Brentford’s impressive start to the season gathered further momentum with a 3-0 win over neighbours Chelsea, a result that gave the club its first home victory over the Blues since 1938. It also lifted Brentford to third in the table, with the side still unbeaten and, on this evidence, playing with a coherence and discipline that has become the hallmark of their early-season form.
Keith Andrews celebrated the final whistle by tipping his head back and roaring at the sky, a reaction that spoke to the scale of the result. “It was a performance I felt was bubbling,” he said afterwards. “I could see it in the players’ eyes over the last two days. They were very focused, very determined.”
The depth behind the result is notable. Thiago is a starting striker for Brazil, Vitaly Janelt has just been called up by Jürgen Klopp to the Germany squad, Mikkel Damsgaard remains criminally underrated in the eyes of many, and Kevin Schade is quietly turning into one of the most efficient forwards in the Premier League. Jannik Schuster, signed for around £14m in the summer from RB Salzburg, has apparently inherited the spirit of Franco Baresi.
For Chelsea, the picture is less comfortable. Those early-season suggestions that they might be the team best placed to challenge Arsenal are beginning to look extremely over-optimistic. The two chaotic wins with which they opened the campaign were always difficult to read: useful points picked up on the way to a more solid structure, or evidence of significant problems. After three games without a win, and with 12 goals conceded in five games this season, it is beginning to look like the latter.
The comparison is difficult to avoid: as one side flail amid an orgy of structured spending, their far less wealthy neighbours are thriving on a clear plan and a sense of direction. It is, of course, very early days, but the current top six already makes for striking reading even at this stage.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Wrexham host Southampton on Saturday, with the Welsh side looking to bounce back from a harrowing 6-0 shellacking at West Ham eight days ago. Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, Wrexham’s co-chairmen, have previewed the meeting with the Saints in a video.
Possibly more interesting still is the progress of the new Kop Stand at the Racehorse Ground, which has to be said looks magnificent.