Chelsea did not do themselves any favours in the Premier League on Friday evening. Xabi Alonso's side lost 3-0 at Brentford and remain stuck on seven points after five matches. Brentford climb to an impressive third after the win.
There was no place in Chelsea's starting XI for Jorrel Hato. He had to make way for Pep Chavarria, who arrived from Rayo Vallecano and made a good impression.
Jordan Henderson and Valentin Barco did start, and the home crowd made that clear. Both players were heavily booed from the first minute at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Henderson because he suddenly left on a free transfer for Chelsea this summer, and Barco because after the semi-final between England and Argentina (1-2) at the last World Cup, he held up a banner with a text about the Falkland Islands.
Little happened in the first half, or for much of the second. After 60 minutes, both teams had an expected goals figure of less than 0.4.
Just over an hour in, Brentford finally went in front. A corner dropped to the back post, where Jannik Schuster headed it back across goal for Jaidon Anthony to turn in with ease.
Chelsea then had to push, and that left plenty of space for Brentford on the break. Mikkel Damsgaard drove at two defenders with Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago, but they failed to make the chance count.
Brentford soon had their second anyway. Schade was sent through one-on-one with Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, but shot straight at the Argentine. Thiago then tucked away the rebound, to Schade's relief.
Things got even worse for The Blues in the closing stages. A low cross from Schade took a deflection and Fabio Carvalho turned it in at the back post. Final score: 3-0.