Chelsea were unable to see out a 1-0 lead at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon, instead falling to a surprise 4-1 defeat at the hands of Brentford, with Christian Eriksen scoring his first goal for the Bees since arriving in the January transfer window.
Antonio Rudiger put the Blues ahead three minutes into the second half, but Brentford scored three times between the 50th and 60th minutes, with Vitaly Janelt scoring either side of Eriksen. Yoane Wissa put some gloss on the result late on.
Chelsea dominated the ball on the day, with 71 percent of the possession, but things were pretty even as far as chances were concerned. Brentford, though, made theirs count.
Rudiger’s tendency to shoot from long range often leaves Chelsea fans frustrated, but this time his speculative effort cannoned in off the post from 30 yards, putting the hosts ahead.
From there, though, Thomas Tuchel’s side collapsed and were a defensive mess, which Brentford punished. Janelt levelled soon after, before a counter-attack left the hosts exposed and Eriksen scored for his third straight game after netting twice for Denmark, getting his first for his new club. Wissa added the fourth in the 87th minute.
Four days before Chelsea host Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, they will be hoping that this match was a one-off.
Line-ups
Chelsea XI: Thiago Silva, Azpilicueta, Alonso, Rudiger, E. Mendy, Kante, Werner, Ziyech, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, Havertz
Subs: Lukaku, Saul , Barkley, Kovacic, Jorginho, Kepa, Christensen, Sarr, Reece James
Brentford XI: P. Jansson, Eriksen, C. Nørgaard, I. Toney, David Raya, K. Ajer, R. Henry, Janelt, E. Pinnock, M. Rasmussen, B. Mbeumo
Subs: Jorgensen, S. Ghoddos, Sergi Canós, Y. Wissa, T. Fosu-Henry, M. Jensen, M. Sørensen, Álvaro Fernández, S. Baptiste