CHELSEA survived a Champions League giant-killing at the hands of Qarabag.
The west Londoners travelled to Azerbaijan fresh off their impressive 1-0 win over Tottenham last Saturday.
Enzo Maresca‘s troops were almost turned over by the minnows, who went into the break with a 2-1 lead.
But a superb second-half strike from super-sub Alejandro Garnacho saved the Blues’ bacon.
SunSport’s Chisanga Malata watched the game and is on hand to rate and slate the Blues’ stars’ respective displays. Stopped Oleksii Kashchuk from stealing all three points in stoppage time.
Robert Sanchez – 6
Absolutely powerless to stop both of the Azerbaijani side’s goals. A solid and commanding figure in the second half.
Reece James – 5
Absent offensively and defensively, in stark contrast to his display at Spurs last weekend. Not a performance fitting of the armband.
Tosin Adarabiyo – 5
Solid when called upon and marshalled the defence well, as he has done many a time this season.
Jorrel Hato – 4
Shaky in the first half and was lucky not to have given away a penalty in the 13th minute.
Should’ve cut out the ball in the build-up to Qarabag’s equaliser from Leandro Andrade.
Things went from bad to worse for him in the 32nd minute when he was harshly adjudged to have handled a cross and had a penalty given against him.
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Marc Cucurella – 5
Offered incredibly little going for and was very erratic defensively,
Andrey Santos – 6
Should’ve put the visitors into the lead in the 11th minute, but produced a tepid side-footed finish inside the 18-yard box.
Made up for his poor finish when he teed up Estevao for the opener.
Romeo Lavia – N/A
Lasted less than eight minutes before he was hauled off with what looked to be an injury.
Estevao – 7
Completely anonymous until he fired the Blues into the lead with a thumping finish inside the box.
A constant threat in the second half, in which he bamboozled the Qarabag defenders for fun.
Joao Pedro – 6
Cut a frustrated figure for large portions of the match. The victim of very little service from his team-mates.
Jamie Gittens – 6
Lively on the left wing from the outset, but let himself down with his end product
Tyrique George – 5
Seldom found himself on the ball and did very little when he found himself in possession.
Subs
Moises Caicedo (on for Lavia ‘8) – 6
Effortlessly settled into the game following his unexpected call from the subs bench. Ran the show offensively and defensively.
Stopped the visitors from taking the lead in the 82nd minute by beautifully cutting out a dangerous cross.
Alejandro Garnacho (on for Gittens ’46) – 7
The former Manchester United man showed why the Blues were so keen to sign him with a rasping left-footed finish from inside the box in the 51st minute.
Would’ve nabbed all three points had it not been for a superb stoppage-time near-post save from Qarabag stopper Mateusz Kochalski.
Enzo Fernandez (on for Santos ’46) – 6
Unlucky not to fire the Blues back into the lead in the 53rd minute, in which he forced the Qarabag keeper to make a superb near-post save.
Remained a constant threat for the remainder of the half.
Liam Delap (on for George ’46) – 6
Immediately provided a much-needed outlet with for his team-mates as a target man and his runs in behind.
Should’ve hit the target in the 68th minute after a superb run in behind, but fired his effort wide of the far post.
Facundo Buonanotte (on for Pedro ’72) – 5
Came close with a rasping shot from outside the box with five minutes of normal time remaining.
