Bully boys: Brentford expose Chelsea's defensive woes

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso criticised his players' game management after they were humbled 3-0 at Brentford, while defender Levi Colwill said his team were bullied at set pieces. Brentford scored three second-half goals to ease past Chelsea, with Jaidon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fabio Carvalho all scoring. It was the third successive Premier League game in which Chelsea failed to win, having lost to Arsenal and drawn with Hull City last weekend. While Chelsea have looked a threat in attack in their previous games, scoring 10 goals, defensively they look less than solid, with the three goals conceded at Brentford meaning they have been breached 12 times already. Alonso is only the sixth manager to concede two or more goals in each of his first five Premier League matches in charge. "I would say that we have dropped our consistency, our competitive mentality needed in the second half," Alonso said. "I'm disappointed at the end with the second half and the result," Alonso said. "This is not enough to compete in the Premier League, not to be able to go for the 90 minutes. This is why today we were punished. It's not about talking or looking for excuses." "You know that the small details can be decisive. You don't have to give advantage in these kind of games. But it's about 95 minutes and we have not been able to keep that level throughout these few games in the start of the season and it's something that we'll have to do better." Colwill said on Sky Sports that Chelsea were being "bullied" at set pieces.

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Published

19 Sep 2026

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