AXEL DISASI spared Mauricio Pochettino’s blushes as his late header rescued a point at Brentford.
Chelsea fans had turned on the board and manager after goals from Mads Roerslev and Yoane Wissa had the Bees ahead having recovered from Nicolas Jackson’s header.
Axel Disasi saved a precious point for Chelsea against BrentfordPA
Brentford almost handed Chelsea another miserable defeatAlamy
Malo Gusto stood out for Chelsea against BrentfordReuters
But Disasi rode to the rescue, crashing his header home at the far post to avoid another Chelsea catastrophe.
After a couple of first-half howlers, Jackson redeemed himself to bag the opener for the Blues.
The striker rose highest to guide a wonderful Malo Gusto cross home with a well-placed header.
Chelsea looked to be coasting towards another London derby victory after the goal, but were knocked back early in the second half as Roerslev equalised for the hosts.
The Blues struggled to regain their hold on the game and collectively switched off to allow Wissa to score his stunner.
Levi Colwill did his best to clear Sergio Reguilon’s cross but his headed clearance fell to Frank Onyeka, who flicked it up for Wissa to fire home with a bicycle kick.
Chelsea looked to be heading for another disaster as fans turned toxic, but the introduction of Raheem Sterling got the Blues back on the front foot and he won a corner from which Disasi powered home an equaliser.
But who stood out and who disappointed? Here’s how SunSport’s Jack Rosser rates each Chelsea star:
Djordje Petrovic – 6
Not a lot the keeper could have done to stop either of Brentford’s goals and had little of any difficulty to do beyond that.
Will be very frustrated with those ahead of him.
Malo Gusto – 7
Full off energy down the right flank throughout and not afraid of a tough challenge when they were needed early on.
Showed composure and quality to deliver a peach of a cross for Jackson’s header.
Still pushed forward in the second half but should have been quicker to close down Reguilon as he crossed in the build-up to Wissa’s acrobatic goal.
Axel Disasi – 6
The late leveller salvaged what had been a rather tough performance to watch at the back.
Disasi was rash at times and often out of position, never looking comfortable on the right of the back three.
However, he showed good power and desire to win a vital header and claim a point for Chelsea.
Trevoh Chalobah – 6
Perhaps could have done more to disrupt Ivan Toney before he hooked the ball into the box for Brentford’s equaliser.
However, Chalobah put in a largely assured display at the heart of the back three – especially considering this was his first Premier League start of the season.
Levi Colwill – 6
Didn’t do much wrong throughout the afternoon but if this game is anything to go by it may be a while before we see Pochettino try a back three again.
Ben Chilwell – 5
Offered very little going forwards and never looked too solid at the back having to play as a wing-back.
The Chelsea man has a chance to cement his place in the England starting XI for the summer after Luke Shaw’s injury but must do better than this to do so.
Enzo Fernandez – 5
A little slow to start but quickly got up to speed with things and was constantly looking to drive forward from midfield.
Took up smart positions on the edge of the box but lacked quality when it really mattered and was hooked when things went south for Chelsea.
Moises Caicedo – 5
An improvement on some recent performances but still, even alongside his £105million partner Fernandez, struggles to dominate a game from the base of midfield and can look rash with some of his challenges.
Conor Gallagher – 5
Another all-action energetic performance from the Chelsea academy graduate, though lacked the quality to make a real impact.
Gallagher always catches the eye with his fight and will to win the ball back, but struggled to show a composed and clinical side when it mattered.
Cole Palmer – 6
Some flashes of quality in terms of playmaking but missed a huge chance to put Chelsea ahead again when stealing Gusto’s cross from the toes of Jackson on 60 minutes.
Despite a quiet performance he still stepped up to deliver a fine cross for Disasi to slam home the late equaliser.
Nicolas Jackson – 6
The Senegalese striker transformed a frustrating first half with his fine header to open the scoring.
Jackson had made himself look daft with his first two openings. First he accidentally backheeled the ball when trying to do step-overs before managing to hit the only Brentford defender on the line after rounding goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
But he put the two errors to bed with an impressive header from Gusto’s cross.
Very quiet performance in the second half.
Substitutes
Mykhailo Mudryk (on for Fernandez, 71’) – 6
Sent on to play in behind the front two of Palmer and Jackson and, despite it not being his natural position, combined well with Sterling.
Raheem Sterling (on for Colwill, 79’) – 7
Added some much-needed threat out wide after being introduced, won the corner from which Chelsea equalised and almost scored a winner himself minutes later.
Chelsea ace Ben Chilwell struggled at BrentfordRex
Gusto put together an incredible performance down the right flank