From Stamford Bridge – Chelsea cruised to a 2-1 win at home to Brentford on Sunday evening, but were sweated through a chaotic result.
Brentford Chelsea boss Thomas Frank was said to have been shortlisted when Chelsea searched for a new coach last summer, eventually losing out to Enzo Maresca. On Sunday at Stamford Bridge, Mariska once again defeated Frank.
Mark Cucurella came in the right shoes this weekend, maintaining his poise throughout the evening, but using his bare forehead to break the deadlock in the 43rd minute.
Moments after Noni Madueke missed a great opportunity to open the scoring himself, ChelseaThe mercurial wing that became supplied. Madueke curled an attractive ball towards Brentford's back post, picking out Cucurella's cross into the box.
Cucurella's effort was one of 15 for Chelsea in the first half – compared to Brentford's solitary effort. Most of those shots were met by a wall of red and white lines, but the hosts had clearer openings after the break.
Nicholas Jackson and Jadon Sancho both denied the golden goal shortly after the hour mark. Sancho set up Jackson's direct foul, but was unable to find the blue shirt after double-fooling Mark Flecken moments later.
Brentford somehow conspired to waste a clear chance of their own in the 77th minute. Fabio Carvalho curled a shot from a few yards out off the underside of Robert Sanchez's crossbar. Only three minutes passed before Jackson scored the second goal for the hosts.
Taking advantage of the open space provided by Brentford's search for an equaliser, Jackson finished off a straight-line lead.
Despite leading by two goals, Chelsea left themselves vulnerable to a counterattack in the final minutes. The ever-prepared Brian Mbeumu finally beat Sanchez with a ball over the top, halving the deficit in the 90th minute to set up a nervy finish.
The final whistle blew to give Chelsea three points, but Cucurella found time to receive a needless red card after being involved in an altercation after the whistle.
|
player |
classification |
|---|---|
|
Goalkeeper: Robert Sanchez |
8.5/10 |
|
lord: What does he want? |
7.7/10 |
|
Capacity building: Tosin Adarabioyo |
7.6/10 |
|
Capacity building: Levi Colwell |
7.2/10 |
|
pound: Mark Cucurella |
7.3/10 |
|
poison: Enzo Fernandez |
7.8/10 |
|
poison: Moises Caicedo |
8.0/10 |
|
poison: Cole Palmer |
7.9/10 |
|
Ru: You are Madueke |
8.0/10 |
|
street: Nicholas Jackson |
8.0/10 |
|
Left wing: Jadon Sancho |
7.8/10 |
|
sub: Christopher Nkunku (84' for Jackson) |
nothing |
Subs not used: Filip Jorgensen (goalkeeper), Axel Disasi, Josh Acheampong, Renato Vega, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Sam Rak Saki, Mark Guyot, Tyreek George.
|
player |
classification |
|---|---|
|
Goalkeeper: Mark let it be |
5.8/10 |
|
Capacity building: Sepp van den Berg |
6.7/10 |
|
Capacity building: Nathan Collins |
6.0/10 |
|
Capacity building: Ethan Pinnock |
6.4/10 |
|
Ru: Mads Roerslev |
6.4/10 |
|
poison: Igor Yarmolyuk |
6.9/10 |
|
poison: Christian Norgaard |
7.2/10 |
|
poison: Mikkel Damsgaard |
6.0/10 |
|
Low weight: Ken Lewis Potter |
6.6/10 |
|
street: Brian Mbeumo |
7.8/10 |
|
street: Yuan warned |
6.5/10 |
|
sub: Vitaly Janelt (63' for Damsgaard) |
6.4/10 |
|
sub: Christopher Ajer (76' for Roerslev) |
6.4/10 |
|
sub: Fabio Carvalho (76' for Damsgaard) |
6.3/10 |
|
sub: Kevin Shady (76' for Wesa) |
7.1/10 |
|
sub: Jayden Meguma (86' for Lewis Potter) |
nothing |
Subs not used: Haakon Ravn Valdemarsson (goalkeeper), Ben Mee, Ryan Trivett, Yunus Emre Konak.
