Levi Colwill has admitted Chelsea were left hurting after a second-half collapse turned a competitive west London derby into a damaging 3-0 defeat against Brentford.
Chelsea entered the clash in strong attacking form, having scored 18 goals across their previous six matches in all competitions.
But that threat disappeared at the Gtech Community Stadium.
For much of the first half, Chelsea looked far more disciplined than in some of their earlier defensive performances this season. The Blues kept Brentford relatively quiet and appeared capable of taking control of the contest.
Then everything changed.
A poor piece of defending from a corner in the 61st minute allowed Jaidon Anthony to rise unmarked virtually on the goal-line and head Brentford into the lead.
Chelsea responded by pushing harder for an equaliser.
According to Colwill, that urgency ultimately worked against them.
“It was tough,” Colwill said. “Conceding from a set-piece isn’t the best and then we tried to push and maybe over-exposed ourselves and played some passes we shouldn’t and forced it.
Chelsea needed patience after falling behind, but instead they became increasingly exposed.
Colwill believes his team should have trusted their football rather than forcing the game open.
“I feel we needed to relax and not push too hard for the equaliser. We needed to believe it would come if we continued playing our football. But I think we pushed too hard to get it and they hurt us on the counter.
Brentford punished Chelsea’s desperation with ruthless efficiency.
The hosts doubled their advantage in the 83rd minute when Kevin Schade raced through and was denied by Emiliano Martínez. Igor Thiago reacted quickest to the rebound and fired home his first league goal of the season.
Chelsea then conceded again in stoppage time.
Schade turned provider this time, delivering the cross that substitute Fábio Carvalho converted to complete a miserable night for Xabi Alonso’s side.
“They get the second goal and then the third goal really hit home and hurt. The second half we weren’t good enough, obviously and we’ve got a lot to work on during the international break.”
The defeat also exposed Chelsea’s attacking limitations without João Pedro.
The Brazilian striker’s absence was noticeable, with Danny Welbeck unable to reproduce the same link-up play in the attacking trio alongside Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers.
Both forwards remained dangerous at times, but Chelsea lacked the fluidity that had helped them score freely before the derby.
After producing 18 goals in six games, Chelsea suddenly looked short of ideas in the final third.
Colwill insists the responsibility cannot fall solely on the attackers.
“We can’t rely on the front three to pull us out of danger,” Colwill said. “The rest of us have to try to help as much as possible. The defence, the midfield and the attackers, we all need to help each other much more.
The Chelsea defender knows the problems stretch beyond one poor performance.
“We’ve definitely got a lot of room to improve.”
The result also added another unwanted statistic to Alonso’s early Premier League reign.
Chelsea became the latest side to expose defensive concerns under the Spaniard, with Alonso becoming only the sixth manager in Premier League history to concede two or more goals in each of his first five matches in the competition.
Mick McCarthy, Sammy Lee, Terry Connor, Slavisa Jokanovic and Scott Parker are the only managers previously to have started their Premier League careers with the same defensive record.
For Chelsea, the international break now arrives at a crucial moment.
The Brentford defeat exposed problems in both transition and defensive organisation, while their attack lost much of its spark without João Pedro.
Colwill knows there is work to do.
Chelsea will now have to use the break to regroup, improve their defensive discipline and rediscover the attacking rhythm that made their previous run so productive.
Because after Brentford delivered a painful reality check, Chelsea cannot afford another collapse when Premier League action resumes.
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