Chelsea 2-1 Brentford: In-form Blues move just two points behind Liverpool and underline title credentials after goals from Marc Cucurella and Nicolas Jackson

The cross came from Noni Madueke and this time it did not fly over the Cucu’s nest.

Marc Cucurella succeeded perfectly for his first Premier League goal in the colors of Chelsea. Enzo Maresca’s plan to bombard Brentford’s box with balls ultimately gave them the breakthrough.

It set them on course to move within two points of Liverpool, with Nicolas Jackson scoring their second goal to give enough daylight that Bryan Mbeumo’s goal went down as a consolation.

The longer Chelsea keep winning, the harder it will be for Maresca to keep a straight face and say they are not in this season’s title race.

They will even have the opportunity to temporarily overtake their rivals next weekend, thanks to their trip to Everton which comes before Liverpool take on Tottenham.

December 3, 2021 was the last time this club topped the table – too long if you ask Stamford Bridge supporters.

And yet Maresca will insist that there is nothing to see here. Just as actors won’t say the name ‘Macbeth’ for fear it will cause a hex on their heads, you won’t see Chelsea talking about the title either, but Liverpool sense something bad is coming their way.

It is a team, expertly led by Maresca, that took full advantage of a weekend in which all other results went their way. Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, they all hesitated.

But Chelsea did not, even though Mbeumo provided the nerve-wracking ending.

The only downside to this victory was injury time. Cucurella received a yellow card for a difficult challenge and at full-time he received another, with a suspension on the horizon.

Cucurella’s sponsors Puma engaged in some damage control after his two slips in their brand new boots led to Tottenham goals last weekend, launching a campaign with the slogan: ‘It’s not how you slip, it’s how you bounce back.’

As clever as that mid-week marketing stunt was, Cucurella wasn’t wearing the offending footwear here, which might be saying more.

Back in a version he hoped would keep him vertical, Chelsea’s defenders refused to become the latest team to allow Brentford to break through in minutes, as Manchester City, Tottenham and others did. Instead, the spell’s two best chances fell to Jackson.

First, a cross from Malo Gusto led to a header that went wide. Then Moises Caicedo’s long ball found Jackson’s point, who fired the ball straight to Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flokken.

Statistically, no one in the Premier League sprints as relentlessly as Jackson, so the visitors knew the Chelsea striker would keep them on their toes.

Brentford’s best chance of the first half came after 29 minutes when Mikkel Damsgaard looked destined to score, only for Levi Colwill to produce a lunge block, à la John Terry. Chelsea’s players gathered to congratulate Colwill before preparing for the corner.

Chances came and went for Jadon Sancho and Madueke, who pounced on Fleken’s loose pass but were denied as the Brentford goalkeeper moved big enough to stop the shot. But according to Chelsea’s crossing plan, it was in the 43rd minute when they struck.

Madueke’s ball was perfect, right on the path Cucurella wanted to race on. The man with the curling mop happily accepted his winger’s gift as he headed past Fleks. It added to Cucurella’s redemption arc as a left-back who was once booed at Stamford Bridge for failing to perform as a £63m signing.

The most crosses Chelsea have made in a Premier League match this season were their 23 against Nottingham Forest. The next closest total after that was 15 against Manchester City. In the first half alone the stats said they fired seventeen balls into Brentford’s penalty area.

Although Madueke had supplied the ball for Cucurella’s opener, he otherwise had a frustrating evening, surrendering possession cheaply too often. Pedro Neto watched from the substitutes’ bench, but was suspended after receiving five yellow cards.

When Madueke won a corner, Chelsea hoped for a penalty as Brentford’s box resembled a WWE ring. The referee team decided it was six of one and half a dozen of the other.

In the 60th minute Chelsea should have been two ahead when Sancho drove down the line before cutting the ball back into the six-yard box. Jackson was waiting on the edge, the goal wide open.

Yet he sparked what should have been a tap-in, a genuine head-in-hand moment that Chelsea fans feared they might mourn on the way home.

Sancho then tried to run the ball into the goal in the 67th minute, even using quick feet to get around Flek, but it took too long.

Brentford started pushing for an equalizer and in the 73rd minute Christian Norgaard thought he had hit the nail on the head.

However, his volley was superbly tipped by Robert Sanchez. As nervous as the Chelsea goalkeeper makes fans with his feet, his hands are safe.

After 75 minutes Jackson tried to seal the win, with Flokken tapping wide. Brentford went to the other side and with a cross of his own, Fabio Carvalho smashed the ball against the crossbar.

But then, in the 80th minute, Jackson broke behind after Enzo Fernandez’s deflecting pass. With only Pinnock blocking his route, he found the bottom corner for 2-0.

Brentford made it 2-1 in the 90th minute, Mbeumo finishing a one-on-one. Chelsea survived the late onslaught, although Cucurella was shown his two yellows amid the chaos.

Still, Maresca will be happy enough with the win, which will only test his poker face further.