Chelsea defeated Real Betis 4-1 in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday evening.
The Spanish side got off to a perfect start to the match and found themselves in the lead after just nine minutes. Betis showed in the opening few minutes that they weren't scared to press aggressively and get numbers forward on the counter-attack, and that is exactly how they scored their opening goal. Malo Gusto gave away the ball in his own half, and Betis broke quickly through Isco, and the Spaniard played a good ball out to Abdessamad Ezzalzouli, who fired his left-footed shot low and hard past Filip Jorgensen.
In the 21st minute, Betis had a very good chance to make it 2-0, and they probably should've taken it. Ezzalzouli was once again at the centre of play, this time, he was out on the left flank, and he got the beating of Gusto and played a perfect ball to Johnny Cardoso, who enjoyed a great first half, but the American hit his effort way over the bar from a strong area in the box, and he probably should've scored, if not at the very least got his effort on target.
The first half came to a close at 1-0 to the Spanish side and deservedly so. Although Chelsea enjoyed a lot of possession, they were not using it effectively enough and it was Betis who were looking the much more threatening side, especially on the counter-attack and when they were aggressively pressing.
In the 65th minute, Chelsea equalised through Enzo Fernandez. As he has done so many times this season, the Argentine timed a perfect run into the opposition's box and guided a good header past the Betis goalkeeper, Adrian. Fernandez's header and run into the box was fantastic, but Cole Palmer's cross was just as good, if not better.
Just six minutes after equalising, Chelsea took the lead. Cole Palmer was once again at the heart of the move and the Englishman brilliantly turned Jesus Rodriguez and just like he did for Chelsea's first goal, he put a great ball into the box and all Nicolas Jackson had to do was get any type of contact on the ball and he did exactly that and put the Blues 2-1 up in the Conference League final with around 20 minutes to go.
Shortly after scoring the goal which gave Chelsea a 2-1 lead in the match, Jackson found himself one-on-one with Adrian; however, tired legs played a part, and although there was significant space between him and the last Betis defender, he touched the ball too heavily and the experienced goalkeeper claimed it.
Chelsea's superb second-half performance was capped off in the 83rd minute when Jadon Sancho scored an excellent goal, which surely was the goal to secure Chelsea the Conference League. The ball was played to Sancho inside the box in the wide left area, and he curled his shot excellently into the top corner, leaving Adrian with no chance of saving it.
Just when you thought the second-half performance from Chelsea couldn't get any better, they scored a fourth goal in the 91st minute. The English side were once again lethal on the counter-attack, and the ball found Moises Caicedo on the edge of the box, and the Ecuadorian's effort took a slight deflection and went past Adrian.
Caicedo's goal was the last action of the match, and Chelsea were crowned Conference League champions after an emphatic second-half performance which saw them win 4-1.
Real Betis 1-4 Chelsea - Match Statistics
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Match Highlights
To follow soon...
Real Betis Player Ratings
Abdessamad Ezzalzouli celebrates scoring against Chelsea in the Conference League final
GK: Adrian - 5.5/10
Made a couple of routine saves, but he arguably could've and probably should've done better to keep out Fernandez's equalising goal as it wasn't directly into the bottom corner.
RB: Youssouf Sabaly - 7.5/10
Sabaly had an excellent defensive performance and kept Madueke very quiet, so quiet that he switched wings in the second half following the introduction of Sancho. In one-on-one situations, Sabaly was pretty much impossible to get past, but he got very tired towards the end of the match.
CB: Marc Bartra - 6/10
Put in a solid showing in the first half but didn't look comfortable at all in the second half as Betis' defence just seemed to collapse.
CB: Natan - 6/10
Just like Bartra, Natan had a solid showing in the first 45 minutes but looked completely different in the second half when Chelsea took full control of the match.
LB: Ricardo Rodriguez - 6.5/10
Had a solid showing in the first half but was substituted at half-time.
CM: Johnny Cardoso - 7/10
Had some really tidy moments on the ball in the first half, but also should've probably scored. After a strong first half, Cardoso couldn't replicate it in the second half, and he didn't really get involved.
CM: Pablo Fornals - 6/10
Struggled with the Chelsea press and intensity in the second half and was very easily bypassed despite playing in a deep position in the midfield.
AM: Isco - 7.5/10
Provided a tidy assist for Ezzalzouli's opening goal and absolutely ran the game at times. Just like most of the Betis players, Isco couldn't replicate his first-half performance in the second period, and he was practically anonymous.
RW: Antony - 6.5/10
Worked his socks off and pressed really well but didn't have many significant offensive moments in the match.
ST: Cedric Bakambu - 6/10
Worked hard but wasn't really effective at all up front on his own.
LW: Abdessamad Ezzalzouli - 8/10
Took his early goal very well and was a nightmare for Gusto to play against in the first half as he not only was relentlessly running at him, but he was doing so with a lot of quality. Unfortunately for the Moroccan, he was taken off early in the second half after suffering an injury.
SUB: Romain Perraud - 5.5/10
Wasn't great in possession of the ball and also struggled defensively after being introduced at half-time.
SUB: Jesus Rodriguez - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Aitor Ruibal - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Giovani Lo Celso - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Sergi Altimira - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
Chelsea Player Ratings
Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez
GK: Filip Jorgensen - 6.5/10
Made a few decent saves to keep Chelsea in the match, but didn't have that much to do as although Betis were good going forward, they didn't have many shots on target.
RB: Malo Gusto - 4.5/10
Sloppily gave the ball away early in the first half, which led to Betis' opening goal. Gusto was substituted at half-time following a poor first-half showing, where he looked extremely uncomfortable.
CB: Trevoh Chalobah - 7.5/10
Excellent on the ball and in the second half, a rock at the back.
CB: Benoit Badiashile - 6/10
Didn't put a foot wrong when he had possession of the ball and was playing out from the back, but defensively, he looked very uncomfortable, especially when Betis had players running at the Chelsea back line.
LB: Marc Cucurella - 7.5/10
Managed to keep Antony quiet despite the Brazilian's best efforts. Cucurella was very good in possession and solid defensively.
CM: Moises Caicedo - 8.5/10
A defensive rock in midfield. Caicedo worked his socks off in the middle of the park but also had moments of quality, and his performance was capped off with a good goal late into the match.
CM: Enzo Fernandez - 8.5/10
The Argentine managed to get a goal and an assist to his name and put in an excellent performance in the second half. Fernandez timed his run into the box excellently for his goal, which got Chelsea back into the match.
AM: Cole Palmer - 9/10 (Man of the Match)
Although Palmer didn't get on the scoresheet, he arguably won the tie for Chelsea. Palmer provided two excellent assists for Chelsea's first two goals and ran the show in the second half.
RW: Pedro Neto - 5/10
Lacked quality most of the time he was on the ball. Neto was shut down by Rodriguez in the first half and Perraud in the second half, and he looked like he was lacking confidence when trying to drive at players.
ST: Nicolas Jackson - 8/10
Worked incredibly hard, especially in the second half, where he pressed from the front. Jackson's hard work was rewarded with a goal, and he deserved it.
LW: Noni Madueke - 5.5/10
Shut down by Sabaly and didn't really contribute much going forward.
SUB: Reece James - 7.5/10
His experience completely transformed Chelsea in the second half, and they looked a much better team with him on the pitch.
SUB: Jadon Sancho - 8/10
Scored a phenomenal goal, which secured Chelsea the victory.
SUB: Levi Colwill - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Marc Guiu - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.