As Brentford tore away down the length of the pitch and Bryan Mbeumo slid the ball home in stoppage time, they did not just extend their lead over Chelsea. They extended their lead over the whole of London.
The Bees’ 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday kept alive their long unbeaten run against rivals from the capital city. Since a goalless draw with Chelsea in October 2022, Brentford have avoided defeat in 13 straight London derbies.
That run includes victories over West Ham, Fulham and Tottenham, and Saturday marked the third straight league win for Brentford as visitors to Stamford Bridge.
Brentford’s record against London rivals is outstanding, and it was a major reason for their record-breaking ninth-place finish last season.
The Bees started this campaign slowly, sitting in 15th place and winless since August until last weekend.
First-team coach Justin Cochrane said he felt that Brentford had been “incredible unlucky” in not picking up more points at the beginning of the season — a view echoed by manager Thomas Frank.
Brentford have returned from the break to beat Burnley comprehensively on home turf last weekend, before earning their latest victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. It is a week that has fired Frank’s side up to 10th place and given them the sort of momentum not felt since last season.
The gradually improving performances of the returning Neal Maupay have no doubt helped, as well as attacking vim and verve from Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa.
Mathias Jensen has been Brentford’s player of the season so far in midfield, while there is a fast-developing synergy between Brentford’s back three of Ethan Pinnock, Kristoffer Ajer and summer signing Nathan Collins.
If a 13-game unbeaten run against sides from the capital is a statistical quirk rather than the result of a conscious target, the fact Brentford are finally starting to take points from good performances has had nothing to do with fortune.
Frank asked his players earlier this month to “keep doing the right things”. They did that, they trusted him, and now they have turned a corner.
