Heading into the dying moments of the Premier League clash between Brentford and Chelsea on Saturday night, it looked as if Enzo Maresca’s Blues were going to join the exclusive club of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, and AFC Bournemouth in winning three of their first four league clashes of the season.
However, former Anfield youngster Fabio Carvalho had other plans late on, with his 93rd-minute finish from a long Kevin Schade throw-in clinching the Bees a share of the points in a dramatic 2-2 draw.
The away side were right to feel dejected at the final whistle, with Moises Caicedo gifting the visitors the narrow lead with just five minutes remaining on the clock, before the heartbreak of added-on time ensued.
At one stage, however, the West London outfit might well have been staring down the barrel of a defeat, only for the usual heroics of Cole Palmer to come to the rescue once more.
Palmer's heroics for Chelsea
Palmer had barely been on the pitch for five minutes before he curled home an ice-cold finish to hand Chelsea a way back into the contest at 1-1.
Making only his second league appearance of the season after picking up an injury on the opening day, it would have been a welcome relief for fans of Maresca and Co to see their former Manchester City star back to his best.
The 23-year-old superstar was arguably unlucky not to add to his solitary goal during the action-packed affair, too, having seen another of his many efforts be saved by a very busy Caoimhin Kelleher.
In total, Palmer registered five efforts on the Brentford net, despite only being in the thick of the action for 34 minutes. To add context, Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto – who both played the full 90 minutes – could only muster up a weak three shots between them.
It goes without saying, therefore, that Maresca should bring the dazzling midfielder back into his main XI, as the Blues now face the daunting task of trying to beat both Bayern Munich and Manchester United in quick succession.
While the bright number ten looks to break back into the first-team fold for good, the Italian occupying the Stamford Bridge dug-out might well look to drop a notable underperformer.
Chelsea's 4/10 star must now be dropped
Unfortunately, while Palmer showed off his obvious class when being introduced, others donning Chelsea blue really did recede into their shell when trying to make openings happen at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Debutant Facundo Buonanotte had a forgettable first 45 minutes in a Blues shirt, with zero shots or successful dribbles registered, which then allowed for Brentford to race into a 1-0 lead before the half-time break.
It wasn’t just the Argentinian who floundered in isolation, though, with fellow new signing Jamie Gittens also looking somewhat out of his depth during a flat 45 minutes for the ex-Borussia Dortmund ace.
Reinstated into the starting lineup for the first time since the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace, Gittens should have been champing at the bit to prove himself.
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Instead, he failed to ever get going across his drab 56 minutes on the pitch, only to then have more salt added to his wound by being outclassed by Palmer’s stylish cameo.
Minutes played
56
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
17
Accurate passes
11/13 (85%)
Shots
1
Offsides
2
As can be seen glancing at the table above, Gittens would only manage to amass a lacklustre 17 touches of the ball during his brief time on the pitch, with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez even bettering that amount at 23 touches.
Palmer surpassed Gittens’ touch tally too at 26, with the “anonymous” attacker – as he was branded by the Sun’s Lloyd Canfield – amazingly also managing more offsides than troubling shots on Kelleher’s net.
Alejandro Garnacho could well get the nod to start over the below-par number 11 against Bayern Munich; therefore, with Football London’s Bobby Vincent further dishing out a low /10 post-match rating to the attacker, who was noted as trying but ultimately failing to ever make an impact.
This will hopefully act as a learning curve for the £48m summer purchase, who could well look to Palmer now for some inspiration as he attempts to kickstart his stuttering Blues career sooner rather than later.
