Evening Standard
·15 December 2024
In partnership with
Yahoo sportsEvening Standard
·15 December 2024
The Blues have taken advantage of Liverpool’s slip
Nicolas Jackson scored Chelsea’s winner against Brentford.
Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Chelsea are two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool thanks to a 2-1 win over Brentford.
With the Merseyside outfit being held to a 2-2 draw at home to Fulham on Saturday, the stage was set for Enzo Maresca’s side to further cement themselves as the closest challengers for English football’s biggest prize this season.
Despite dominating the first-half, the Blues had to remain patient for the opener and it arrived a couple of minutes before the break and from an unlikely source.
Noni Madueke did well down the right-hand side to get himself a yard and send a ball into the box which was met by the head of Marc Cucurella.
The lead should have been doubled just before the hour mark following great work from Jadon Sancho on the left as he cut the ball back for Nicolas Jackson, who somehow, from a few yards out failed to hit the target.
That miss seemed to galvanise the Bees and Chelsea had their goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to thank as he made two superb saves to deny Vitaly Janelt and then Christian Norgaard before Fabio Carvalho saw his effort hit the woodwork.
Slightly against the run of play, Jackson made amends for his earlier miss as he doubled the Blues’ lead with a fine run and finish. And despite a late scare when Bryan Mbeumo pulled one back for Brentford, the hosts held on to make it five straight wins in the Premier League.
Next Sunday, Chelsea make the trip to Goodison Park to face Everton. The incentive for the west London outfit is another three points will put them top of the table before Liverpool kick-off away at Spurs later in the day.
Create a FREE account to continue reading
Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.
Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.
* FIRST NAME
* LAST NAME
Your email address
* PASSWORD
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Show
* Required fields
I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from Evening Standard. Read ourprivacy notice
I'LL TRY LATER
By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .