LONDON (AP) — Brentford climbed to third in the Premier League after a crushing 3-0 win over London rival Chelsea on Friday.
It was a puzzling display by Xabi Alonso's Chelsea side, which has now gone three league games without a win.
Jaidon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fabio Carvalho all scored in the second half for Brentford.
“Disappointed with the second half, disappointed with the result," Chelsea manager Alonso said. "This is not how to compete in the Premier
League. We were punished.
“At the moment we are not being consistent enough to compete during the whole game, 45 minutes is not enough, you need to compete for the whole game. It’s about everything, it’s about tactical things that we need to keep improving and do much better.”
This was a Chelsea line-up containing all the elements of its offseason transfer re-think, with a solid, experienced spine which saw Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck make their first league starts.
Something appeared to have clicked. The visitors did not look half as chaotic defensively in the first half as they have done at times this season, standing up physically to Brentford, winning duels and not allowing Keith Andrews’ side to dominate second balls.
But old habits crept back in after the break. The marking from Mikkel Damsgaard’s 61st-minute corner was poor, Jannik Schuster headed on and Anthony finished it off.
Thiago was then left free to score after Kevin Schade’s shot was saved, and a low cross was whacked in during stoppage time by Carvalho to send Brentford fans into dreamland.
“It was a really good evening,” said Brentford manager Keith Andrews. "It’s important that you enjoy evenings like this because you work so hard and there are so many tough days in this game.
"When you play against a west London rival, you build up to a game and you go on a bit of a journey with the team. There are always bumps along the way, but we were in a really good place and it’s nice to see it come into fruition tonight.”
Brentford has nine points from five games and is three points behind co-leaders Arsenal and Manchester City, who play on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Chelsea is down to seventh with seven points from five games.
___
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
