Sarri eyeing Napoli in the final after a Blues cruise
HAVING spent much of his time in Kiev fretting over a frozen pitch, Maurizio Sarri saw his Chelsea side dance on ice and breeze into the Europa League quarter-finals.
On the eve of this fixture, Sarri had labelled the playing surface at Dynamo Kiev’s Olympic Stadium a ‘disaster’. He feared injuries on a pitch Chelsea deemed to be frozen in parts and badly cutting up in others.
As it transpired, Chelsea’s stars emerged mostly unscathed — barring a knock for Davide Zappacosta — and this became the most straightforward night yet of Sarri’s tenure.
He has spent much of the season questioning his side’s mentality but Chelsea were defensively efficient and clinical up front as Olivier Giroud fired a hat-trick, while Marcos Alonso and Callum Hudson-Odoi added the gloss. By the end, Sarri was dreaming of a reunion with former club Napoli.
‘I prefer to face them in the final. It means we are in the final and Napoli are in the final and then I am happy,’ he said.
‘You know my relationship with the city, with the people. It would be very difficult to play against them in Naples.’
Chelsea boasted a three-goal lead after last week’s comfortable victory at Stamford Bridge but any measure of doubt was eradicated inside five minutes when Giroud turned in Willian’s corner.
Chelsea’s second nearly came when Ruben Loftus- Cheek breezed into the box and shot low across the goalkeeper, but Denys Boyko made a fine save.
The England international was powerful and forward-thinking in a midfield three and seems more assured after recovering from a recent back problem.
Sarri, who made eight changes from Sunday’s draw against Wolves, said: ‘Ruben can become one of the best midfielders, not only in England but in Europe.’
Giroud, on his 50th club appearance in European competition, led the line with purpose and he added his second just after the half-hour. Alonso strode down the left flank and whipped in a superb Hat-trick: Giroud is top scorer in the Europa League EPA low cross that Giroud steered in first time. The Frenchman, who scored his first hat- trick for Chelsea, has now scored 10 goals this season and nine have come in this competition.
Dynamo, who beat Rennes home and away in the group stage, were pitifully poor. Chelsea tore through the Ukranians at will and Hudson- Odoi, making only his second start since January, created a picture-perfect third. He exchanged quick passes with Willian, scampered to the byline and crossed for Alonso to score.
By half-time, Kiev needed to score seven to qualify, but for a team without a shot on target in the first period, that did not seem especially likely.
They did test Kepa Arrizabalaga through captain Serhiy Sydorchuk in the second half, and Denys Garmash had an effort ruled out for offside.
Yet Giroud then rose unmarked to head in the fourth before Alonso smacked the bar with a free-kick. Hudson-Odoi sealed a fine result when he ran through late on to clip home.