Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THERE’S NO PLACE RESULTS & FIXT LIKE ROMA TURES
Toothless Blues hammered
EXPOSED again and heading back to west London in pieces.
If this doesn’t convince the Chelsea board more quality is needed then nothing will.
At times you watched through your fingers as Antonio Conte’s men were torn apart. This was brutal, ruthless and vicious, as reality sank its teeth into what looked like a revival in recent weeks from the Premier League champions.
Ahead of this contest, the Italian daily newspaper, Corriere dello Sport, carried the front page headline ‘Hunger of the Wolves’ – a reference to Roma’s lack of fear after coming from 2-0 down to grab a point at Stamford Bridge last month.
The Roma boss, Eusebio Di Francesco, was open on Monday about the fact his men were champing at the bit to finish the job. They did that here in some style. From the first minute to the last, they opened up their visitors and feasted on their carcass.
Chelsea may have responded to the 3-3 draw in the home fixture by winning all three of their subsequent games.
But they were toothless and rudderless here – ripped apart by a team fifth in the Italian league. They may still control Group C, but don’t let that fool you. Chelsea are a shadow of the team they were last season.
Ever since losing N’golo Kante to a hamstring injury on international duty with France, the Blues have been there for the taking.
Crystal Palace beat them, Watford should have beaten them at the Bridge and, in between, Roma should have also taken all three points in London.
In Kante’s absence, Chelsea have conceded 10 goals in six games. Conte (left) claimed that the reigning Footballer of the Year had trained ahead of Bournemouth last Saturday
and again ahead of this tie on Monday. But he’d been unwilling to risk him here, with Manchester United coming to town on Sunday. How the manager must regret that decision now.
Had Kante been on the pitch, it is a fair bet Stephan El Shaarawy would not have been able to ram the ball home after just 39 seconds from Edin Dzeko’s knockdown. He’d also surely have taken the initiative and intercepted Radja Nainggolan’s ball into the box, nine minutes before the break, instead allowing it to drift past him as Antonio Rudiger did for El Shaarawy’s second.
What a nightmare return to his former club for the Germany defender. What a homecoming for Conte. And how can it be that a good Chelsea team can have such a soft centre without just one man? Of course, there is still a lot of football still to be played in Group C with two games remaining, and Atletico Madrid still have a chance of reaching the last 16.
But even the value of that famous September win in Spain is now looking dicey with Atletico winners of just one of their seven games since. They couldn’t even see off Qarabag at home last night.
Maybe Chelsea’s win really did flatter them. Because on 63 minutes here Diego Perotti received the ball from Aleksandar Kolarov in midfield, left Pedro trailing, and rammed it into the bottom corner to make it 3-0.
He should have made it 4-0 five minutes later but missed a sitter, unmarked in the box with the goal at his mercy. Conte and his men will be licking their wounds after this.
If Jose Mourinho goes for it on Sunday, he could make the nightmare for his old enemy even worse.