It was far from pretty, but then Liam Rosenior will care more that Chelsea got the result they needed from his first Premier League match in charge, if not the performance they wanted.
Brentford had the chances to score. When Tosin Adarabioyo nearly bundled in the ball after Kevin Schade had sent Trevoh Chalobah to the shops with a chop inside, only for Robert Sanchez to save his team-mate the indignity of an own goal.
When Mathias Jensen crept behind Marc Cucurella and struck the post from eight yards. When Schade was one-on-one with Sanchez, only for the Chelsea goalkeeper to produce a world-class save with his trailing left foot.
When Igor Thiago uncharacteristically sent his header off target. When Aaron Hickey whipped his wicked attempt narrowly wide.
Chelsea won, but did not carry the control or produce the free-flowing football that Rosenior eventually would like to see from his side. Given his hectic introduction – four games in four competitions in 12 days leaving limited time for training – he will hope that follows.
Perhaps with that, the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge will also improve, for there was a flat feeling here. There was an anti-board protest before kick-off – around 200 people in attendance – and those protestors sang Enzo Maresca’s name more times than they did while he was head coach.
Cole Palmer hardly celebrated his goal for Chelsea and his body language felt negative
Liam Rosenior will want more free-flowing football to entertain Stamford Bridge
As well as securing Chelsea’s first win in the Premier League in more than a month and moving towards the Champions League positions, Rosenior can take positives from the two goals they scored to beat a Brentford side who were unbeaten in their last six.
The first involved Enzo Fernandez initially losing the ball while trying to perform a nutmeg. A great deal of Rosenior’s sessions at Cobham have been on teaching the players that they need to ‘react well’ when they lose possession. Fernandez did that.
He pressed one player, then another, and then another, as he blocked Michael Kayode’s attempt at a clearance.
The ball fell to Joao Pedro, who spun and scored, VAR eventually deciding there was no offside offence as Kayode was playing him on. It was a hell of a finish, with the Brazilian looking at his best when acting instinctively.
The second goal saw Liam Delap, on as a substitute for Joao Pedro, press Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher after a poor touch. He won the penalty, scored by Palmer.
Chelsea might have scored more if Alejandro Garnacho had not produced a horror miss after Pedro Neto’s cross, and VAR not decided Kayode’s challenge on Joao Pedro was fair. But for Rosenior, a win is a win, even if it required a little ugliness.
PALMER’S CONCERNING BODY LANGUAGE
Palmer’s body language is carrying a negative feel. He hardly celebrated scoring. He walked down the tunnel at full-time while others continued to parade the pitch to thank the fans. Other than his goal from the penalty, he struggled to have a positive impact.
That frustration is perhaps with himself, for he knows what he can do. Rosenior told us he was proud of what he did out of possession as much as anything, particularly towards the end here.
One of Rosenior’s tasks is adding a togetherness to this group. When Palmer scored, Chalobah and Wesley Fofana were not going to bother joining in with the celebrations at the other end of the pitch, in front of the Matthew Harding Stand, but Reece James made sure they did.
