CHELSEA have beaten Brentford after Ben Chilwell fired a rocket into the top corner on the stroke of half time.
But the Bees pushed them all the way with Bryan Mbeumo hitting the post once in each half.
Edouard Mendy was named man of the match after a string of fantastic saves to deny the hosts and give the Blues a precious point.
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THAT’S A WRAP
If West London derbies in the league are like that all the time, then you don’t mind waiting 74 years for them to come back around.
The visitors were dominant in the first half, not letting Brentford get a foot hold of the game and when Ben Chilwell put Chelsea in front, it looked as if it was going to be a long evening for the Bees.
However the last 20 minutes of the game, Thomas Frank’s men were superb.
Brentford were all over their West London rivals, hitting the post THREE times and carving out fantastic opportunities.
Christian Noorgaard had five shots on goal himself and he’s a defensive midfielder so that is saying something.
However Edouard Mendy was determined to keep a clean sheet and that is exactly what the Senegalese keeper did pulling off some fantastic saves which eventually led to Chelsea leaving the Community Stadium with all three points.
Brentford can look back at tonight’s game with their heads held high but they’ll all be wondering how not one of those chances flew into the back of the net.
Thanks for sticking with us tonight and I hope you enjoyed that just as much as I did.
PLAYER RATINGS
Fancy finding out what we rated Edouard Mendy and the rest of the Chelsea squad this evening?
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MAN OF THE MATCH
A special shout outs to Edouard Mendy who single (or double) handedly kept his side in front and helped Chelsea to scurry out of the Brentford Community Stadium with all three points.
In addition to that, today’s clean sheet was the Senegalese keeper’s 20th Premier League shut out in only 38 starts and what a way to do it too.
FURIOUS FRANK
Brentford manager Thomas Frank was proud of his team’s performance and was adamant that there was only one winner on the field today.
But he couldn’t quite wrap his head around how not one of those countless attempts on goal hit the back of th net.
Firstly I am very proud of our performance but if you look over the 90 minutes, there is only one deserved winner and that is us and that is by quite a large margin.
We kept the Champions of Europe and the number one in the league to 5 shots. 5 shots the whole game, that is very impressive.
I know they dominated a little bit more of the ball in the first half and a little bit in the beginning but in the end we were all over them and that was impressive.
Thomas Frank
FIXTURES TO COME
After a hard fought three points at the Community Stadium, Thomas Tuchel’s and co will be glad that their next three matches are back at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues welcome Swedish side Malmo to the Bridge on match-day three in the Champions League as well as Southampton in the Carabao Cup for a place in the quarter-finals.
But in between those games, Chelsea take on struggling side Norwich in the Premier League which is a match most will expect the Blues to win.
UP NEXT
The Bees need to dust themselves off and go again next weekend because they welcome 2015/16 Premier League winners Leicester to the Community Stadium who will be coming into that game off the back of a huge 4-2 win over Manchester United.
They then travel to Stoke in the Carabao Cup round of 16 before taking on Burnley, Norwich and the club who now have the richest owners in world football, Newcastle United.
REFRESHED TABLE
Thomas Tuchel will be delighted that it’s not a cup game and a league encounter instead because those were three HUGE points that have taken his side back to the top of the table.
As for Brentford, they remain in 7th but they can’t afford to go on a winless run otherwise they will start slipping down the table.
Credit: Premierleague.com TUCHEL’S THOUGHTS
The Chelsea gaffer gave away his insight to how the game went where he mentioned that the last 20 minutes was similar to a cup game and I couldn’t agree more.
Well in the end, the last 20 minutes was suddenly a cup game and they had nothing to lose.
They found the belief, they found the momentum with spectators and the crowd and suddenly it feels like we have one player less on the field.
They played with the energy like in a cup game.
Thomas Tuchel
SEVEN HEAVEN
The Blues are the first club from London to win seven consecutive away derbies in English football history.
London is certainly blue.
FULL 90 STATS
Chelsea still had more possession and passes overall but the pressure Brentford were inflicting on the Blues was immense and you could see that through the shot count.
Thomas Frank’s side just couldn’t get the ball over the line.
FULL TIME
Fantastic efforts from Brentford but unfortunately, Chelsea still hold the West London derby crown for now.
GOBSMACKED GARY
Even Gary Linekar is couldn’t work out how Brentford weren’t on the score-sheet tonight.
PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
I WAS WRONG!
THERE’S NO TIME LEFT BECAUSE THE REF BLOWS FOR THE FINAL WHISTLE!
A HARD FOUGHT THREE POINTS FOR CHELSEA!
BUT HOW BRENTFORD DIDN’T SCORE A GOAL I WILL NEVER KNOW!
FT: BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
90+4. N’Golo Kante gets it clear but there should be a little more time for Brentford to come knocking one more time.
BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
90+3. Reece James is bringing out the old injury trick to take the sting out of the game.
But Chelsea have to still face a long throw without the defender.
BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
90+2. MY WORD MENDY YET AGAIN! RIGHT ON CUE!
Gary Neville just awarded the Chelsea keeper with the man of the match award and 30 seconds later he denies Christian Noorgard a bicycle kick goal from point blank range.
How that never went I don’t know.
Brentford have done everything but scored a goal tonight.
ON THE MEND
Eduouard Mendy keeping Chelsea’s noses in front with not one but two big saves.
FOUR MINUTES OF ADDED TIME!
CAN BRENTFORD GRAB THE EQUALISER?!
BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
87. Brentford have been brilliant in the last 10 minutes forcing Thomas Tuchel into making a substituion at the back.
- Cesar Azpilicueta – OFF
- Reece James – ON
BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
84. MENDY AGAIN! WOW WHAT A KEEPER!
He didn’t know too much about this one as Mathias Jensen’s strike smashed him right in the face.
The Senegalese keeper has been so brave and he could be the difference between three points and a point here at the Community Stadium.
BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
81. HUGE SAVE FROM MENDY!
Saman Ghoddos who has just stepped onto the field went one-on-one with the Chelsea keeper but the Senegalese stayed big and denied the substitute of an equaliser.
TOUCHLINE THEATRICS
Thomas Tuchel is going crazy on the touchline.
What would you guys name this perfomance?
BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
78. Brentford have really come alive this second half and the stats are their to prove it.
They have had five attempts on goal to Chelsea’s one but they need to make this pressure count because the visitors are more than capable enough to put this game to bed.
BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
77. Thomas Tuchel is reacting quickly to how things are progressing in this game and has decided to make a change.
- Romelu Lukau – OFF
- Kai Havertz – ON
BRENTFORD 0-1 CHELSEA
75. Chalobah Chalobah Chalobah.
The Chelsea defender got let off the hook a second time in the game because he fouled Ivan Toney in the box and it was a stone wall penalty.
However, Toney was offisde in the run of play so the flag went up.
The Brentford striker is giving Chalobah a torrid time in this second half.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
