Chelsea's one-man defence thwarts Brentford as two players stake Leicester claim

Going toe to toe with the European Cup winners

When you come away with a defeat absolutely deflated against the Champions of Europe, you know you delivered a performance of intent and on that evidence, Brentford will certainly give a team a hiding sooner rather than later. It was a travesty that they came away with nothing against a side that have been heavily tipped to win the Premier League title this season.

There was so much to admire about Brentford's performance on the night, but somehow a goal eluded them. They threw the kitchen sink at the Blues in the second half, but found Edouard Mendy an immovable object. A draw would have definitely been deserved and not many could have argued their case if they had gone on to claim an incredible victory.

Lapse of concentration for Chelsea's goal

It was fair to say Brentford were lethargic in the first half and struggled to impose any authority, with Bryan Mbeumo hitting the post their only highlight of a drab half. It appeared they would go into the break on level terms, but they were hit by the ultimate sucker punch.

Chelsea managed to keep the ball alive and when the ball gratefully fell to Ben Chilwell, the left-back took his chance with aplomb. However, it was a poor goal to concede and Brentford's worst nightmares were confirmed. There were a number of frustrating things about Chilwell's opener; one of them being poor defending. After Lukaku was thwarted by Jansson initially, Chilwell was free as a bird with nobody marking him at all and the Bees paid an extremely heavy price at the worst possible time.

There were also question marks about static hesitancy as Chilwell shot - Zanka just stood and watched when he could have headed his feeble effort away. Kristoffer Ajer, who wasn't deemed fit enough to start, most likely would have done so if he was on the pitch. Mathias Jensen was also culpable as he just left Chilwell unattended.

Forss and Ghoddos step up to the plate

Both Marcus Forss and Saman Ghoddos haven't had many minutes to prove themselves particularly in the Premier League, but they both gave very good accounts of themselves when they came on against the Blues.

Forss played a well weighted flick to Bryan Mbeumo, which the Frenchman ran onto but saw his effort hit the post. He saw the rebound blocked but given his lack of minutes, the Finn certainly acquitted himself well. Ghoddos saw his one-on-one saved by Mendy, when perhaps slipping in Forss for a tap-in might have been the better option. Nonetheless, both made good contributions and will hope to impress against the Foxes next week if called upon.

Next three games

After a sickening defeat, the Bees will want next Sunday around the corner as soon as possible. However, they come up against a rejuvenated Leicester who defeated Manchester United 4-2 yesterday afternoon. The Foxes are also in Europa League action in the coming days and the Bees will want to take advantage of any fatigue their visitors might carry.

An away trip to Burnley and a home game against Norwich follow after that before another international break. Brentford will look at those two games in particular to take maximum points as they can, and performances like last night will strengthen their case in doing so. Winning them are hugely imperative as they aim to go into November and the upcoming festive period in a healthy position.