Brentford showed their resilience in dramatic fashion at the Gtech Community Stadium as Fábio Carvalho struck deep into stoppage time to snatch a 2-2 draw against Chelsea, Softfootball reports.
The late equaliser denied Enzo Maresca’s side the chance to go top of the Premier League and highlighted just how tricky life can be against a Brentford team still finding their identity after the departures of Bryan Mbuemo to Manchester United, and Yoane Wissa to Newcastle.
Chelsea looked sluggish early on, with the absence of Cole Palmer’s creativity evident as they failed to create much in a flat first half. Brentford, however, made the most of their few openings, Jordan Henderson slipping Kevin Schade through on goal before the winger cut inside Tosin Adarabioyo and fired past Robert Sánchez via a deflection. Fernández came closest to levelling when his corner struck the post, but the Blues went into the break trailing.
The game flipped after half-time. Maresca turned to his bench, bringing on Reece James and Marc Cucurella to tighten control, before Palmer was introduced to provide a spark. The England international delivered almost instantly, sweeping a composed finish into the corner to level things up.
From that moment, Chelsea looked the likelier winners, Palmer missing another great chance while Schade forced a strong stop at the other end.
When debutant Alejandro Garnacho surged down the left and pulled a cross back that Brentford failed to clear, Moisés Caicedo hammered home what seemed to be the winner.
Chelsea looked set to leave with all three points, until the Bees struck back. Schade’s long throw in the 94th minute wasn’t dealt with, and Carvalho pounced at the back post to rescue Brentford in thrilling fashion.
Brentford took to their official X handle to celebrate after VAR confirmed Fabio Carvalho’s equalizer and Brentford second of the night see below;
For Maresca, the frustration is clear his team remain unbeaten, but missed a golden chance to sit on top of the table. With Bayern Munich up next in the Champions League, he’ll demand sharper finishing. Brentford, meanwhile, can take pride in their spirit. Even without some of their biggest names and former long-time manager Thomas Frank who is already with Tottenham, they proved once again they can still sting the league’s best.
