Chelsea let slip of an early lead to draw 2-2 in Baku and leave two precious League Phase points on the table.
It all started so well for Enzo Maresca’s team. The manager picked a strong side from the start, and it got even stronger after 8 minutes when Romeo Lavia limped off and was replaced by star of the moment Moises Caicedo.
When the Blues took the lead, one would have been tempted to think it was going to be an easy night. Andrey Santos carried the ball in transition and spread it right to Estevao Willian. The winger cut inside and shot at the near post, sneaking the ball in and making himself our top scorer on the season in the process.
But instead of building on that, Chelsea collapsed. A couple of horrific mistakes from Jorrel Hato really cost his team. First his attempt to shepherd the ball back to his goalkeeper led to disaster when he was robbed of it and Leandro Andrade pounced on a loose ball to level the scores.
Things got even worse for the Dutchman ten minutes later when a cross caught his arm, and Qarabag scored the spot kick to put Chelsea behind.
Maresca made changes at half time and one of the new arrivals, Alejandro Garnacho, burst through to score not long after the break. But there was no wave of pressure after that – Chelsea didn’t create much and could easily have been caught out by their brave and hungry opposition as they pushed to win it.
MOTM – Estevao Willian
Analysis
Chelsea warm up in Baku.
Chelsea warm up in Baku. (Photo by Aziz Karimov/Getty Images)
Enzo Maresca once again fell between two stools in terms of his selection – he picked a strong team but didn’t get the three points. This was a great opportunity to make it three wins on
There was really no excuse for not getting the job done. It’s a long trip out there and not an amazing pitch, but Chelsea should be tearing teams like this apart, or at the very least looking impenetrable. Instead they look as flimsy as ever.
Leaving out Josh Acheampong is another frustrating decision from the coach. The young defender has done so well when he’s played, and was fresh after not starting at the weekend. The decision to use Hato and Tosin ahead of him was just bizarre.
Teams
Qarabag FK
Mateusz Kochalski
de Barros Matheus Silva
Bahlul Mustafazade
Kevin Medina
Elvin Cafarquliyev
Rodrigues Pedro Bicalho
Marko Jankovic
Kady Borges
Leandro Andrade
Abdellah Zoubir
Camilo Duran
Substitutes
Sahruddin Mahammadaliyev
Fabijan Buntic
Samy Mmaee
Chriso Kouakou
Nariman Akhundzade (s 61′)
Emmanuel Addai (s 31′)
de Castro Daniel (s 75′)
Oleksii Kashchuk (s 75′)
Toral Bayramov (s 61′)
Abbas Huseynov
Hikmat Cabrayilzada
Badavi Huseynov
Chelsea
Robert Sanchez
Reece James
Tosin Adarabioyo
Jorrel Hato
Marc Cucurella
Andrey Santos
Romeo Lavia
Estevao
Joao Pedro
Jamie Gittens
Tyrique George
Substitutes
Filip Jorgensen
Max Merrick
Enzo Fernandez (s 46′)
Liam Delap (s 46′)
Trevoh Chalobah
Moises Caicedo (s 8′)
Malo Gusto
Wesley Fofana
Josh Acheampong
Marc Guiu
Facundo Buonanotte (s 71′)
Alejandro Garnacho (s 46′)
Stats
Stat Qarabag FK Chelsea
Ball possession 39% 61%
Expected goals (xG) 1.26 1.63
Total shots 9 16
Shots on target 3 4
Big chances 3 0
Big chances missed 2 0
Accurate passes 244 (78%) 436 (88%)
Fouls committed 9 19
Corners 2 8
Quote of the game
“They are not able to play every three days. The Club World Cup affected us a lot. We tried to rotate. When we win, nobody mentions that but when we don’t, everyone is focused on that.” – Enzo Maresca defends his rotation policy.