- Ali
English Premier League giants Chelsea played a goalless draw with their London neighbours Brentford yesterday. Graham Potter’s team failed to create any clear-cut chances in the whole match as Chelsea’s four-match winning streak came to an end in their latest London derby.
Potter deployed a 3-4-3 system against their local. Spaniard Kepa Arrizabalaga kept his place under the goal. Kalidou Koulibaly, Trevoh Chalobah and Cesar Azpilicueta formed the three-man backline for Chelsea.
Marc Cucurella and Ruben Loftus-Cheek played as the wingbacks. Gallagher and Jorginho completed the double pivot meanwhile Mason Mount and Havertz played as double no.10s. Armando Broja was given the duty to lead Chelsea’s lines.
Brentford had a strong start to the match. They kept the Chelsea defenders busy and it was their talisman Ivan Toney who got the first chance at the game. However, his effort was well tipped away by Spanish custodian Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spaniard has been one of the best performers for Chelsea in the recent few weeks.
Toney then had two more opportunities to give Brentford the lead. However, on both occasions, Kepa was there to tip the header off target. Chelsea forward Armando Broja got the best chance for the Blues when Azpilicueta delivered a brilliant cross. However, Broja failed to even connect his head to the ball.
Azpilicueta then tested Brantford custodian Raya with a well-taken low shot. Raya however was ready for the occasion and kept the scores level at half-time.
Soon after the restart, Bryan Mbeumo got the best chance in the match. An unmarked Mbeumo failed to properly connect his header as Kepa managed to get a hold of the tame attempt.
As the match went on, Chelsea grew more into the game but they still failed to create any good chances for their forwards. Brentford meanwhile took a defensive route and kept a very good shape.
Finally, the match ended in a goalless draw where Chelsea could have even lost all points. After the match, Chelsea gaffer Potter admitted that the draw was a fair result. Meanwhile Brentford keeper Raya was happy to keep a clean sheet.
With this draw, Chelsea now have twenty points from ten matches. The Blues will remain at the fourth position of the table. They now have a big match coming up against Manchester United at home.
Brentford meanwhile are in the ninth position with fourteen points from eleven matches. The Bees will face Aston Villa in their next outing.