Chelsea were riding high off an emotional win on Thursday over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur ahead of a quick turnaround trip away to Brentford. The vibes were good among Chelsea fans as they hoped to complete the double over the midtable side and shore up their place in the Premier League table.
Instead, the Blues came away with just a single point and now face an even more uphill battle to secure a Champions League place. After this draw, the Blues have not won an away match in the Premier League since December 8th in the dramatic 4-3 win over Spurs.
The first surprise of the day was a heavily rotated lineup that featured Christopher Nkunku at striker and Cole Palmer on the bench. Chelsea fans hoping for Nicolas Jackson to start the match were disappointed as he started the day on the bench, perhaps as a precaution since he just returned from a 2-month layoff.
As soon as the lineup was released, Chelsea fans raged on social media about the rotations and we're already throwing insults every which way at Enzo Maresca. Unfortunately, their criticism of the manager was justified as Chelsea's first half performance was uninspired and listless. Luckily they didn’t allow Brentford to break through either and went into halftime tied 0-0.
Jackson replaced an ineffective Nkunku to start the second-half and he immediately made an impact with his driving runs behind the defense. The Chelsea attack looked livelier with Jackson in the mix but they still couldn't breakthrough a stubborn Brentford defense.
With 30 minutes left in the match, Maresca threw on Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto to try and secure all three points and the match got a little chaotic from there on out. Both Chelsea and Brentford created good chances but the Blues were lucky that the home side missed 2 golden chances to take the lead.
With the final seconds ticking off the clock, Chelsea had one more opportunity to seal a dramatic away win and the chance fell to Palmer at the top of the Brentford box. He let a trademark missile from distance go but unfortunately sent it flying over the bar with the final touch of the game.
With Chelsea capturing just a point from the match, they are now back to scoreboard watching as Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Newcastle nip at their heels. The ideal scenario would have been for Chelsea to win and control their destiny moving forward but their poor away form continues to put their Champions League hopes at risk.
Maresca will face many questions about his heavy rotations as the Blues seemed out of sorts until the introduction of Palmer and Jackson but the long midweek trip to Poland certainly affected his lineup decision. Next up for the Blues in the Premier League is a home date with Ipswich and we hope that the manager understands the need to play a full-strength side and not mess around with rotations once again.