Brentford defeated Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Wednesday making it the Blue’s straight five losses since the appointment of Frank Lampard as interim manager.
Brentford took the led after captain Cesar Azpilicueta’s own goal in the first half and Bryan Mbeumo scored the second when he ran half the length of the field unchallenged, extending Chelsea’s winless slide at home to six games in all competitions. The second goal came after a second-half shot from Bryan Mbeumo.
It’s been a while since Chelsea fans celebrated with the club scoring just one goal in its last seven games and failing to win any of its last eight matches.
“This is not a sob story but everything is going against us,” the caretaker manager of Chelsea, Frank Lampard told BT Sport.
Chelsea which is now six points behind 10th-place Fulham, might struggle just for a top-half finish in the Premier League. So far, this is the club’s worst campaign since the 1993-94 season — when they finished 14th under Glenn Hoddle – despite the massive expense its new American owners have spent on players.
“It is the same story — keep going and keep working. This isn’t an easy moment in the season when a club is used to winning a lot,” Lampard said.
“This club has been through many, many good moments in recent times and this moment is tough. We would love a magic wand and a magic moment but it doesn’t come in football because the Premier League is tough. We have to fight for our moment.
Chelsea’s performance in their match against Brentford was rather poor. The main anticipation from the Blues side within the first 20 minutes was from Ben Chilwell when he took a pass from Conor Gallagher and gave a short burst to the left during the first half.
His low cross was intercepted and that was it.
Lampard tried to bring in some vigor by bringing in winger Mykhailo Mudryk and striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at half-time, but the story did not change.
Brentford is now ninth in the league and eight points above Chelsea. Its coach, Thomas Frank, was able to celebrate surpassing his side’s points tally for all of last season – their first in the Premier League – with Wednesday’s victory over Chelsea.
“You can’t take that for granted. That takes a lot of hours on the training pitch, in the offices, over a year to be in a position where we are now,” he said.