Brentford’s Jaidon Anthony celebrates scoring their first goal with Igor Thiago. Photo: REUTERS
LONDON:
Brentford beat their big-spending west London rivals Chelsea 3-0 on Friday with second-half goals by forwards Jaidon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fabio Carvalho condemning Xabi Alonso’s men to their third straight Premier League game without a win.
Anthony pounced in the 61st minute when he nodded in from close range after Jannik Schuster headed a corner back across the goal which extended Chelsea’s long run of league games without a clean sheet to 21.
Thiago made it 2-0 in the 83rd minute when Emiliano Martinez saved from Kevin Schade on a breakaway but the ball dropped to the Brazilian who made no mistake. Substitute Carvalho wrapped up the win when he turned in a cross by Schade in added time.
Schuster said he and his colleagues had turned up the pressure on Chelsea after the break and the approach paid off.
“I think when the second half began we played it more directly forward and we scored after that so I’m just happy,” the Austrian told Sky Sports.
Brentford’s win pushed the Bees, who are unbeaten so far in the league, up to third in the table ahead of the remaining weekend fixtures. Chelsea sit in seventh place.
It was the first home win for Brentford over Chelsea since 1938 and manager Keith Edwards and his players celebrated at the final whistle, with their fans dancing along in the stands.
The usually free-scoring Blues – who had racked up a total of 10 goals in the first four games of the season, behind only Brighton & Hove Albion on 13 – came close early on when Pedro Neto’s curling shot was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Cole Palmer almost weaved his way through Brentford’s defence on two occasions but overall Chelsea, missing in-form Brazil striker Joao Pedro through injury, were comfortably held at bay by the home defence.
Alonso made five changes, with captain Reece James also injured. Danny Welbeck got his first league start for the Blues and fellow veteran Jordan Henderson made his Chelsea debut against the club he played for last season.
Moises Caicedo remained sidelined due to an injury that has made him miss all but a few minutes of the season so far, contributing to Chelsea’s defensive fragilities.