Skip to main content

UPDATED: Hazard, Willian shine as Chelsea cruise into last 16



Chelsea powered into the Champions League last 16 as Eden Hazard and Willian inspired a 4-0 thrashing of 10-man Qarabag on Wednesday.

Antonio Conte’s side reached the knockout stages with a game to spare thanks to influential displays from Hazard and Willian at the Olympic Stadium that knocked Azerbaijanis Qarabag out of the competition.

Chelsea will go into their last Group C fixture against Atletico Madrid, who take on Roma at the Wanda Metropolitano later on Wednesday, on 10 points and still in with a chance of finishing top.

Hazard scored Chelsea’s first-half opener from the penalty spot after his pass to Willian provoked a foul on the Brazilian from Rashad Sadygov, who was sent off as incredulous Qarabag players questioned both the awarding of the penalty and the red card.

Willian doubled Chelsea’s lead nine minutes before the interval, collecting Hazard’s deft back-heeled pass before rolling home.

Cesc Fabregas netted Chelsea’s third from the spot in the 73rd minute after another foul on Willian, and the Brazil international crashed home his second in the closing moments.

The English champions were heavily criticised after a woeful loss at Roma in their previous Champions League match, but have now won three in a row in all competitions.

Conte had bemoaned the fixture schedule that sends Chelsea to Liverpool for a crucial Premier League game on Saturday, just 48 hours after they return to London from the 5,000 mile (8,000 kilometres) round trip to Azerbaijan.

But he still fielded a strong side, with David Luiz starting in defence for the first time since being dropped after a reported training ground row with the Blues boss following the Roma defeat.

– Michel rattles woodwork –

Conte’s side had thrashed Qarabag 6-0 in September, but they almost fell behind early on in Baku when Maksim Medvedev was allowed to advance into the area with little resistance.

Michel picked up possession and lashed a fierce shot against a post before the rebound was blazed over.

Hazard was nominally Chelsea’s central striker but the Belgian playmaker had freedom to roam and it was from a deeper position that he triggered his side’s 21st-minute opener.

Threading a pin-point pass behind the Qarabag defence, Hazard sent Willian clear on goal and the Brazil winger tumbled into the area after Sadygov grabbed at his arm.

Referee Manuel de Sousa saw enough contact to give Chelsea the penalty and sent off Sadygov.

Qarabag were furious but Hazard ignored their complaints to stroke home the spot-kick for his sixth goal in his last seven appearances.

He followed the opener with an extravagant touch to help double Chelsea’s lead in the 36th minute.

Pedro started the swaggering move with a flick into the path of Willian, who guided the ball to Hazard.

The Belgian baffled the Qarabag defence with a sublime back-heeled pass into Willian and he made no mistake with a clinical finish.

Conte’s team struck for a third time in the 73rd minute when Gara Garayev conceded a penalty with a tug on Willian.

Fabregas’s initial spot-kick was ruled out for encroachment, but the Spaniard was unflustered as he slotted home again.

Chelsea weren’t done and Willian capped the rout with a stinging strike from the edge of the area in the 85th minute.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Comment here

Popular posts from this blog

World’s first sex shop shuts down, declares bankruptcy

Germany’s pioneering sex shop chain, Beate Uhse, said Friday that it has filed for insolvency, as the empire started by a female World War II pilot fails to rise to the challenge posed by erotic e-commerce. In its hey day, the group sold lingerie, erotic films and sex products. Uhse began her foray into erotic business in 1946, when she put together a pamphlet called “Document X” describing how women could avoid pregnancy. In post-war Germany, her advice was in high demand and she sold thousands of copies of her brochures. The mail order business thrived and the former fighter pilot and member of the Luftwaffe opened in 1962 her first shop in the German town of Flensburg. Named Institute of Marital Hygiene, the store selling lingerie and contraceptives became the world’s first sex shop. Her activities often ran counter to the morality of post-war Germany and she was called before the courts in thousands of legal suits filed against her. Yet she remained frank and unashamed about...
Post a Comment
Read more

The name ‘State of Osun’ is illegal, court declares

An Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa has said the changing of ‘Osun State’ to ‘State of Osun’ by the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola is illegal. Justice Yinka Afolabi, while delivering the judgment on Thursday in a case instituted by Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ilesa branch, Mr. Kanmi Ajibola, challenging the legality of the “State of Osun Land Use Charge Law,” held that the law and its makers were unknown to the 1999 Constitution. Aregbesola had changed the name of the state from ‘Osun State’ to ‘State of Osun’ in 2011; but the NBA chairman, who is a human rights activist, approached the court in 2016 and asked the court to declare as null and void all transactions done by the state with the name ‘State of Osun.’ Afolabi also declared that the makers of the law, who are currently serving as members of the State House of Assembly, were not sworn in as members of the ‘State of Osun House of Assembly,’ but as members of ‘Osun State House of Assembly,’ going by...
Post a Comment
Read more

John McCain has brain cancer, his office says.

Veteran US Republican Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer and is reviewing treatment options, according to his office. The options may include chemotherapy and radiation, his doctors said. The 80-year-old politician is in "good spirits" recovering at home. The tumour was discovered during a surgery to remove a blood clot from above his left eye last week. A Vietnam veteran, Mr McCain spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. The six-term senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate underwent surgery at a clinic in Phoenix, in the state of Arizona, last Friday. Tissue analysis revealed that a primary brain tumour known as glioblastoma was associated with the clot, a statement from the Mayo Clinic said. "The senator's doctors say he is recovering from his surgery 'amazingly well' and his underlying health is excellent," it added.
Post a Comment
Read more