Napoli 2-3 Chelsea: The Blues looked safe with an early lead given to them by Enzo Fernandez’s penalty but required Joao Pedro’s brace after the hosts flipped the game on its head
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Joao Pedro (left) (Agostino Gemito/PA)open image in gallery
Joao Pedro (left) (Agostino Gemito/PA)
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Joao Pedro led a Chelsea fightback that saw them through to the Champions League last 16 with two second-half goals to beat Napoli 3-2 at the Diego Maradona Stadium.
They had looked like being left to count the cost of poor form on the road in Europe and were facing a third away defeat in four games when Rasmus Hojlund gave Napoli the lead late in the first half.
Needing a win to dodge February’s play-off round, the Blues gambled with the three at the back with Reece James and Marc Cucurella in unfamiliar central defensive roles, a departure from the norm that appeared aimed at countering the system favoured by their opponents, and the move showed early promise.
Chelsea looked safe with an early lead given to them by Enzo Fernandez’s penalty, when suddenly they were stunned by 23-year-old academy graduate Antonio Vergara, whose first-ever goal on his sixth senior start will not soon be forgotten in the city.
Cole Palmer – reportedly ready to end his two-and-a-half year stay in west London and return to Manchester – was on the bench after missing the win at Crystal Palace, and following Napoli’s goal there was no one for Chelsea who appeared able to take control of the ball and make something happen.
Hojlund gave the hosts the lead and at that stage the job looked too big for Chelsea, who had underwhelmed.
Then Pedro, out of nothing, turned everything around, scoring first with a wonderful drive from range then out-pacing the defence to win it in the 82nd minute.
Before all of that, Chelsea had started well. After 17 minutes, James’s free-kick was handled in the wall by Juan Jesus as he leapt to block.
Facing a cacophony of hostility from home fans, Fernandez stayed calm and placed his penalty confidently into the bottom corner.
Joao Pedro scored his first with a wonderful drive from range (Agostino Gemito/PA)open image in gallery
Joao Pedro scored his first with a wonderful drive from range (Agostino Gemito/PA)
It was the cue for a sustained spell of Napoli pressure that would turn the game around.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo got round the back of Chelsea’s defence and draw a save from Robert Sanchez at his near post, and space appeared readily to be opening up either side of the three central defenders as Napoli targeted the wings.
The equaliser fairly reflected their growing control. A botched clearance from Andrey Santos in the right-back position went nowhere but straight into Napoli’s possession in midfield.
Mathias Olivera nodded the ball up to Vergara, who drove into the box then pirouetted by Wesley Fofana with balletic poise before beating Sanchez via the post.
More wide open spaces then appeared inside the penalty area for Olivera to exploit, gliding onto the ball with bags of room to pick out Hojlund, who got in front of Fofana and scored with a first-time finish.
Blues boss Liam Rosenior sent on Palmer at the break for some creative energy but it was Pedro who found the moment of genius to level things. His strike from 25 yards into the top corner was his best since joining Chelsea and potentially a valuable one.
Now it was Chelsea’s turn to dominate and probe for the goal that would give them command of their European fate.
It duly arrived, Pedro making himself a Blues hero to send them through.
PA