FA Cup 2016/17: Chelsea 4-0 Brentford, 5 Talking Points

Chelsea brushed past Brentford in their FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge with a resounding 4-0 win. The Blues were in control for the most part and managed to defeat Brentford without too much worry.

There were a few questionable moments for Chelsea at the back and Asmir Begovic had to step in to make some saves, but in the end, the London club got their clean sheet and advanced to the last sixteen of the Emirates FA Cup.

Here are the talking points from the game:

#1 Chelsea’s youngsters were given a start under Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte played more or less Chelsea’s second string side against Brentford in this FA Cup tie. There were starts handed out to Nathan Ake at left back, Kurt Zouma in central defence, Nathaniel Chalobah in midfield and Ruben-Loftus Cheek on the left flank.

All the Blues youngsters performed admirably in the game. Ake showed his composure in defence at both left-back and then centre-back, after his successful spell at Bournemouth, Zouma made some crucial tackles and clearances in the back-three and demonstrated his power and aerial ability.

Chalobah kept running and linked up well with the Blues midfield and Loftus-Cheek was a constant threat and almost got on the scoresheet after a number of great attempts – one a shot from 25 yards out, which produced a great save from Brentford’s keeper Daniel Bentley and another dinked effort that bounced off the cross-bar.

It was a good outing from Chelsea’s young players who combined well and supported the senior players on the pitch. Despite having a very successful youth side over the last five years, Jose Mourinho preferred to not give the Chelsea youngsters too much game-time while he was at the helm. However, under Conte, the young Blues are showing the faith their manager has in them with good all-round performances.