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The Hail Mary of a long throw was enough for Brentford to equalise and deny Chelsea the turnaround win they thought had been secured after Enzo Maresca had called on his cavalry.
Keith Andrews’ side filled their opponents’ box with bodies and chucked the ball in there. It was flicked on and waiting by himself at the back, with Alejandro Garnacho having left him all alone, was Fabio Carvalho. It completed the scoreline, and in truth, Brentford deserved a draw at least.
They played well here, taking the lead initially through Kevin Schade after Jordan Henderson’s audacious assist from his own half in front of the watching England manager Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea reacted by bringing on their big names. First, Cole Palmer, who had hoped to watch a win from the bench after a niggling groin issue, equalised within five minutes of coming on.
Palmer is a fabulous footballer, we all know that, but he had not scored from open play in the Premier League since a draw with Bournemouth on January 14. This was his 18th appearance in the competition since then, totalling 1,582 minutes, yet he was Johnny on the spot when the cross from another substitute in Reece James landed with him.
Then, in the 79th minute, Garnacho was introduced, and in the 85th, it was his cross which led to Moises Caicedo scoring from 25 yards. Chelsea thought they was enough for them to take all three points, only for Brentford to answer back after introducing Carvalho for stoppage time.
Fabio Carvalho rescued a late point for Brentford as they earned a 2-2 draw against Chelsea
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Moises Caicedo (left) thought he'd fired Chelsea to the top of the table with a late winner
The midfielder thundered a rocket into the back of the net from outside the penalty area
But Carvalho tapped home for Brentford deep into stoppage time after a dangerous long throw
It was not the most ideal warm-up for Chelsea with their next game coming in Germany, against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. You imagine for that one, Maresca will use his A listers from the very beginning, rather than hoping they can do a job from the bench.
With Palmer among the substitutes, Facundo Buonanotte started at No 10.
Surprising that he was selected, perhaps, given this was his first time appearing for Chelsea, but then Estevao Willian was at home unwell and Buonanotte impressed Maresca enough over the international break. That included in one behind-closed-doors friendly between the senior players who did not receive call-ups and the Under 21s in which we are told the 20-year-old loanee from Brighton scored a hat-trick.
Buonanotte linked up well with Joao Pedro for the game's first chance, the latter firing into Nathan Collins. Brentford raced up the other end with Igor Thiago setting up Schade, who likewise saw his attempt blocked by Tosin Adarabioyo.
When Jamie Gittens was fouled by the left-hand side in the 12th minute, Tosin ran over for a chat with Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez. Neto’s cross found Tosin, whose free header was straight at Caoimhin Kelleher. It turned out this was as close as Chelsea would come to scoring in the first half, and Tosin may even have been offside.
Brentford got the opening goal in the 35th minute when Henderson picked up possession in midfield, with Caicedo too late in trying to close him down. He launched the ball in behind Tosin who tried his best to get back into a position where he could thwart Schade.
Instead, Brentford’s striker scored through Tosin’s legs, beating Robert Sanchez.
Maresca, dressed casually on this occasion in skinny jeans and a pair of Air Jordans rather than his usual club-branded tracksuit, continued to show his frustration on the touchline. His team had been too casual also.
Kevin Schade put his Bees side ahead with a breakaway goal midway through the first half
Cole Palmer came off the bench in the second half and equalised with a superb first-time finish
Caoimhin Kelleher made a stunning save to deny Palmer and keep the score level at one apiece
MATCH FACTS
Brentford (5-3-2): Kelleher 6.5; Kayode 6 (Ajer 83), Collins 6.5, Van den Berg 6.5, Pinnock 6 (Hickey 83), Lewis-Potter 6.5; Yarmolyuk 7 (Ouattara 73, 6), Henderson 7, Jensen 6.5; Thiago 6.5 (Henry 72, 6), Schade 7
Subs (not used): Valdimarsson, Nelson, Carvalho, Onyeka, Janelt
Scorers: Schade (35)
Booked: Thiago, Yarmolyuk
Manager: Keith Andrews 6.5
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez 6; Fofana 5 (James 45, 6), Chalobah 6, Adarabioyo 6, Hato 5 (Cucurella 45, 6); Caicedo 7.5, Fernandez 6; Neto 6.5, Buonanotte 6 (George 45, 6), Gittens 5.5 (Palmer 56, 7); Joao Pedro 6 (Garnacho 89)
Subs (not used): Jorgensen, Santos, Gusto, Acheampong
Scorers: Palmer (61), Caicedo (85)
Booked: Hato
Manager: Enzo Maresca 5.5
Referee: Stuart Attwell 6
Attendance: 16,795
The visitors’ defending had been shambolic and at half-time, two of their back four was hooked, with James on for Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella replacing Jorrel Hato. Tyrique George, the academy boy whose deadline-day move to Fulham broke down at the eleventh hour, likewise came on for Buonanotte. Palmer soon followed for Gittens.
With the cavalry came the equaliser as Palmer beat Kelleher. After 74 minutes, Palmer should have made it 2-1 when Neto's cutback found him perfectly. It was on a plate for the man who turned Chelsea into world champions, but he allowed Kelleher to deny him this time.
In the 85th minute, Caicedo struck from 25 yards after Garnacho’s helpful intervention. Less helpful was how he left Carvalho alone to level it up in stoppage time, however.
