Brentford B were narrowly defeated 2-1 by a Chelsea XI at Cobham Training Centre this afternoon.
Lukas Talbro gave the visitors the lead in the opening moments of the first half. Loic Remy and Dominic Solanke scored a goal in each half to help The Blues snatch a hard-fought victory.
Five of the First Team yet to feature much this season were given the chance to get some minutes under their belts. Philipp Hofmann, Emmanuel Ledesma and Andreas Bjelland started the match while Josh McEachran and Konstantin Kerschbaumer were brought on at half time.
Chelsea lined up a side of very few youngsters and certainly had the advantage on paper. Lucas Piazon, Loic Remy, Michael Essien, Patrick Bamford, Kenneth Omeruo, Christian Atsu and Kennedy all played a part in the match.
Despite this, Brentford took the lead in just over three minutes of football. James Ferry released Talbro down the right wing, the Danish fullback then cut inside and drilled the ball into the net with his left foot.
Chelsea responded with a goal that highlighted the senior experience within their ranks. Remy collected the ball in the centre of the park, turned his marker before accelerating towards goal. His cool finish was then slotted under the onrushing Dominic Kurasik.
Kurasik had to be alert to save two more efforts in quick succession shortly after the equaliser. First a dipping shot needed a strong hand to palm it over the crossbar, then he was down bravely to stop a one-on-one with Solanke after a swift counter attack.
With 20 minutes gone, Hofmann went close. He volleyed a cross from Ilias Chatzitheordoridis into the ground and watched as it flew agonisingly north of the left apex.
Chris Mepham was the next to go close, heading a corner straight at Chelsea's goalkeeper from close range. Hofmann had a very similar chance to get The Bees back in front but he couldn't take it either, the ball instead whistled past the outside of the near post.
B Team Head Coach Flemming Pedersen made three changes at half time; Kyjuon Marsh-Brown, McEachran and Kerschbaumer replaced Ferry, Ledesma and Hofmann.
Kerschbaumer almost notched an assist soon after, swinging in a free-kick that Mepham connected with at the far post. Again, the Chelsea keeper came to the rescue by getting his body in the way and conceding a corner. That very corner was then nodded goalwards by Bjelland only to be parried away by the goalkeeper.
Chelsea took the lead in rather fortunate circumstances on the hour. A scramble on the right edge of the penalty area ended with the ball popping out to Solanke in the centre. He took one touch to set himself before burying a shot into the bottom corner.
More substitutions from each side saw momentum shift this way and that as time went on. Kurasik was on top form to deny Bamford in the 71st minute. The 22-year-old striker, on loan at Norwich City last season, slipped his way through the defence to shoot from a tight angle but the young keeper was down quickly to stop it.
Brentford came very close to equalising in the final stages. A lot of pressure from Pedersen's side had The Blues in a frenzy at the back. The ball couldn't be cleared and even when it was, it was played right back down towards the Chelsea goal.
Kerschbaumer had the final effort, a shot that fizzed past the right post in the dying seconds. He had worked some space on the edge of the box after subs Marc Rio and Reece Cole combined to square the ball, but it was narrowly wide.
Brentford B: Dominic Kurasik; Lukas Talbro, Chris Mepham, Andreas Bjelland, Ilias Chatzitheordoridis; James Ferry, Zain Westbrooke, Emmanuel Ledesma; Herson Alves, Philipp Hofmann, Justin Shaibu
Second Half: Dominic Kurasik; Lukas Talbro (sub Nathan Fox 65 mins), Andreas Bjelland (sub Manny Onariase 65 mins), Chris Mepham (sub Jarvis Edobor 65 mins), Ilias Chatzitheordoridis (sub Reece Cole 75 mins); Josh McEachran, Zain Westbrooke (sub Trialist 65 mins), Konstantin Kerschbaumer; Kyjuon Marsh-Brown, Justin Shaibu (sub Marc Rio 75 mins), Danny Parish (sub Bradley Clayton 85 mins)