Brentford 3-0 Chelsea: Bees Extend Unbeaten Start With Derby Win

Brentford extended their unbeaten Premier League start to five matches with a 3-0 win over Chelsea, as second-half goals from Jaidon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fábio Carvalho secured a convincing West London derby victory.

Keith Andrews made two changes from the side that drew 2-2 at Bournemouth, with Michael Kayode replacing Aaron Hickey at right-back and Mikkel Damsgaard returning in place of Mamadou Sangaré. Jannik Schuster continued alongside Kristoffer Ajer with Nathan Collins and Sepp van den Berg still unavailable.

Brentford had an opportunity inside five minutes when Thiago found space in the Chelsea box but sent his effort wide. Chelsea responded soon afterwards, Caoimhín Kelleher saving from Pedro Neto before Morgan Rogers missed from the middle of the box.

There was little to separate the sides for much of the opening half. Rogers tested Kelleher again from distance on the half-hour, while the Bees began to find more shooting positions as the interval approached. Yehor Yarmolyuk forced Emiliano Martínez into a save before Damsgaard tried his luck from outside the box.

Brentford’s strongest spell came in the final few minutes of the first half, with Kevin Schade and Vitaly Janelt both seeing efforts blocked during the same passage of play before Anthony found Keane Lewis-Potter on the left of the area. His curling effort was heading towards the top corner, but Martínez got across to make the save and send the teams in level.

Anthony was involved again shortly after the restart, heading against the top of the bar with the offside flag raised. 

The breakthrough with just half an hour remaining. Damsgaard delivering a corner from the right with Schuster winning the first contact and heading the ball back across goal for Anthony to nod in from close range.

It was a deserved reward for Anthony after Andrews kept him in the starting eleven, despite Dango Ouattara creating both goals in the midweek Carabao Cup win at Reading.

Chelsea responded by spending longer around the Brentford penalty area. Cole Palmer had two efforts blocked and the visitors forced a succession of corners, but Schuster and Ajer dealt with much of what came into the box while Kelleher remained largely protected behind them.

Andrews began using his bench as that pressure increased. Sangaré replaced Yarmolyuk and Hickey came on for Kayode before Ouattara and El Hadji Malick Diouf were introduced with just under 10 minutes remaining.

Chelsea were committing more players forward by then looking for an equaliser, with Brentford punished them on the break.

Schade raced through in the 83rd minute and saw his one-on-one saved by Martínez, but Thiago had followed the attack and converted the rebound from close range. The goal ended a seven-game scoring drought for the striker, who had been backed publicly by Andrews in the build-up to the match despite not yet finding the net in the Premier League this season.

Carvalho, only introduced for Damsgaard in the 87th minute, added a third deep into stoppage time. Schade supplying the ball across goal and Carvalho arrived unmarked at the far post to finish from inside the six-yard box, scoring his first Premier League goal in his first Premier League start since returning from the long-term injury which kept him out for much of the past year.

The final scoreline reflected how ruthlessly Brentford dealt with the second half. Chelsea had enjoyed spells of possession and pressure after Anthony’s opener, but they were unable to find a way past a defence missing two senior centre-backs and became the first side not to score against Brentford in the league this season.

Brentford’s unbeaten Premier League start now stands at five games, with victories over Tottenham and Chelsea alongside draws against Leeds, Sunderland and Bournemouth. The result moves the Bees up to third in the league ahead of the rest of the weekend's fixtures.