Brentford 0-0 Chelsea: Rotated Blues frustrated in Champions League bid | OneFootball

Blues would have moved to within two points of third with a victory

Chelsea dropped two points in the race to secure Champions League qualification as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Brentford.

With this match coming not even 72 hours after the midweek win over Tottenham, Enzo Maresca was expected to make changes but the team news did still come as a surprise.

Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Levi Colwill were among those to drop to the bench, as the likes of Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall were handed rare starts.

Nicolas Jackson was introduced at half-time and offered more of a threat, but Cole Palmer’s arrival on the hour mark had little impact on the whole.

He did, though, have an opportunity to snatch with the final victory, only to curl an effort just over the bar.

The result was a fair one, but it means Brentford have not yet won on home soil in 2025 and Chelsea’s wait for a first victory on the road in the Premier League since early December goes on.

Brentford, as usual, were in the faces of Chelsea from the the first whistle, with Bryan Mbeumo and Kevin Schade perpetually getting in behind Blues full-backs Reece James and Malo Gusto.

Amid the organised havoc wreaked by Thomas Frank's side, Yoane Wissa had two early chances, hooking the first into the side-netting from Mbeumo's cross before seeing a shot blocked by Trevoh Chalobah.

Gusto was booked after hauling down Schade on the edge of the area, with Damsgaard curling the free-kick narrowly over.

Damsgaard was then denied by Robert Sanchez as he burst through, before the Chelsea keeper made a flying save to keep out Nathan Collins' header.

Chelsea's solitary effort on target in a one-sided first half was a Noni Madueke drive straight into the arms of Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

Maresca did make a change at the break but it was Jackson, rather than Palmer, who came on in place of Christopher Nkunku.

Jackson offered more in his first three minutes on the pitch than Nkunku had in the previous 45, but after latching on to Enzo Fernandez's ball over the top his shot flew wide.

Palmer was summoned in the 59th minute, along with Pedro Neto, and the pair immediately linked up with Flekken forced to tip away the Portuguese winger's drive.

Flekken pulled off an even better save moments later, clawing a James header out from under his crossbar from a Neto corner.

Brentford got a head of steam up inside the final 10 minutes, with Mbeumo playing a one-two with Wissa before firing too close to Sanchez.

From the corner, Bees defender Sepp van den Berg somehow planted a header downwards into the ground and up over the crossbar, and Wissa glanced another header just wide with Sanchez scrambling.

In stoppage time the stage was set for Palmer, but he lifted a shot from the edge of the area over with the last kick of the match.