By SCM Sports Correspondent at Stamford Bridge
STAMFORD BRIDGE breathed a collective sigh of relief as Liam Rosenior’s Premier League era kicked off with a hard-fought 2-0 win over wasteful Brentford.
A Brazilian beauty from Joao Pedro and a trademark “Cold” Cole Palmer penalty were enough to sink the Bees, though the visitors will be buzzing with rage after missing a hive-full of sitters.
After a rocky few weeks that saw Enzo Maresca shown the door and fans protesting outside the ground, Rosenior needed a hero.
He found two in his star-studded attack and a mountain of a man in goal.
PEDRO’S PRE-CISION
The breakthrough came on 26 minutes, and it was pure South American samba.
Enzo Fernandez, buzzing in the engine room all afternoon, charged down a clearance that fell perfectly for Joao Pedro.
The Brazilian didn’t need a second invitation. He swivelled like a ballroom dancer and lashed a bullet into the top corner, leaving Caoimhin Kelleher clutching at thin air.
The Bridge erupted, then fell silent for a nail-biting VAR check for offside, before the party resumed in earnest. 1-0.
SANCHEZ SAVES THE DAY
But if Pedro provided the spark, Robert Sanchez provided the shield. Brentford’s Kevin Schade will be seeing the Chelsea keeper in his nightmares tonight.
Twice the German was clean through, and twice Sanchez produced “How did he do that?” saves to keep the Blues ahead.
Tosin Adarabioyo was a “monster in the air” (as the locals say) until a late injury worry, but it was Sanchez’s heroic foot-save from Schade that truly kept the Rosenior revolution on track.
ICE IN HIS VEINS
As the Bees pushed for a leveller, they shot themselves in the foot. Nathan Collins played a back-pass so short it wouldn’t have reached the corner shop, forcing Kelleher to wipe out substitute Liam Delap.
Up stepped the man for the big occasion. Cole Palmer, cooler than a January morning in Fulham, sent Kelleher the wrong way from the spot in the 76th minute to wrap up the points. 2-0.
It wasn’t the “free-flowing” football Rosenior promised—a mid-week sickness bug clearly left the Blues looking a bit green—but at the Bridge, winning is the only medicine that matters.
