Chelsea 1-4 Brentford: FIFA virus attacks Blues! Tuchel's men suffer shock loss

Chelsea were unable to see out a 1-0 lead at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon, instead falling to a surprise 4-1 defeat at the hands of Brentford, with Christian Eriksen scoring his first goal for the Bees since arriving in the January transfer window.

Match Report

Antonio Rudiger put the Blues ahead three minutes into the second half, but Brentford scored three times between the 50th and 60th minutes, with Vitaly Janelt scoring either side of Eriksen. Yoane Wissa put some gloss on the result late on.

Chelsea dominated the ball on the day, with 71 percent of the possession, but things were pretty even as far as chances were concerned. Brentford, though, made theirs count.

Rudiger's tendency to shoot from long range often leaves Chelsea fans frustrated, but this time his speculative effort cannoned in off the post from 30 yards, putting the hosts ahead.

Chelsea's collapse

From there, though, Thomas Tuchel's side collapsed and were a defensive mess, which Brentford punished. Janelt levelled soon after, before a counter-attack left the hosts exposed and Eriksen scored for his third straight game after netting twice for Denmark, getting his first for his new club. Wissa added the fourth in the 87th minute.

Four days before Chelsea host Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, they will be hoping that this match was a one-off.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

2' CHANCE! Eriksen's free-kick over the bar

11' MISS! Toney's header over the bar

21' CHANCE! Mount's long shot wide out

31' CHANCE! Loftus-Cheek's long shot saved

39' CLOSE! Ziyech's shot denied

47' GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Brentford (Rudiger)

49' GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Brentford (Janelt)

53' GOAL! Chelsea 1-2 Brentford (Eriksen)

59' GOAL! Chelsea 1-3 Brentford (Janelt)

65' Handball early, Havertz's goal disallowed

69' MISS! Havertz's shot inches wide

80' CLOSE! Havertz's header inches wide

Line-ups

Chelsea XI: Thiago Silva, Azpilicueta, Alonso, Rudiger, E. Mendy, Kante, Werner, Ziyech, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, Havertz

Subs: Lukaku, Saul , Barkley, Kovacic, Jorginho, Kepa, Christensen, Sarr, Reece James

Brentford XI: P. Jansson, Eriksen, C. Nørgaard, I. Toney, David Raya, K. Ajer, R. Henry, Janelt, E. Pinnock, M. Rasmussen, B. Mbeumo

Subs: Jorgensen, S. Ghoddos, Sergi Canós, Y. Wissa, T. Fosu-Henry, M. Jensen, M. Sørensen, Álvaro Fernández, S. Baptiste