Willian’s wonder strike keeps up the Sarri revival
WHEN Maurizio Sarri spoke this week about planning Chelsea’s next pre-season, many greeted his claims with a polite smile and a knowing nod. Maybe, just maybe, it is time to think again. Maybe he is the great survivor after all. Three victories in nine days have altered the complexion of Sarri’s reign and this victory felt like an affirmation of Chelsea’s revival since that traumatic Carabao Cup final defeat by Manchester City. Tottenham, Fulham and now Dynamo Kiev have been dispatched and momentum is building. The goals here came from Pedro, Willian — with a superb free-kick — and Callum Hudson-Odoi, while Sarri can take personal satisfaction in his team selection and substitutions. This was Chelsea’s seventh match in 18 days and Sarri rested Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard and Gonzalo Higuain. Fans and the board have been irritated by the absence of academy graduates Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi from the starting line-up. Yet Sarri was vindicated as Pedro and Willian found the target before Hudson-Odoi came on to score the third from a Loftus-Cheek assist. Sarri warned of excessive expectations over Hudson-Odoi. ‘It’s very dangerous, at 18, to have this pressure,’ he said. ‘You have to improve, tactically, mentally and physically at that age. I don’t like to speak about him for this reason.’ If this extraordinary week of European football has taught us anything, it is that no club is safe after a first leg. In this tie, we may have an exception. Chelsea’s porous Ukrainian opponents offered no indication they possess the courage and quality required to overturn this deficit. The visitors did not have a shot on goal until the 73rd minute and even then, Kiev’s first effort of the game sailed over the bar. Chelsea’s only threat appears to be their own complacency, as underlined late on when they switched off and substitute Sidcley misjudged a golden chance to head Kiev an away goal. ‘We must pay attention,’ Sarri warned. For Chelsea, this was a pleasing night. In the TV studio, former manager and player Glenn Hoddle was back on BT Sport and in fine fettle after heart surgery in November. On the field, fluency returned. It was fitting that the game’s outstanding player opened the scoring and Pedro should have had a hat-trick in the first half alone. The Spaniard did score in the 17th minute and he was instigator and finisher. He burrowed his way inside from the left, received an impudent back-heeled return from Olivier Giroud and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Denys Boyko. Pedro then side-footed straight at Boyko and tested the goalkeeper once more with a fine volley. In the second half, Chelsea sat back a little initially and Sarri grew irritated. He called for Kante and Loftus-Cheek, and the sweat went out of the occasion
as Willian curled his free-kick perfectly over the wall before Hudson-Odoi applied the coup de grace. CHELSEA (4-3-3): Kepa 6; Zappacosta 6.5, Christensen 6, Luiz 6.5, Alonso 6; Kovacic 6.5, Jorginho 6 (Kante 62min, 6), Barkley 6 (Loftus-Cheek 62, 6); PEDRO 8, Giroud 7, Willian 7 (Hudson-Odoi 78).
Subs not used: Caballero, Rudiger, Hazard, Higuain. Scorers: Pedro 17, Willian 65, Hudson-Odoi 90. Booked: None. Manager: Maurizio Sarri 7. DYNAMO KIEV (4-2-3-1): Boyko 7; Kedziora 6, Burda 6, Shabanov 6, Mykolenko 5.5; Sydorchuk 6, Shepelev 6; Tsygankov 5.5; Shaparenko 5, Buyalskyi 6 (Sidcley 71min, 6); Rusyn 5.5 (Harmash 66, 6). Subs not used: Bushchan, Andrievsky, Tsitaishvili, Kadar, Smyrnyi. Scorers: None. Booked: Shepelev, Buyalskiy. Manager: Aleksandr Khatskevich 5. Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia) 6. Attendance: 37,280.