UEFA Europa Conference League
Chelsea 5-1 Shamrock Rovers
Chelsea ended Shamrock Rovers’ unbeaten status in Europe, and extended their own, as a first-half Marc Guiu hattrick put paid to any hope of a miraculous upset.
Having held out admirably in the opening 20 minutes, Barcelona academy product Guiu opened the scoring halfway through the opening period.
Poom struck back just two minutes later however, as a corner was half cleared, the Estonian clipped a deflected effort into Filip Jorgensen’s net from the edge of the box.
‘The Hoops’ wheeled away in celebration, having ticked a big box on their Stamford Bridge bucket list, but parity was short lived.
Poom found himself in the referee’s notebook just minutes later, before Guiu and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall struck in a dream crushing six minute burst. And as Rovers aimed to see it out until half-time, their resistance was broken once again by the Spaniard, who completed his hattrick four minutes into injury time.
Johnny Kenny struck twice at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin
Shamrock Rovers' European star Johnny Kenny is soon heading back to parent club Celtic.(Brian Lawless/PA)
The Blues line-up included Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke and European Championship winner Marc Cucurella amongst others, and it was the latter pair who combined for the left-back to lash in a fifth off his right.
Chelsea then rang the changes, with Harrison Murray-Campbell given a first-team debut by Enzo Maresca, as his side dominated territory and possession.
And although the hosts pressed for more, Rovers dug deep to hold out for the remaining 30-odd minutes.