Chelsea vs Brentford: Joao Pedro ‘onside by a toe’ as VAR awards goal in Premier League

Joao Pedro scored his first goal in five matches in all competitions to give Chelsea the lead against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday with a strike ruled onside following a lengthy Video Assistant Referee check.

Bees right-back Michael Kayode’s attempted clearance came off Blues midfielder Enzo Fernandez, dropping for Brazil forward Joao Pedro to lash in the 26th-minute opener at Stamford Bridge.

“I bigged Kayode up for his one-on-one battle with [Alejandro] Garnacho, but that’s not one he’ll want to watch back”, former Premier League defender Curtis Davies told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“He wildly swung at the ball. [Joao Pedro’s] onside by a toe. It hits Joao Pedro, who takes a touch and rifles it in with his left foot from about eight yards out.”

Chelsea vs Brentford: Joao Pedro goal

The goal put Chelsea on course to rise above their opponents into sixth in the Premier League, although they were grateful to goalkeeper Robert Sanchez for an excellent save to stop Tosin Adarabioyo’s block from going in as an own goal after the defender tried to thwart Mikkel Damsgaard’s effort.

New Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior was taking charge of his first home league game after a 5-1 win at second-tier Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round and a 3-2 defeat at home to Arsenal in their EFL Cup semi-finals first leg.

Former Strasbourg and Hull City coach Rosenior was managing in the Premier League for the first time and aiming to end his new club’s five-match winless run in the top flight.

Chelsea team vs Brentford

Cole Palmer and Reece James returned from minor injuries to start for Chelsea, while Moises Caicedo was back following the midfielder’s suspension for the 3-2 home defeat to Arsenal in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.

New manager Liam Rosenior made five changes from that defeat to the Gunners. Adarabioyo came in at centre-back, as did winger Garnacho. Liam Delap was also back on the bench illness but Malo Gusto and Jamie Gittens remained unavailable.

Chelsea starting XI: Robert Sanchez, Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Cucurella, Pedro Neto, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Alejandro Garnacho, Joao Pedro

Chelsea substitutes: Filip Jorgensen, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Andrey Santos, Jorrel Hato, Wesley Fofana, Tyrique George, Josh Acheampong, Marc Guiu

Brentford team vs Chelsea

Brentford boss Keith Andrews made eight changes from the 2-0 win at second-tier Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup third round a week earlier but only one from their 3-0 home win over Sunderland in their previous league game on January 7.

Mikkel Damsgaard came in at the expense of midfielder Keane Lewis-Potter. New forward Kaye Furo was on the bench but midfielder Jordan Henderson failed a late fitness test.

Striker Dango Ouattara was back from representing Burkina Faso at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and was on the bench.

Brentford starting XI: Caoimhin Kelleher, Michael Kayode, Kristoffer Ajer, Nathan Collins, Rico Henry, Mathias Jensen, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Mikkel Damsgaard, Vitaly Janelt, Kevin Schade, Igor Thiago

Brentford substitutes: Hakon Valdimarsson, Aaron Hickey, Sepp van den Berg, Ethan Pinnock, Reiss Nelson, Dango Ouattara, Keane Lewis-Potter, Romelle Donovan, Kaye Furo

How to watch Chelsea vs Brentford: TV channel, online stream

Chelsea vs Brentford started at 15:00 GMT (10:00 ET / 07:00 PT) on Saturday. It is not being shown live in the UK.

Chelsea vs Brentford stats

• Only Manchester City (52%) and Arsenal (43.8%) have spent a larger amount of time in a winning game state than Brentford (37.2%) in the Premier League this season, while the Bees lead the competition for both goals (13) and expected goals (10.6) in the final 15 minutes of matches in 2025-26
• Since Maurizio Sarri in August 2018 (3-0 win over Huddersfield Town), one head coach has won their first Premier League game in charge of Chelsea (D4 L2), with Graham Potter beating Crystal Palace in October 2022 (D4 L2 including interims)
• Chelsea’s Liam Delap scored eight goals in 31 league games for Liam Rosenior’s Hull City in 2023-24, his second-most prolific season behind his 12 Premier League goals for Ipswich Town last term. Among players with at least 450 minutes in the competition this season, only six average more runs in behind per 90 than Delap (13.1)
• No Premier League duo have combined for more goals this season than Brentford’s Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade (4), with the German assisting three of the Brazilian’s goals. In 202526 only Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard (16), Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins (16) and Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland (14) have created more chances for one another than the Brentford pair (13)
• Chelsea have only won one of their previous nine Premier League games (D5 L3), while they’ve conceded the opening goal in each of their last three league games; they last did so in four straight matches in November 2023
• Brentford have lost 11 of their last 15 away London derbies in the Premier League (W3 D1), conceding at least twice in each defeat. Indeed, they’ve lost each of their last three by a 2-0 scoreline
• Brentford are unbeaten in each of their last six Premier League games (W4 D2), only enjoying longer unbeaten runs in the competition in March 2023 (12 games) and September 2023 (7)
• Only Manchester City (40.2) and Manchester United (38.3) have a higher xG total in the Premier League this season than Chelsea (37.3), but rank 17th for their differential between goals (34) and their xG (-3.3).
• Chelsea have won just one of their last eight Premier League games against Brentford (D4 L3), a 2-1 victory in this exact fixture last season
• None of Brentford’s nine away league games against Chelsea have been drawn, with the Bees winning four and losing five

Premier League results and fixtures this weekend

Saturday’s action began with Manchester United starting new interim manager Michael Carrick’s tenure with a 2-0 home win over Manchester City.

All matches start at 15:00 GMT / 10:00 ET / 07:00 PT unless stated otherwise.

Saturday, January 17

Man United 2-0 Man City

Chelsea vs Brentford

Leeds United vs Fulham

Liverpool vs Burnley

Sunderland vs Crystal Palace

Tottenham vs West Ham

Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal (17:30)

Sunday, January 18

Wolves vs Newcastle (14:00)

Aston Villa vs Everton (16:30)

Monday, January 19

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Bournemouth (20:00)