Maupay & Sanchez in snail-paced foot race after Chelsea No1 went up for corner as fans dub it ‘like school sports day’

NEAL MAUPAY shrugged off Robert Sanchez before squaring the ball to Bryan Mbeumo as Brentford sealed a 2-0 win at Chelsea this afternoon.

Following the Bees’ second goal, fans were obsessed with the slow foot-race between Maupay and Sanchez.

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Neal Maupay initially raced through on goalCredit: X / @footballontnt

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The Frenchman was nearly caught by Robert SanchezCredit: X / @footballontnt

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Maupay was forced to shrug off a challenge by the SpaniardCredit: Rex

The Blues goalkeeper had gone up for a stoppage time corner with his side trailing 1-0.

Thomas Frank’s side won the initial header, before Ian Maatsen was beaten to the second ball.

This left Maupay with the freedom of Chelsea’s half to run into, with their net unguarded.

Sanchez busted a gut to get back, and very nearly caught Maupay.

But the Brentford ace managed to shrug him off.

Maupay went into today’s game 33 Prem games without a goal, dating back to September 2022.

Rather than be selfish, however, he squared the ball to Mbeumo, who gratefully smashed the ball into the empty net.

Following the goal, one fan wrote on social media: “The way Sanchez caught up with Maupay is crazy lol.”

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While a second asked: “Is Sanchez rapid or is Maupay slow?”

A third joked: “Like a school sports day that.”

Another added: “Sanchez actually caught up to Maupay and Brentford STILL scored.”

Maupay was involved in the action even before coming on as a substitute.

In the 56th minute while warming up, he received a yellow card for poking the ball away before a Chelsea free-kick.

Just two minutes later, Ethan Pinnock headed Brentford into the lead.

Maupay made his entrance on 76 minutes, replacing Yoane Wissa.

He then set up Mbeumo’s dramatic clincher on 96 minutes as the Bees ran out 2-0 winners.

After the game, Mbeumo told TNT Sports: “When I’ve seen him coming high I’ve said to myself ‘if we have the possibility to counter-attack it’s a very good opportunity’.

“We did. I wanted Neal to score his first goal here but I’m very happy with this.”

Brentford’s win saw them leapfrog Chelsea in the table, going a point clear of them in tenth ahead of the 3pm kick-offs.

Maupay, meanwhile, appeared to swap shirts with his former Brighton team-mate Sanchez.

The forward posted a picture of himself beaming in Sanchez’s top back on the team bus, and captioned it: “Mood.”

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Maupay was in great spirits after the gameCredit: INSTAGRAM / @nealmaupay

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Maupay squares the ball to his strike partnerCredit: PA

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Bryan Mbeumo rolls the ball into the empty netCredit: Rex