David Raya saves Brentford at the death to earn point in derby with Chelsea

Graham Potter tried both approaches. Chelsea’s head coach went with the academy boys from the start and he turned to the expensive cohort on his bench when he needed a winner. By the end, though, Chelsea’s attack still looked in need of further refinement. The onslaught had taken too long to arrive and, although the Gtech Community Stadium was an anxious place as the minutes ticked away, nothing summed up Brentford’s defiance more than Ethan Pinnock throwing himself in front of Raheem Sterling to deny the forward a certain goal.

A Chelsea goal would have been undeserved. There were sniping runs from Christian Pulisic, glimmers from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and a thrilling cameo from Carney Chukwuemeka. Yet Brentford held out and were entitled to argue that they would have won had Ivan Toney not become the latest striker to discover that Kepa Arrizabalaga has been transformed into one of the best goalkeepers in the league.

Ultimately it was a reminder that Chelsea, who were ragged for long spells, remain a work in progress under Potter. His five-match winning run is over and he will need an improvement against Manchester United on Saturday.

At first this had felt like one of those nights when Chelsea would end up pining for N’Golo Kanté. There was a glaring lack of robustness in the middle without the Frenchman, who is out for four months after undergoing hamstring surgery, and it was underlined by the sight of Jorginho straining to keep up with Bryan Mbeumo when the Brentford striker tore down the left during the opening minutes. In truth it was barely a contest and Chelsea were fortunate to escape when Toney took a heavy touch after fastening on to Mbeumo’s cross, the angle too tight for a shot and Marc Cucurella able