The lowdown on Chelsea 2 Servette 0 – second-half goals put Blues in the driving seat in Euro tie
Chelsea might have expected to put this Conference League play-off tie well and truly to bed on home soil to make the second leg in Geneva next Thursday a mere formality, but this was a laboured display at the Bridge and they still have a little work to do.
Here is the lowdown on the match.
THE LINE-UPS
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Disasi (Gusto 78), Badiashile, Adarabioyo, Caicedo (Lavia 84), De Palma Veiga, Neto (Madueke 58), Dewsbury-Hall, Mudryk, Nkunku (Fernandez 58), Guiu (Palmer 58). Subs not used: Sanchez, Cucurella, Bettinelli, Jackson, Colwill.
Servette: Frick, Tsunemoto, Rouiller, Severin, Mazikou, Doulin (Vonmoos 69), Ondoua, Stevanovic (Antunes 61), Cognat (Outtara 85), Kutesa (Magnin 69), Crivelli (Guillemenot 61). Subs not used: Mall, Baron, Besson, Sawadogo, Weber, Srdanovic, Frankhauser.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
A penalty from Christopher Nkunku at the start of the second half – which he won himself – calmed Enzo Maresca’s steadily fraying nerves. Noni Madueke came off the bench to blast a second on 76 minutes to give the hosts some breathing space.
TACTICAL APPROACH
Nine changes from the defeat to Manchester City on Sunday was asking for it to be disjointed and that it was. Attempts to break quickly wide through Mikhailo Mudryk and Pedro Neto was the initial plan – with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Nkunku supplying Marc Guiu from deeper. But a lack of precision told. It needed defensive errors from the Swiss to open up the path to victory.
STAR MAN
Noni Madueke. Early on, the creativity of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was eye-catching but it was arguably the cameo from Madueke which proved most significant. No-one looked really outstanding throughout. A fine strike to double the lead showed Madueke’s quality and was a fine riposte to being left out at the start at the expense of newcomer Pedro Neto. Moises Caicedo, who was captain for the night, wasn’t bad.
BEST MOMENT
Apart from the Matthew Harding chanting the name of the now sadly-departed Conor Gallagher, it was Maresca’s words of comfort and warm embrace for striker Marc Guiu as he was withdrawn not long after an astonishing miss after having been gifted an easy chance by keeper Jeremy Frick. The 18-year-old ex-Barcelona man looked as if he needed consoling.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
The general sloppiness was exasperating for home fans. Not just in attack but also at the back. Had Servette showed a little more composure in the final third, they could have made life far more difficult for a Chelsea side still lacking a clear identity. They came close a couple of times to bagging a late goal which would have given them more hope for the second leg.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
This is a team with individuals who have quality but we wait to see a cohesive whole. Chelsea fans booed in exasperation after a desperate first half. They may have been a bit better after the break, especially after a triple-substitution saw the arrival of Fernandez, Palmer and Madueke. But everyone knows they are watching a work in youthful progress. Unconvincing on the whole but they got the job half done.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“Cole [Palmer] felt something [hamstring] but he looks fine. We already checked him and he looks fine. Hopefully it’s not any problem and he will be available for Sunday’s game.
“The message is quite clear: We are in a moment that we are learning managing the game. Probably in some moments [retaining possession] was the right thing to do – but in the opposite side [of the pitch]. For me the intention to keep the ball is the correct one when you are 2-0 up but we tried to manage the ball in last 15 minutes in our side [of the pitch]. Overall it was important to win the game.
“Noni, I like him. The only problem with him probably is that he has to understand he needs consistency. He’s a good player and he’s doing well with us since we started.”