LONDON — Even after spending $1 billion on players, Chelsea still cannot get a point off Brentford at Stamford Bridge.
It’s now three straight Premier League wins for Brentford in away matches against Chelsea after a 2-0 victory on Saturday, secured by second-half goals from Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbeumo.
Pinnock headed in a cross from Mbeumo in the 58th minute for a goal that was against the general run of a play.
Mbeumo added the second in the fifth minute of stoppage time, tapping into an empty net at the end of a fast break with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez having gone up for a corner and unable to get back in time.
Chelsea also lost to its London rival last season (2-0) and the season before (4-1), which was the first year Brentford played in the Premier League.
Despite its unprecedented and wild spending spree over the last three transfer windows, Chelsea is in the bottom half of the standings and is now behind Brentford, whose signings are mostly cut-price and based purely on statistics.
Two of Chelsea’s two biggest signings over the past two years - Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk - missed out Saturday because of last-minute injuries. And Mauricio Pochettino’s team continues to struggle to break down opponents that set up defensively.
Chelsea has only won one of its six league games at home this season, and that was against promoted Luton.
“There was a big defensive focus on stifling them, staying in the game, just trying to frustrate them,” Pinnock said. “We knew the longer the game went on the more we could grow into it.”
The first half was one-sided, with Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer starring in the No. 10 role and setting up great chances for Noni Madueke, Marc Cucurella and Raheem Sterling. All of them were squandered, with Madueke’s shot hitting the crossbar.
Brentford was a constant threat on the counterattack and both goals came from that route.
As frustrations boiled over late on, Jesus Perez - the assistant to Pochettino - was shown a red card in the technical area.
It was a second straight victory for Brentford after an eight-game winless run in all competitions.
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