‘Hugely impressive’ Bees were unlucky, says Frank

Thomas Frank felt his Brentford side were unfortunate not to get a point against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

A late Bryan Mbeumo goal was not enough for the Bees as a first-half header from Marc Cucurella and a Nicolas Jackson finish moved the Blues within two points of Premier League leaders Liverpool.

Brentford had two clear-cut opportunities to level the game with the score at 1-0, with keeper Robert Sanchez denying Christian Norgaard and Fabio Carvalho hitting the crossbar from point-blank range.

“I think we played a very good game,” said boss Frank. “We were in many ways unlucky not to get something out of it.

“Our second half was fantastic. We more or less went toe to toe with one of the favourites to win the Premier League.

“The second half was hugely impressive. There were two big moments with Norgaard and Fabio, then we scored one and put pressure on in the end.

“You could see they took set-pieces short and ran the ball into the corner to try and protect the lead.

“The way they celebrated the 2-0 [goal] and the win, you could see it meant a lot to them.”

Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella was shown a second yellow card after the final whistle following a clash with Kevin Schade and Vitaly Janelt.

Although Frank was unsure about what took place in the lead up to the incident, he was disappointed with the way Spanish defender acted.

“They won the game; they should just walk away and be happy. I would want my players to walk away and be happy,” he said.

“I think he played on a foul which is fair. Personal opinion: I think Cucurella is a top player but I don’t like it when players go down pretending to be hit in the face.

“I don’t want my players to do it and I will happily say it to Cucurella.”

Frank confirmed that striker Igor Thiago missed out with a minor calf injury and he is hopeful the Brazilian can return for Wedneday’s EFL Cup quarter-final against Newcastle.