Chelsea beat Brentford to keep pressure on leaders Liverpool

Chelsea survived a late Brentford fightback to clinch their seventh successive win and close the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool to just two points.

Cucurella’s diving header put Enzo Maresca’s side ahead just before half-tim,e though a string of missed opportunities by the hosts kept the game in the balance and Brentford hit the woodwork, moments before Jackson’s well-taken effort doubled Chelsea’s advantage.

Mbeumo slotted under the otherwise impressive Robert Sanchez at the start of seven additional minutes but The Bees could not force another chance meaning Chelsea can go top for at least a few hours with victory over Everton next week.

Liverpool have a game in hand over Chelsea and the sides do not meet again until the final weeks of the Premier League season, while Brentford drop out of the top half thanks to the defeat and Tottenham hammering Southampton.

The Bees were toothless for much of the game, and it was only the introduction of Fabio Carvalho, Kevin Schade and Kristoffer Ajer with 15 minutes to go that sparked the visitors into life at Stamford Bridge.

After notching just one shot in the first-half, Brentford began to pepper Sanchez’s goal and only a sublime fingertip save prevented Christian Norgaard from equalising, moments before Carvalho slammed an effort into the crossbar and onto the goalline, with the ball cruelly bouncing back into the six-yard box instead of the net.

However, with Brentford finally starting to commit numbers forward in attack, space opened up for Jackson to pounce and despite a healthy does of injury time, the visitors couldn’t make Mbeumo’s bolt from the blue truly count.

It wasn’t a vintage Chelsea performance, but on the weekend that Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City all had their wings clipped in the Premier League, three points suited Maresca however they came.

Chelsea had all the ball in the first-half and a series of fine Mark Flekken played a major part in keeping the deficit manageable for Brentford for so long, the Dutchman stretching to deny both Jackson and Noni Madueke from close range in the space of just a few minutes.

The Blues did not create many gilt-edged chances but that was more a product of Brentford’s disciplined defending – led by Sepp van den Berg – that prevented Jackson, Madueke and Cole Palmer linking up to truly devastating effect.

However, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo enjoyed another game successfully dictating the tempo and Chelsea always seemed more likely to score next as they cast more and more doubt on Maresca’s assertion that the Blues are not title contenders.

The 23-year-old’s tireless yet direct running kept the Brentford defence pinned back for much of the game, and despite Jackson having precious little space to work in he still created several chances in what was a very nervy first-half for the visitors even before Cucurella’s opener.

Jackson missed a golden opportunity on the hour mark but showed the forgetfulness of all great strikers by coolly finishing Chelsea’s second, a goal that bore all the hallmarks of a forward in a purple patch of form.

Chelsea: Sanchez 7, Gusto 6, Adarabioyo 8, Colwill 7, Cucurella 7, Fernandez 7, Caicedo 7, Madueke 7, Palmer 8, Sancho 6, Jackson 8.

Brentford: Flekken 7, Collins 6, Pinnock 6, Van den Berg 7, Roerslev 6, Norgaard 6, Yarmolyuk 6, Damsgaard 6, Lewis-Potter 5, Mbeumo 7, Wissa 5.

Subs: Janelt 6, Schade 7, Carvalho 7, Ajer 6, Meghoma N/A.

43’ – GOAL! CHELSEA 1-0 BRENTFORD (CUCURELLA): Chelsea have their breakthrough! It is very similar to the chance Cucurella had earlier, arriving late at the back post and this time he does get his head on the ball, turning it past Flekken who had no chance.

60’ – MISSED A SITTER! Jackson had to score that! Cole Palmer is becoming more and more influential in this contest and pulls Brentford’s defence all out of alignment before the ball bounces to the striker just outside the six-yard box. However, somehow Jackson bends his shot over the bar with the goal gaping and it remains 1-0.

74’ – WHAT A SAVE! Will Chelsea rue those missed opportunities? A Brentford corner is cleared easily but the Bees just will not give up, lifting the ball in three more times and it finally drops to Norgaard with Chelsea’s backline having become impossibly narrow. The Dane controls his volley meticulously but Sanchez sticks his left hand up and tips it over the bar, a crucial intervention.

78’ – POST AND OUT! What a moment! Brentford whip in a low cross and Fabio Carvalho – on the field a matter of moments – beats Sanchez to it and fires goalwards. However, a sliding Colwill got his tiptoe to the ball which slightly deflects it and means that Carvalho’s effort thunders into the bar instead of making the net bulge, by a matter of milimetres!

80’ – GOAL!! CHELSEA 2-0 BRENTFORD (JACKSON): That is game over! Brentford have to commit men forward now meaning there is space for Jackson to receive the ball behind the visiting midfield and run at the defence, and he takes full advantage. Jackson surges past Pinnock towards goal and then slams his shot under Flekken, it’s a confident finish from an in-form striker though he pulls up straight afterwards.

90′ – GOAL!!! CHELSEA 2-1 BRENTFORD (MBEUMO): WOW! It’s not over until it’s over, as Marc Cucurella is mobbed by Bees allowing the visitors to burst forward at speed! Mbeumo picks up the ball in a one-on-one and doesn’t miss, raising hopes of a late fightback!