In the English Premier League, Chelsea has suffered another defeat.
In Saturday’s West London derby, goals from Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbuemo handed Brentford a 2-0 victory, causing the Blues to suffer yet another devastating home loss.
According to Naija News, Chelsea had only triumphed in one of their previous 13 home Premier League games in the previous two seasons. This most recent loss shattering the notion that Chelsea was starting to turn things around under Mauricio Pochettino.
Following back-to-back victories over Fulham and Burnley, Pochettino’s team put on a strong performance last weekend, even though they lost a two-goal lead to Arsenal in a 2-2 draw.
However, Pochettino’s team dropped into the bottom half of the Premier League rankings as Brentford overtook Chelsea to take 10th position.
The Blues exerted pressure on the Bees early in the game, but Pochettino knew this would happen because his squad lacked the finishing touch to capitalize on their good build-up play.
Christopher Nkunku has been sidelined for five months due to a knee injury, but the Argentine said on Friday that the £52 million acquisition is very close to returning to action for his new team.
This data suggests that the French international’s return cannot come soon enough, as Nicolas Jackson, Chelsea’s second new striker, was once again a disappointment. After barely ten minutes, Noni Madueke’s lightning-fast strike from a tight angle was sadly deflected off the crossbar.
Marc Cucurella was singled out by the excellent Cole Palmer and ought to have performed far better with a meek effort straight at Mark Flekken.
In recent weeks, Chelsea’s attack has shown indications of improvement, with Raheem Sterling and the former Manchester City winger emerging as the main performers. But when Sterling missed the target from close range by a considerable distance, he was also guilty of wastefulness.
Before the break, Brentford didn’t really threaten anything, but when Robert Sanchez was hit in the chest by a shot from Yoane Wissa at the start of the second half, they raised the alarm.
Pochettino would surely be irritated by Chelsea’s defensive errors that contributed to the goal as much as by his forwards’ wastefulness, as Chelsea did not heed this warning. Pinnock took advantage of Madueke’s inattention when Mbuemo sent a cross to the back post, and he headed a powerful shot at Sanchez’s near post.
Even with Chelsea’s superiority in possession, Brentford seemed more likely to increase their lead. Yehor Yarmolyuk, a replacement, was denied his first goal for Brentford by Sanchez, who raced off his line with such urgency. Mbuemo’s attempt also went just wide of the mark.
At Old Trafford earlier this month, Brentford was on the verge of a historic victory, but Manchester United scored twice in stoppage time.
But in the closing seconds of the game, Thomas Frank’s team managed to secure all three points. Sanchez made the incorrect choice by joining the assault in an attempt to equalize from a corner. Brentford quickly counterattacked, and Neal Maupay found Mbuemo for a simple finish into an empty net.
With this triumph, Brentford becomes the only side in history to defeat Chelsea in their first three Premier League away games.
