The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Jittery win for Blues as Gunners shocked
MALMO 1 CHELSEA 2
Chelsea responded from their embarrassing mauling at Manchester City with a jittery 2-1 win over Malmo in last night’s Europa League last-32 first leg in Sweden.
The Blues’ 6-0 loss to City was their worst defeat in 28 years and heaped mounting scrutiny on head coach Maurizio Sarri, whose concerns were eased, at least temporarily, by Ross Barkley after 30 minutes.
Olivier Giroud netted his fifth goal in six Europa League appearances with a neat back-heel to make it 2-0, but at present nothing is straightforward at Chelsea.
What should have been a routine return in next week’s second leg resulting in straightforward passage to the last 16 will now be a nervy affair after Anders Christiansen’s strike 10 minutes from time.
Chelsea’s two prior matches against Swedish opposition in Sweden ended in goalless draws, but they did win the 1998 Cup Winners’ Cup final against Stuttgart in Stockholm, with the winning goal scored by Gianfranco Zola, now Sarri’s assistant.
BATE BORISOV 1 ARSENAL 0
Alexandre Lacazette was sent off as a strong Arsenal side slumped to a surprise defeat at the hands of BATE Borisov to leave their Europa League tie finely poised heading into the second leg.
The Gunners never got going at the Borisov Arena and created very little in the way of clear-cut chances, with Stanislav Dragun’s header on the stroke of half-time earning a 1-0 win for the Belarusian Premier League champions.
With no game between now and the return leg at the Emirates Stadium in a week’s time, Gunners boss Unai Emery opted to name a near-full strength team but Arsenal will now have to overcome a narrow deficit to advance from the last32 in front of their own fans.
They will have to do it without Lacazette, the striker dismissed for a petulant swing of the arm to sum up the frustrations for the visitors.