For an hour at the Gtech, Chelsea looked like a side that had fixed something. Then a corner arrived, nobody attacked it, and the evening fell apart.
Brentford scored three times after the break to beat their west London neighbours 3-0 on Friday night, stretching an unbeaten start to six games and lifting themselves into third place. Only Arsenal and Manchester City sit above them.
How Brentford broke Chelsea down
The opener came in the 61st minute. A deep corner was nodded back across goal by Jannik Schuster and Jaidon Anthony, completely unmarked, headed in from a yard out. Emi Martinez stayed on his line. It was Anthony's first goal since joining from Burnley in the summer.
Chelsea then did what teams do when they are behind: plenty of ball, plenty of territory, very little end product. With seven minutes left Kevin Schade broke clear, Martinez saved his tame effort, and Igor Thiago tapped the rebound into an empty net.
Fabio Carvalho added a third in stoppage time, finishing at the back post after a deflected Schade cross.
"I feel like I have played," Keith Andrews told BBC Match of the Day afterwards. "It's important that you enjoy evenings like this because you work so hard and there are so many tough days in this game."
Chelsea cannot stop conceding goals
Xabi Alonso started the season with back-to-back wins and goals everywhere. That feels a while ago now. This is three Premier League games without a win, seven goals conceded in that run, 12 in the league in total and another three in the Carabao Cup.
Alonso brought in Jordan Henderson and Valentin Barco to tighten the middle of the pitch. Both were booed all night, Henderson as a former Brentford player and Barco for his behaviour with Argentina at the World Cup, and both did their jobs well enough for an hour. The trouble was what it cost at the other end.
Cole Palmer showed flashes. Without the injured Joao Pedro, though, Chelsea had nobody to finish the moves he started. This was the first time they have failed to score under Alonso.
Schuster and Thiago give Brentford something to build on
Jannik Schuster, the 20-year-old Austrian signed in the summer, was the best defender on the pitch and set up the first goal. He keeps looking like a bargain.
Igor Thiago mattered more. Twenty-two league goals last season, then a start to this one so flat that his confidence had visibly drained away. Getting off the mark in a derby, in front of that crowd, should help.
The international break arrives now, which nobody enjoys. Brentford supporters will mind it less than most.
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