BLUES BELIEVE IN POTTER MAGIC
New boss sees his side make a statement with Euro cruise
THIS is the sort of result to make everyone sit up and take notice.
On a night of drama and controversy, Chelsea ran riot in the San Siro which is still one of Europe’s most formidable stadiums.
And in the space of seven days with back-to-back wins over AC Milan, Graham Potter has unquestionably shown his credentials to be Chelsea boss.
There was more than a slice of good fortune in this victory as German referee Daniel Siebert harshly sent off Fikayo Tomori which reduced Milan to 10 men after just 18 minutes. It has been a horrible week for Milan’s ex-Chelsea defender as he had a stinker against his old club at Stamford Bridge last week.
Tomori must have looked at these two games with Chelsea as a chance to show England boss Gareth Southgate what he can do before the World Cup squad is named on November 10. Instead, Tomori, arguably the best defender in Serie A last season when Milan won the title, has seen his hopes left in tatters and Chelsea turn their Champions League fortunes around.
But even without the help of a ref determined to make himself the centre of attention, Chelsea still produced an impressive display and their own moments of brilliance.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang seems to have got his mojo back as he finished off a quite magnificent flowing move for Chelsea’s second. Head coach Potter said in the build-up that results against Europe’s best would help convince the players of his methods.
There was no better proof that they are buying into Potter because this was their third straight win under him and two of them have come against the Italian champions.
That is some statement and some start.
Chelsea were bottom of Group E after two games now they are top. Milan have been hit hard by injuries and were left cursing their luck again when Mason Mount got on the wrong side of Tomori. Mount
was bearing down on goal, Tomori nibbled, pushed and put his arm on his ex-team mate but still no one was really appealing.
Referee Siebert surprised everyone by not just giving a penalty but also showing Tomori a red card. The “double jeopardy” law has been removed but a player can still be sent off if they have not made a genuine attempt to play the ball. It looked soft on both counts.
Tomori was shellshocked, he was still remonstrating with the fourth official as Jorginho stepped up to score the penalty with his familiar hop, skip and a jump routine. Chelsea’s second goal after 34 minutes following a lovely move. Mateo Kovacic swapped passes with Mount, Raheem Sterling was about to shoot when Aubameyang raced in, took the ball off his team-mate’s toe and fired into the bottom corner. AC MILAN (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu 6; Kalulu 6, Gabbia 6, Tomori 4, Hernandez 6 (Ballo-Toure 79); Tonali 6, Bennacer 5 (Pobega 62, 6); Leao 5 (Origi 79), Krunic 6, Diaz 5 (Dest 37, 6); Giroud 6 (Rebic 62, 6). Sent off: Tomori 18.
CHELSEA (3-4-2-1): Kepa 6; Chalobah 7, Silva 7, Koulibaly 8; James 7 (Azpilicueta 62, 6) Kovacic 7, Jorginho 7, Chilwell 7 (Cucurella 89); Mount 7 (Gallagher 46, 6), Sterling 6 (Loftus-Cheek 62, 6); Aubameyang 7 (Havertz 79). Goals: Jorginho 21 pen, Aubameyang 34.