Chelsea’s Defensive Woes Deepen After 3-0 Brentford Defeat

Chelsea’s troubled start under Xabi Alonso deepened with a 3-0 Premier League defeat at Brentford, a result that extended an alarming defensive record after only five matches of the campaign.

Brentford take control at the Gtech

Jaiden Anthony opened the scoring with his first goal for Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium. Igor Thiago and Fábio Carvalho then struck late to secure a convincing home win and leave Chelsea with further questions over their resilience.

• Anthony’s goal was Chelsea’s sixth conceded from a set-piece this season, the highest total in the division at that stage.
• Chelsea had conceded 12 league goals before the weekend’s remaining fixtures, more than any other Premier League side.
• Thiago and Carvalho added the finishing touches in the closing stages as Brentford turned their advantage into a 3-0 scoreline.

Alonso enters unwanted Premier League list

The three goals also placed Alonso in an unwanted statistical group. He is now one of only six managers to have seen their teams concede at least twice in each of their first five Premier League matches in charge.

The other managers to have recorded that sequence are Mick McCarthy, Sammy Lee, Terry Connor, Slavisa Jokanovic and Scott Parker.

For Chelsea, the concern is not limited to the overall number of goals allowed. The frequency of set-piece concessions has become particularly damaging, with Anthony’s opener again exposing a weakness that Brentford were able to exploit.

Alonso calls for greater consistency

Alonso said Chelsea lost the competitive edge required after the interval and admitted that fine margins had again gone against his side.

“I would say that we have dropped our consistency, our competitive mentality needed in the second half,” Alonso said.

He added that Chelsea cannot afford to offer opponents even minor opportunities in tightly contested league matches.

“The small details can be decisive. You don’t have to give advantage in these kind of games, where with a little, they get a lot.

“It’s about 95 minutes and we have not been able to keep that level throughout these few games at the start of the season. It’s something we have to do better.

“We knew that it’s a process. It’s still five games, in a competitive Premier League. We knew each game is going to be hard. It’s nothing new.”