Chelsea went into matchday six of the Champions League group stage with a clear goal: Do better than Juventus to earn the top spot of the group and the easier seeding in the process. That wasn’t to be the case as a sloppy performance allowed Zenit to get three goals past Kepa Arrizabalaga and Thomas Tuchel’s side. Chelsea needed Timo Werner heroics to even scrape a point in Russia. Juventus winning 1-0 against Malmo then doomed the blues to second place in Group H.
Timo Werner Heroics Save Chelsea From Defeat
Not Good Enough From Chelsea
In recent weeks, cracks have begun to show in this Chelsea side with mistakes becoming an increasingly notable problem for Thomas Tuchel. Chelsea’s issue this time around wasn’t so much the mistakes as it was the entire team not being set up to keep Zenit at bay. A midfield five of Saul Niguez, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Mason Mount, and Ross Barkley was always going to be defensively prone and prone they were. Chelsea’s backline of Malang Sarr, Andreas Christensen, and Cesar Azpilicueta were left exposed far too often and they didn’t have the quality to prevent the goals from flowing, Sarr, especially, had a notably poor showing throughout the game.
Timo Werner’s Best Game for Chelsea?
While most of the team weren’t up to the task in Russia, Timo Werner enjoyed what was probably his best ever game for the club. He opened the scoring in the second minute and got Chelsea off to a hot start. Werner was then the spark for Chelsea’s equaliser as a quick one-two allowed him to break through Zenit’s line and lay it on a plate for Romelu Lukaku to score against Zenit once again. Werner then appeared to have the game won for Chelsea with a great strike in the 85th minute, but Zenit’s late equaliser put a stop to that.
This loss continues Chelsea’s recent dip in form and has cost them the top spot of Group H which could lead to a tougher road to the final for the defending champions.
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