudryk may have felt hard done by after his performance and goal against Leeds in midweek not to start this game. Maurico Pochettino went with the back five solution to match up against Brentford who usually play the 3-5-2 formation.
First Half
Chelsea had possession early on, but it was Brentford who actually started the game slightly better in terms of going forward with the ball and looking dangerous.
The first big chance came though to Nicolas Jackson, who could only see his tame effort blocked on the line after rounding Flekken in the Brentford goal.
Jackson sees his shot cleared after rounding the keeper
Chelsea opened the scoring as a great cross from Gusto was met by an equally good header from Jackson who shushed the crowd and maybe some of the haters.
Brentford started well, and maybe were better going forward, but Chelsea took the lead.
Chelsea had the momentum after this, but the score remained only 1-0 at half time.
Second Half
Brentford were much better in the second half, as they pressed higher up the pitch with more energy. They also used their effectiveness in wide areas with crosses and long throws into the box.
Chelsea were unable to effectively defend these crosses into the box, and this led to Brentford scoring their two goals to take the lead. First, Ivan Toney crossed from the right (Chelsea’s left), and Reguilon’s scuffed shot led to Roerslev’s equaliser. Disasi could have reacted quicker and cleared the ball.
Disasi was slow to react to the loose ball
The second goal by Yoann Wissa was a brilliant acrobatic strike, but Malo Gusto could have maybe close down quicker and prevented the cross coming in. There were eight Chelsea players in the box, but the marking was ineffective, and Wissa found space to produce a brilliant finish.
Gusto was slow to close the cross down
Despite Chelsea having a number of players back in the box, Wissa is allowed the shot
Pochettino sent on Mudryk for Enzo and then Sterling for Colwill in a desperate attempt to rescue the game and provide more attacking threat. This did improve the performance of the team. The equaliser came in the 83rd minute as Cole Palmer received the ball from a short corner and crossed to Disasi, who headed in. The game ended 2-2, despite a bit of a frantic finish.
Disasi celebrates after scoring the equaliser
Some Analysis and stats
The lack of central midfield options were clear to see, especially in the second half for Chelsea. Enzo showed signs of tiredness after playing virtually every game over the last month, including 120 minutes against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final. Cesare Casedai was recalled from Leicester City, but he has not played very much since his return. Andrey Santos was also sent back on loan to Strasbourg after his difficult loan spell at Nottingham Forest. Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu are also both still injured.
Pochettino refused to make any changes until Chelsea conceded the second goal. There were clear signs early on in the second half Brentford had upped the tempo and looked increasingly threatening. He probably thought Chelsea could ride this out, and with the lack of midfield options, choose to stick rather than twist.
Moises Caicedo has improved since his signing and was one of the top performers in this game, despite still getting negative coverage in the media due to his price tag. He is often alone in that defensive midfield role and covered ground well. He won the most duels (9) of all players on the pitch and also won 2 tackles.
Caicedo v Brentford
70/78 passes completed (90% accuracy)
5 passes into final third
2/3 accurate long balls
2 tackles won
1 block
3 clearances
8 ball recoveries
9 duels won
Gusto was impressive yet again, but may be disappointed he did not do more to prevent the cross, which resulted in the second goal for Brentford.
What again was a concern was the teams drop off in the second half. This has been a theme during the season as these tables show. Chelsea are closer to the top of the table when taking into account points for the first half compared to second half. They are 17th when looking at the second half.
Found on twitter /x.
Overall, this was a disappointing result and leaves Chelsea 11th in the table. There were clear signs of frustrations in the crowd as fans voiced their anger at both Todd Boehly and Mauricio Pochettinho after Brentford took the lead.
Pochettinho was also frustrated after the game with Chelsea's defending in the second half and for allowing Brentford back into the game. He also commented on the tiredness of his midfield and reason for playing an extra centre back.
'We showed full control in the first half. We created many chances and I think we played very well.
Of course, we didn’t start well in the second half and we allowed them to take the lead. We conceded some crosses and it was tough because the game was really open, too many transitions and they made it 1-1.
We must defend better, of course, at a very difficult place to come. But we’ve had a tough three games in six days, and I think the effort was massive. It was hard to keep the energy in the second half. I think that was the key to the game.
They played more direct. We were not consistent at this moment. We conceded and that changed the game, their belief increased. In the end, of course, we wanted all three points, but we are disappointed a little bit in the way we conceded and because the team made the effort to get all three.
We needed to provide the midfield the possibility not to cover too much distance. I think Enzo, Caicedo and Gallagher had to start but were really, really tired.
I wanted to provide the team with a different way to play for different circumstances. I think we needed more consistency and to be more solid. After playing the final on Sunday and the game on Wednesday, they were two tough games and we needed to be more solid, that is why we picked that system.
A player like (Romeo) Lavia is supposed to challenge Moises (Caicedo), but they are injured and we don’t have the possibility to refresh in a key area. That is why we needed to help them to try with another centre-back.’
The lack of first team options has hampered Pochettino in midfield. he could maybe have used some youngsters as Liverpool have done recently but maybe felt he didn't want to take that risk.
Chelsea have a break of eight days before their next game at home to Newcastle on Monday week.
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