Chelsea dropped two crucial points against Brentford in their race for Champions League football. They are now winless in their last 8 away games.
In a tough contest at the G-Tech stadium, Chelsea failed to register a goal despite having the most attempts on target.
The match started at a slow pace with Chelsea having all the possession. Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca made a few changes to the team that started in the win against Spurs. Nkunku, James and Maduke started ahead of Palmer, Neto and Jackson. Nkunku had a very quiet first half, failing to affect the game in any way. The Blues did nothing with the possession as the first half ended in a stalemate.
Maresca brought in Jackson in the second half and his impact was felt immediately. The Senegalese forward kept the Brentford defense busy spawning a good chance in his first five minutes.
Palmer and Neto were introduced in the 58th minute and the three subs combined to create three good chances in the space of ten minutes. These chances however failed to find the back of the net.
Brentford were with some chances of their own as they hit Chelsea on the counter a number of times. Sanchez was on hand to deny Mbuemo from a swift counter keeping the score goalless.
With minutes to go, Brentford were unlucky multiple times in front of goal, missing the goal frame by a few meters on two occasions.
Maresca and Chelsea can heave a sigh of relief but they will be wary of Newcastle who still have two games in hand.
Chelsea miss a chance to close the gap between themselves and Nottingham Forest to two points. With just 7 games to go, Maresca’s men have it all to do if they want to make the Champions League next season.
