Brentford 2-2 Chelsea, Premier League: Post-match reaction, ratings

A somewhat experimental lineup from Enzo Maresca seemed to be finding success early on, with João Pedro getting a half-chance in the fifth minute to open the scoring, but that initial impetus died away pretty quickly and Brentford were able to sit back and defend without too much trouble.

And of course they were able to cause danger on the counter, as it usually happens in such situations, and they were able to take advantage of one such situation just past the half-hour mark thanks to an unfortunate deflection off Tosin. Kevin Schade has scored in nearly every game so far this season for Brentford; his ball-luck is in at the moment.

Chelsea had a couple chances just before the break to level proceedings, but we would head into the second half down a goal and with work to do.

A triple change at half-time injected a bit of urgency into our play, and after half-chances for Ty George and Cucurella, our fourth substitute, Cole Palmer was in the right place at the right time to equalize from a bouncing loose ball in the area right on the hour-mark.

Palmer himself could’ve scored a quick second but his finishing was just a bit too casual and Kelleher gambled correctly in the Brentford goal to save what really should’ve been a goal from Pedro Neto’s excellent run and cutback.

Despite that miss, Chelsea looked to have won it when Moisés Caicedo popped up on the edge of the box to absolutely leather the ball into the back of the net just a few minutes from the end … but then some shoddy defending in added-on time allowed Brentford to equalize from a long-throw. Disappointing and two points dropped.

Carefree.

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