Brentford 2-2 Chelsea: A chance to watch Toney, Gusto impresses and fury from the travelling fans

Chelsea returned to Premier League action after defeat in the Carabao Cup final last Sunday and an largely unconvincing midweek FA Cup victory against Leeds United.

Mauricio Pochettino recalled Dorde Petrovic in goal, while Trevoh Chalobah began well in a back three in his first league start of the season. Chelsea led at the break, thanks to Nicolas Jackson’s goal — a rare header — a strike that made up for a glaring miss earlier in the half.

But the start of the second half was yet another chapter in a season of frustration, with Brentford equalising through Mads Roerslev five minutes after the restart, before taking the lead via Yoane Wissa with twenty minutes remaining. The travelling Chelsea fans duly spent much of the remainder of the afternoon making their feelings known, feelings that lifted slightly when Axel Disasi made it 2-2 in the closing stages.

Liam Twomey answers the key questions from today’s game at the Gtech Community Stadium.

How did Nicolas Jackson compare to Ivan Toney?

Nicolas Jackson did his best against Brentford to remind Chelsea co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart why they kept their powder dry in the January transfer market. The results were mixed, with a badly scuffed shot cleared off the line followed by a clinical header to open the scoring.

It is always a rollercoaster with Jackson, in marked contrast to the man linked extensively to Chelsea who more than made his presence felt at the other end of the pitch. Ivan Toney is not the most prolific goalscorer in the world and did not directly test Djordje Petrovic here, but he consistently does the little things that help a team.

A sublime early touch to bring down a high ball with Trevoh Chalobah at his back served notice of the hold-up skills that Toney brings to bear for a depleted Brentford attack, but his movement is every bit as impressive. In particular, his sharp runs into the space behind Ben Chilwell were a huge factor in the home side’s ability to overwhelm Chelsea’s back line in wide areas.

Sometimes it was Toney providing the cross himself, as he did for one Wissa shot that rippled the side-netting. On other occasions it was his presence in the penalty area that occupied defenders and created space for others, including the goalscorers Roerslev and Wissa.

Chelsea were never convinced that Toney was available in January, and never inclined to put the kind of money on the table that might have made Brentford think about selling. But it would be no surprise if a frothy market develops for his services this summer, and no huge shock if Saturday’s visitors to the Gtech Stadium are among the suitors.

How did the travelling fans react to another mixed display?

These days Chelsea supporters are never more than a bad 20 minutes away from mutiny, and the team’s torrid second-half collapse against Brentford brought out a full repertoire of fury.

Nostalgic protest chants of ‘Roman Abramovich’ and ‘Jose Mourinho’ were interspersed with the far more pointed ‘Boehly, you’re a c***’ and ‘F*** off Mauricio’, making this by some distance the most openly hostile and toxic Chelsea atmosphere of a deeply underwhelming season.

Pochettino seems to have made more of an effort to try to get fans onside in recent weeks — most notably with a rabble-rousing open letter on the club’s official website on the morning of the Carabao Cup final — but events on the pitch have tended to make his words age poorly and when things go wrong, his Tottenham association will always be held against him.

Clearlake co-founder Behdad Eghbali will probably be relieved that he is not yet being name-checked in the same derogatory manner as Boehly, but the chants should leave none of the owners under any illusions as to the regard in which they are held by match-going fans.

Axel Disasi’s equaliser lifted the mood and as Chelsea pushed in the closing stages, the blue corner of the Gtech Stadium sang Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds in an attempt to facilitate the kind of late surge that saw off Crystal Palace last month.

They are still behind the team if nothing else, but that will be little consolation for a beleaguered Pochettino.

Did anyone emerge with any credit?

Getting your name sung by the away supporters is one of the key relationship goals for any new signing at a club. Seven months into his career as a Chelsea player, Malo Gusto might just have graduated into the realm of fan favourites.

There were no bespoke lyrics to the song — perhaps that constitutes the next level of adulation — but a tuneful rendition of Gusto’s name reverberated around the travelling Chelsea support in the moments after his sublime cross from the right flank curled and dipped delightfully onto the head of Nicolas Jackson for the opening goal of the game.

Gusto has emerged in recent weeks as one of the more dynamic attacking players in this Chelsea squad and one of the more impressive technicians. Within a squad that boasts precious few emotional connections to supporters, his comments revealing a family allegiance to the club ahead of the Carabao Cup final surely went down well too.

It is not all sweetness and light. Gusto was also part of Chelsea’s second-half collapse, losing Yoann Wissa in the lead-up to Mads Roerslev’s equaliser and failing to prevent a Sergio Reguilon delivery from the left that created the opportunity for Wissa’s stunning overhead kick.

But given the bleakness everywhere else in blue, Gusto’s attacking quality is a rare positive — and will create an interesting dilemma whenever Reece James is fit again.

What did Mauricio Pochettino say?

We’ll have post-match quotes from the Chelsea manager here soon.

What next for Chelsea?

Monday, March 11: Newcastle United (H), Premier League, 8pm GMT, 3pm ET

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(Top photo: Getty Images)