Brentford, managed by former Manchester City player Uwe Rosler, had a few players in their team that caught my eye, notably left winger Harry Forrester, skipper Jonathan Douglas (a shaggy-haired, bearded character in the mould of Oasis), Clayton Donaldson (a powerful & pacey striker) and the hardworking Adam Forshaw. They are a team currently riding high in third spot in League One, and looking at the way they played, they certainly deserve their position.
Rosler's stratgey worked beautifully; pressing Chelsea's players in midfield and thus not giving them the space they like to work with and create. He also played striker Donaldson at right wing, which forced Ashley Cole and Ryan Bertrand to spend more time defending rather than going the other way. He also allowed John Terry a large part of possession back in the Chelsea backline, when the Chelsea skipper's strength is not particularly in ball distribution.
Rafael Benitez may also have regretted playing Ross Turnbull ahead of Petr Cech, as the Chelsea reserve custodian looked far from assured and was arguably at fault for both of Brentford's goals. Marcello Trotta scored the first from a Turnbull parry, then Oscar delievred a superb goal around 10 minutes after half-time to equalise. Against the odds, though, Brentford came back to take the lead again, when substitute Tom Adeyemi was adjuged to be brought down by Turnbull for a penalty. Forrester despatched the spot-kick brilliantly and Chelsea were in trouble again.
With the League One side closing in on a historic victory, Benitez threw his last card and sent on Demba Ba in place of Bertrand. Just when maybe the whole world was wondering if the listless Torres should have been taken off instead, the Spaniard, assisted and abetted by Ba, came up with a splendid curler to level the tie, just seven minutes from time. I can't wait for the replay at Stamford Bridge.
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