Enzo Maresca, the Chelsea head coach, is no stranger to a curious opening gambit. His thesis at Coverciano, Italy’s prestigious coaching school, was based on chess after all and at Brentford he opted to take a risk. He dispensed with key players Nicolas Jackson, Marc Cucurella, Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer in one swoop. It was a bold move and one that would not pay off. Chelsea laboured to a goalless draw against Brentford, a result that did little to help their hopes of Champions League qualification.
Maresca said he felt forced to rotate by the scheduling, which gave Chelsea less than the Fifa-advised 72 hours to prepare for this fixture after beating Tottenham on Thursday. “If there is a rule about 72 hours, probably you need to respect that,” he said. He got some sympathy from Brentford head coach Thomas Frank, who had an extra day to prepare. “To be fair, 24 hours does make a difference,” Frank said. There was less sympathy for Maresca’s conclusion that Chelsea did enough to win the game. “I think if there was a winner, it should be us,” Frank added.
Maresca said the intention was to “start in one way” and bring on the cavalry later, a plan that, he felt, “nearly worked”. But their first-half display was meek and tepid and they relied on the interventions of Jackson at half-time and then Palmer — benched in a league game for the first time since December 2023 — and Neto, 15 minutes later, to breathe some life into their attack. Keeping those three fit seems essential to the club’s Champions League hopes, which does not reflect well on the team’s squad players.
It did not feel like a good point for Chelsea, not with four of the top seven still to play in their remaining fixtures. It is eight league games in a row now that they have failed to win on the road —their last triumph being back at Tottenham Hotspur in early December — and they were not deserving of a win here. Despite improvements after the break, on the balance of chances Brentford, a motivated and sticky opponent especially in transition, edged this contest.
The result did not suit Frank either, mind, particularly as Brentford are on the outskirts of European contention and know a run of form could put them firmly in the picture. They are seven games without victory at home themselves, although they have had challenging fixtures. They were hamstrung here by a touch of carelessness around the penalty area, but they created better chances, particularly late on, and only a lack of incisiveness prevented a different result.
The first half was lethargic. The most entertaining player was Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez, who provided customary fumbles to liven up the home crowd, including twice giving away possession when passing into centre field and a simple catch dropped almost onto the feet of Bryan Mbeumo.
Brentford sought to utilise the pace of Kevin Schade, who registered the eighth-fastest top speed in Bundesliga history before his move to England. He exploited the space left by the inverting right back Malo Gusto, who was targeted multiple times and created a good opening for Yoane Wissa on 19 minutes, which was well blocked by Tosin Adarabioyo.
Brentford were moving in fits and starts, not at their fluent best, but threatening still. Mbeumo turned Reece James neatly on the touchline but pulled his shot wide. Keane Lewis-Potter had a free header from a corner too, but knocked it wide.
Chelsea, meanwhile, were soporific in their build-up and that allowed Brentford to reorganise, sit on the edge of the box and ask their opponents to conjure something. They could not. The away end did not enjoy it, singing “attack, attack, attack” and celebrating Noni Madueke’s shot on target with a chant of “we’ve had a shot” on 34 minutes.
Madueke was facing Lewis-Potter, a winger playing at full back, but Chelsea were too slow in handing him the ball, depriving him of the chance to challenge Lewis-Potter one-on-one before being doubled up.
Christopher Nkunku was leading the attack for Chelsea but “leading” might be a bit strong. He was anonymous, out-fought by defenders Nathan Collins and Sepp van den Berg, and was unceremoniously hauled off at half time for Jackson. Jackson produced more in three minutes than Nkunku managed in 45, first surging through midfield and then racing onto an Enzo Fernández pass, but scuffing his shot wide. The away side built momentum. Van den Berg deflected a Jackson cross into Mark Flekken, who managed to spare any blushes with a block. Trevoh Chalobah sent a header wide from a corner. Brentford, meanwhile, found their out-ball to Schade closed off.
Palmer was soon summoned, along with Neto. The pair swiftly combined, Palmer setting up the Portuguese for a curled shot from the edge of the box, palmed away by Flekken.
Chelsea were alive now. Neto fizzed another shot on goal before teeing up Jackson from the right, but he missed the ball and it was knocked behind for a corner. James met Neto’s delivery and Flekken saved again.
But they left spaces and that helped Brentford turn the tide. Schade and Wissa had moments from the left, the latter drawing a save from Sánchez. But they were often untidy when it mattered.
Finally, on 79 minutes, Brentford knitted together a smart break. Mbeumo led it, combining with his old sidekick Wissa before shooting low at Sánchez, who saved well to his right.
They should have scored moments later, when Lewis-Potter’s cross found Van den Berg unmarked from a corner and his header into the turf bounced agonisingly over the bar. Moments later, Wissa too headed wide.
Chelsea’s chase faded and while Fernández had two late efforts, they did not trouble Flekken’s goal. Palmer fired over too. But goalless this would remain.
Brentford (4-3-3): M Flekken 7 — K Ajer 6 (M Kayode 84min), N Collins 7, S van den Berg 7, K Lewis-Potter 7 — C Norgaard 6 — Y Yarmoliuk 6 (V Janelt 66), M Damsgaard 7 (M Jensen 84) — B Mbeumo 7, Y Wissa 7, K Schade 7. Subs not used: H Valdimarsson, B Mee, E Pinnock, M Kayode, R Henry, P Maghoma, Y Konak. Booked: Van den Berg.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): R Sánchez 6 — M Gusto 6, T Adarabioyo 6, T Chalobah 6, R James 6 (M Cucurella 76) — M Caicedo 6, K Dewsbury-Hall (C Palmer 59, 6) —N Madueke 6 (P Neto 59, 7), E Fernández 6, J Sancho 6 — C Nkunku 4 (N Jackson 46, 7). Subs not used: F Jorgensen, B Badiashile, J Acheampong, L Colwill, T George. Booked: Gusto, Tosin, Fernández.
