Chelsea and Graham Potter had cause to be grateful to goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for the second time this week as a string of saves from the Spaniard ensured that Brentford and the in-form Ivan Toney drew blanks on his goal. A fifth consecutive clean sheet was earned by the keeper, yet Potter will still lament his first dropped Premier League points during his short reign as Chelsea's manager to date.
Mixing It Up:
Potter made five changes to Chelsea's starting line-up with Armando Broja making his first start for the club following his first goal and was lively, giving Brentford defender Ben Mee a torrid time during bright spells from Chelsea in the first half, with attacks generally spearheaded by the Albanian. Broja may have had cause to be aggrieved to have been withdrawn on the hour mark, having not had much opportunity to continue to impress after the break, but his manager Potter included him in a triple substitution which also saw Mason Mount and Marc Cucurella replaced by Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic and Charney Chukwuemeka. Speaking about his use of Broja, Potter said:
"We saw two or three actions in the first half of what he's about. Brentford press high and Armando we thought we could use him. Thought he did okay for his first game. Because it was his first game we thought 60 minutes enough."
Both Pulisic and Chukwuemeka had an impact on the match when they did take to pitch, something that their manager acknowledged, particularly in the case of Chukwuemeka: "He's a big powerful boy that can run and he can run away from people. I thought him and Christian did well when they came on. He's a young player but he's got exciting attributes we just need to help him reach his potential."
Kepa Cleans Up:
Chelsea pressed heavily as the game entered the last ten minutes, bringing on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Kai Havertz with the game still at 0-0 but still could not find a way through Brentford's defence. At the other end, Kepa again kept them in the game with another save to keep Toney at bay, smothering the ball at the striker's feet.
Speaking after the game, Kepa, who is enjoying his best spell at Chelsea, and will be hoping to make the Spain World Cup 2022 squad, was disappointed to have not come away with the three points. He reflected on his recent run of form and the scoreless draw, telling reporters: "Every player needs confidence, this push, and for the goalkeepers it is even more important."If you are playing in a row of games, it's important for your confidence and I'm playing well, I think. I need to keep going and keep working."We're not happy. They had chances and we had chances and in the last 15 minutes we were playing in their box and we had clear opportunities and should score something."The feeling is that we have dropped two points and we wanted three points to be fighting with the top clubs." Kepa will have to take some consolation in taking home his second consecutive man of the match trophy.
It is the first time that Chelsea have failed to score under Graham Potter and though he had a range of attacking talent at his disposal, the manager chose not to single out any players for criticism. Talking about the team as a whole, and how it was an area that the squad need to focus on, he said: "I always look at the team rather than individuals. I'd rather attack better. It's not easy against Brentford.' With Chelsea only having come away from last year's fixture with a tight 0-1 victory, thanks to a Ben Chilwell goal, these words will ring true. Brentford managed two consecutive clean sheets since the opening two games of their opening season in the Premier League in August 2021.
Both clubs will be hoping that they can continue their solid defensive work and find some form in front of the opposition's goals in their next games.