Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford provided a striking start to the Premier League weekend, but the scoreline itself may not be the most significant part of the story.
For long periods at the Gtech Community Stadium, Chelsea had plenty of the ball without looking particularly likely to make it count. By the end, Brentford had exposed familiar weaknesses at the other end and turned a tight contest into a convincing victory.
The defeat also extended Chelsea’s run without a Premier League clean sheet to 21 matches. Their last came against these same opponents in a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on 17 January.
Chelsea had control without enough threat
The pattern of the first half was revealing. Chelsea enjoyed more possession and spent plenty of time in Brentford territory, but too much of their play took place in front of a well-organised home defence rather than through it.
There were openings. Pedro Neto tested Caoimhin Kelleher early on and Cole Palmer was involved whenever Chelsea looked most likely to create something, but the visitors rarely turned their possession into clear chances.
The numbers underline what was visible during the game. Chelsea attempted 28 crosses but completed only two, won 12 corners and finished with an expected-goals figure of just 0.85. Brentford, despite seeing less of the ball, generated 2.65 xG. Those figures, from Opta data reported by TNT Sports, tell much of the story.
Chelsea had territorial control. Brentford carried the greater threat.
One set-piece changed the game
The breakthrough arrived just after the hour and it came from an area that has repeatedly caused Chelsea problems.
Brentford kept a corner alive, Jannik Schuster headed the ball back across goal and Jaidon Anthony was there to finish from close range.
It was not simply a goal against the run of play. Chelsea had enjoyed more possession, but Brentford had increasingly looked capable of hurting them whenever the game became stretched.
Once Anthony scored, the difference between the two sides became much clearer.
Chelsea pushed forward in search of an equaliser but began to lose their shape. Brentford suddenly had more space to attack and were far more decisive when those opportunities appeared.
Igor Thiago made it 2-0 late on after Brentford broke forward, before substitute Fabio Carvalho arrived at the far post in stoppage time to complete a 3-0 victory.
Set-pieces are becoming more than an occasional problem
Anthony’s opener was the fourth set-piece goal Chelsea have conceded in their opening five Premier League matches this season.
The longer-term figure is more concerning. According to Opta, Chelsea have conceded 23 Premier League goals from set-pieces since the beginning of last season, the joint-highest total in the division over that period.
That is too persistent a pattern to dismiss as a handful of unfortunate moments.
It is also why the first goal at Brentford mattered beyond the match itself. Chelsea were not undone by an extraordinary individual strike or a freak deflection. They conceded from an area of the game that opponents have repeatedly been able to exploit.
Levi Colwill’s assessment afterwards was unusually direct. The Chelsea defender said his side had at times been “bullied”, while Xabi Alonso acknowledged that their problems were not restricted to dead-ball situations.
That felt accurate watching the second half unfold. Once Brentford increased the physical pressure and the game became less controlled, Chelsea struggled to impose themselves.
The clean-sheet drought is difficult to ignore
Alonso cannot be blamed for a run that began before he became Chelsea manager, but he has not yet found a way to stop it.
Chelsea have conceded at least twice in each of his first five Premier League matches in charge. The Brentford defeat took the overall sequence to 21 league games without a clean sheet.
That is the statistic that should concern Chelsea more than one bad result.
A team can lose heavily on an off-night. Good sides occasionally do. A defensive problem that survives changes of personnel and management over more than half a Premier League season is harder to explain away.
There was a telling moment after Brentford went ahead. Instead of Chelsea responding with greater control, the match moved increasingly in the home side’s direction. Alonso later admitted his team had lost their shape and become “out of control”.
That loss of composure is important. Chelsea’s problem is not simply that individual defenders are making mistakes. At Brentford, the distances between players became larger, defensive duels were lost and the protection that had kept the game goalless for an hour began to disappear.
Brentford were sharper when the match opened up
Brentford deserve considerable credit for how they handled the game.
They were patient during Chelsea’s periods of possession, competed strongly around both penalty areas and became increasingly dangerous as the visitors committed more players forward.
The final score may have looked unlikely during a relatively even first half, but it did not feel flattering by the end.
Brentford scored all three goals after the interval and remained unbeaten in the Premier League, while the victory was their first at home against Chelsea since 1938.
For Chelsea, the contrast was uncomfortable. They had more of the ball and far more corners, yet Brentford created the better chances and were considerably more ruthless when the decisive moments arrived.
Alonso has an obvious problem to solve
There is far too much football still to be played this season to draw sweeping conclusions from five league matches.
Chelsea also have enough attacking talent to make their current position look very different within a few weeks.
But defensive reliability is becoming difficult to separate from any assessment of this team.
Twenty-one Premier League matches without a clean sheet is no longer a short-term dip. Four set-piece goals conceded in five matches is not something that can simply be put down to bad luck. And repeatedly conceding twice or more leaves very little margin for an attack that is not functioning at its best.
The international break therefore arrives at a useful time for Alonso. Chelsea need to become harder to play through, stronger when defending dead balls and calmer when a match begins to move against them.
Friday night at Brentford demonstrated all three problems in the space of one second half.
The 3-0 scoreline will attract the attention, but Chelsea’s 21-match wait for a Premier League clean sheet is the more significant warning.
The result also affected the early-season picture, which can be followed in the Football Fanatix Premier League table.
