FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE - Chelsea earned a 2-1 victory at home to Brentford on Sunday night, but they were made to sweat during a chaotic conclusion.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank reportedly got down to the final two candidates when Chelsea went in search of a new manager last summer, ultimately losing out to Enzo Maresca. On Sunday at Stamford Bridge, Maresca once again got the better of Frank.
Marc Cucurella came equipped with the correct footwear this weekend, maintaining his balance throughout the evening, but used his bare forehead to break the deadlock in the 43rd minute.
Moments after Noni Madueke spurned a glorious chance to open the scoring himself, Chelsea's mercurial winger turned provider. Swinging an inviting ball towards Brentford's back post, Madueke picked out the hardly subtle figure of Cucurella crashing into the box.
Cucurella's effort was one of 15 for Chelsea in the first half - compared to Brentford's singular attempt. Most of those shots were met with a wall of red-and-white stripes, but the hosts had clearer openings after the break.
Nicolas Jackson and Jadon Sancho both turned down golden sights of goal shortly after the hour mark. Sancho had created Jackson's point-blank miss, but couldn't find a blue shirt after twice deceiving Mark Flekken moments later.
Brentford somehow conspired to miss a glaring chance of their own in the 77th minute. Fabio Carvalho crashed an effort from a handful of yards off the underside of Robert Sanchez's bar. Barely three minutes had elapsed before Jackson added a second for the hosts.
Taking advantage of the open space afforded by Brentford's search of an equaliser, Jackson finished off a straight-line surge.
Despite their two-goal advantage, Chelsea still left themselves exposed to a counter-attack in the closing stages. The ever-willing Bryan Mbeumo finally beat Sanchez to a ball over the top, halving the deficit in the 90th minute to make for a nervy conclusion.
The final whistle had sounded, sealing three points for Chelsea, but Cucurella still found time to earn himself a needless red card after getting involved in a post-whistle scuffle.
Noni Madueke
Noni Madueke created Chelsea's opener / Julian Finney/GettyImages
*Player ratings from FotMob
Player Rating
GK: Robert Sanchez 8.5/10
RB: Malo Gusto 7.7/10
CB: Tosin Adarabioyo 7.6/10
CB: Levi Colwill 7.2/10
LB: Marc Cucurella 7.3/10
CM: Enzo Fernandez 7.8/10
CM: Moises Caicedo 8.0/10
CM: Cole Palmer 7.9/10
RW: Noni Madueke 8.0/10
ST: Nicolas Jackson 8.0/10
LW: Jadon Sancho 7.8/10
SUB: Christopher Nkunku (84' for Jackson) N/A
Subs not used: Filip Jorgensen (GK), Axel Disasi, Josh Acheampong, Renato Veiga, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Sam Rak-Sakyi, Marc Guiu, Tyrique George
Mikkel Damsgaard, Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa
Brentford have not always enjoyed their away trips this season / Julian Finney/GettyImages
Player ratings from FotMob
Player Rating
GK: Mark Flekken 5.8/10
CB: Sepp van den Berg 6.7/10
CB: Nathan Collins 6.0/10
CB: Ethan Pinnock 6.4/10
RW: Mads Roerslev 6.4/10
CM: Yegor Yarmolyuk 6.9/10
CM: Christian Norgaard 7.2/10
CM: Mikel Damsgaard 6.0/10
LWB: Keane Lewis-Potter 6.6/10
ST: Bryan Mbeumo 7.8/10
ST: Yoane Wissa 6.5/10
SUB: Vitaly Janelt (63' for Damsgaard) 6.4/10
SUB: Kristoffer Ajer (76' for Roerslev) 6.4/10
SUB: Fabio Carvalho (76' for Damsgaard) 6.3/10
SUB: Kevin Schade (76' for Wissa) 7.1/10
SUB: Jayden Meghoma (86' for Lewis-Potter) N/A
Subs not used: Hákon Rafn Valdimarsson (GK), Ben Mee, Ryan Trevitt, Yunus Emre Konak
Player of the match - Robert Sanchez (Chelsea)
READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, RUMOURS & GOSSIP
Related Topics