Chelsea maintained their grip on the top spot in the Premier League with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Brentford on Saturday.
The Blues took the lead on the stroke of halftime through Ben Chilwell, who rifled a left-footed effort past David Raya in the Brentford goal.
Thomas Frank’s side emerged from the break with renewed vigour and had the visitors on the ropes for the majority of the second half.
Brentford laid siege to the Chelsea goal in search of an equaliser but Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbuemo and Saman Ghoddos all spurned great opportunities as Edouard Mendy produced an outstanding display between the sticks for the Blues.
The result means Chelsea stay one point ahead of Liverpool at the summit of the Premier League table, while Brentford are seventh.
On that note, here’s a look at how the Chelsea players fared on their trip to the Brentford Community Stadium.
Chelsea players ratings vs Brentford
Edouard Mendy – 10/10
After a quiet first half, Edouard Mendy sprang into action in the second, pulling off a string of stunning saves to deny Brentford. The Senegal international played like a man possessed at times, as he had an answer for everything Brentford threw at him.
Ben Chilwell – 8/10
Looked shaky defensively, but contributed well going forward. Scored the only goal of the match, extending his tally to three goals in his last three appearances for club and country.
Andreas Christensen – 7/10
Although he was outmuscled by Ivan Toney at times, Christensen still managed to marshall the Chelsea backline well, finishing the game with three clearances and two interceptions.
Trevoh Chalobah – 8/10
Made a team-high five tackles and also showed great awareness to produce a goal-line clearance in the second half to keep Chelsea in the lead.
Malang Sarr – 9/10
Sarr turned in a sensational performance on his Premier League debut. The Frenchman barely put a foot wrong and was one of Chelsea’s best players on the night. Sarr led the team in clearances (10) and interceptions (6) and also produced some crunching tackles as the game wore on.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 7/10
Looked solid throughout the game and led the team well, but did not contribute anything of note going forward or defensively.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 8/10
Handed a rare start, Loftus-Cheek was instrumental in most of Chelsea’s attacks in the first half. His physicality and skill shone through as he controlled the midfield almost singlehandedly for the Blues early on. His impact waned as the match progressed and Brentford dominated possession.
Mateo Kovacic – 6/10
His passing was not as crisp as we have grown accustomed to and he gave the ball away cheaply on a couple of occasions. Also received a yellow card in the first half for a poor tackle.
N’Golo Kante – 7/10
Kante returned to the starting lineup after missing the previous game due to COVID-19, but the Frenchman struggled to make much of an impact in the game.
Timo Werner – 6/10
Werner’s movement was sharp and he linked up well with the Chelsea attack, but the German once again lacked an end product. He fired an effort from the edge of the box well over the bar in the first half and also failed to pick out Lukaku when he was in acres of space a few minutes later.
Romelu Lukaku – 5/10
A poor performance by Chelsea’s new signing. Lukaku spurned a glorious opportunity to put Chelsea 2-0 up when he blazed his effort well over the bar from close range. His hold up play also left a lot to be desired and he was hauled off in the 77th minute.
Substitutes
Mason Mount – 5/10
Came on in place of Kovacic shortly after the hour mark, but couldn’t really help Chelsea gain any control in midfield.
Kai Havertz – 5/10
Replaced Lukaku in the 77th minute but barely got a touch of the ball.
Reece James – NA
Brought on for Azpilicueta in the closing stages of the match and did not have enough time to make an impact.
