Giroud a bright spot in the gloom
SOMEHOW through the murk and gloom, Chelsea reached the knockout stages of the Europa League thanks to Olivier Giroud’s goal. But it was a good job the fog here in Borisov shrouded most of this forgettable performance.
Giroud’s stooping header – his first goal for Chelsea in 794 minutes – was a rare highlight of a dark night in Belarus.
But Chelsea will not care about that this morning, after increasing their unbeaten streak to 17 games and qualifying for the last 32 of the competition.
The futuristic Borisov Arena looks like a spaceship that has been dropped into the woods in this small town. And the fog added to the air of eerie unreality about this ‘Outer Limits’ kind of night.
The conditions could have been an excuse but this was Chelsea’s poorest performance under Maurizio Sarri. And on a night when the Italian was struggling with a fever as well.
Three times BATE hit the woodwork and Chelsea’s
BATE BORISOV
threadbare defence was stretched to the limit. This was without doubt one they got away with.
Sarri said: “What pleased me about tonight was just the result. We didn’t play well. They were conditions to play badly – the cold, the opponents, the pitch, everything. But we could have done better.
“The first objective was to qualify. The second is to win the group. We need one more point for that. But it’s important because now we don’t talk again about this competition until February.
“I’m pleased for Olivier. He’s a very important player for us, and strikers want to score.”
Sarri made seven changes from the team who beat Crystal Palace on Sunday, with Eden Hazard surprisingly making his first start since missing three games with back problems. But the Belgian had a poor night. Chelsea started shakily and were almost shocked by the hosts as the ball was given away in midfield and Dmitri Baga surged forward to hit the post with a rasping 20-yard drive.
From the resulting corner Chelsea were indebted to goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who plunged to make a superb one-handed reaction save from Stanislav Dragun’s header.
Gradually Chelsea gained some control and Giroud headed just wide from Hazard’s corner – but it was poor stuff from the Premier League side.
The breakthrough finally came seven minutes after halftime. Jorginho sent Emerson galloping down the left and, when the Brazilian crossed, Giroud stooped to glance his header past goalkeeper Denis P W D L CHELSEA (Q) 4 4 0 0 MOL VIDI 4 2 0 2 PAOK SALONIKA 4 1 0 3 BATE BORISOV 4 1 0 3 F 6 3 4 4 A PTS 1 12 3 6 5 3 8 3 Scherbitski, who should have done better. It was Chelsea’s first shot on target.
Right away Sarri’s side had yet another major escape as Dragun fired in a drive and Nikolai Signevich’s touch diverted the ball on to the angle of bar and post. Then, as Chelsea wobbled, Alexei Rios burst into the area but blazed his shot over.
Chelsea were then twice denied by Scherbitski, who turned Ross Barkley’s shot around the post and tipped over Gary Cahill’s header. Borisov battled right to the end and Evgeni Berezkin hit the post with a whiplash drive.
Chelsea, once again on this scrappy night, scrambled the ball away and somehow survived. Then, thankfully, the fog came back down.
BATE BORISOV (4-3-3): CHELSEA (4-3-3): Goal: Referee: