Chelsea claimed a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Brentford to report their fifth straight Premier League win and shut in on Liverpool on the summit.
Nicolas Jackson’s strike proved decisive in Sunday’s west London derby at Stamford Bridge, the place Marc Cucurella was despatched off after full-time.
It was Cucurella who put Chelsea in entrance within the forty third minute, heading residence on the finish of a primary half that the Blues had largely dominated.
After squandering a golden probability to double Chelsea’s benefit on the hour, Jackson atoned with a neat end 10 minutes from time.
5 #PL wins in a row! #CFC | #CHEBRE pic.twitter.com/lwwr2yVyee
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 15, 2024
Bryan Mbeumo dragged Brentford – who had earlier hit the crossbar – again into it within the ultimate minute of regular time, nevertheless it was too little too late for the Bees.
Tempers boiled over after the whistle had blown, with Cucurella seeing crimson for his half in a heated argument, as Chelsea moved to inside two factors of leaders Liverpool.
Information Debrief: The perfect of the remaining
Query marks have been raised in the summertime when Enzo Maresca was chosen to interchange Mauricio Pochettino as Chelsea’s new head coach however the doubts have lengthy since dissipated, and they’re standing out as Liverpool’s essential title rivals, particularly after Arsenal dropped factors and Manchester Metropolis suffered one more defeat.
Chelsea are actually 15 factors higher off than they have been this time final season, whereas they’ve additionally gained extra video games (15) and scored extra objectives (51) than every other aspect for the reason that begin of Might.
The Blues completed with 2.1 anticipated objectives from their 26 pictures, with eight of these hitting the goal. Defensively, there’s work to do, and that’s the place the easiest groups could punish them. Brentford missed some massive possibilities – together with Fabio Carvalho hitting the crossbar simply earlier than Jackson netted Chelsea’s second – and completed with 1.6 xG.
Jackson turned in one other spectacular show main the road for Chelsea, although he did squander an awesome probability at 1-0. He made amends with a composed end that finally proved to be the winner, although. He has now scored 9 objectives and supplied three assists in his final 14 appearances.