Lhe visit from Malmoe seemed like a propitious occasion for Romelu Lukaku to end his five-game sequa without scoring with Chelsea. Nevertheless, It ended up becoming an ordeal.
The reigning European champion won easy (4-0), but lost Werner and Lukaku himself through injury. An overpriced toll that, at least, was relieved by goals from Andreas Christensen (9 ‘), Jorginho (21’ penalty and 57 ‘penalty) and Kai Havertz (47’).
Lukaku came out eager, determined to break his slump with the ‘blues’. At 5 ‘, as a result of that push, he gave a goal on a tray to Timo Werner. The former Leipzig, however, ‘cleared’ on the baseline instead of finishing. It is not fine.
The 1-0, with all Malmoe in his area, was a matter of time. Dahlin deflected a ‘poisoned’ shot from Lukaku at 8 ‘… but could do nothing a minute later. Thiago Silva served a center from the right and another central, Christensen dressed as a ‘9’ to impale perfectly from the penalty spot. Finally, 137 games later he made his debut as a scorer with Chelsea.
‘Big Rom’ don’t give up. On 18 ‘a great solo play was invented. He turned and dodged Pea and Nielsen, who, desperate, stopped him with a very tough tackle from ground level. Clear penalty that ended with Lukaku hurting his right ankle. I tried to keep playing … but finally gave up and left his place to Havertz. Jorginho, from 11 meters, scored his first goal of the season.
Malmoe failed to unsettle Mendy, but Chelsea received another bad news just before half-time. Werner put his hand on the back of his thigh and had to give way to Hudson-Odoi.
The substitutes for Lukaku and Werner made it 3-0, already in the second half. Hudson-Odoi leaked for Havertz and Chelsea’s second Champions’ hero picketed over the start of goal Diawara, who replaced the injured Dahlin at halftime.
Even Rdiger wanted to join the party at 55 ‘. Havertz left him toe-to-toe, but Larsson knocked him down. Franois Letexier did not hesitate: penalty. Jorginho took advantage of it to reiterate his candidacy for the Ballon d’Or. He has scored 31 of the 36 penalties he has taken in his career.
With everything decided, Tuchel admitted James, Marcos Alonso, and Sal Nguez in place of Azpilicueta, Chilwell, and Kant. Sal deserves special mention, who only added 121 ‘with Chelsea. In fact, he had not played since September 22 in the League Cup.
He had no chance to shine, that is. Chelsea took their foot off the gas … to avoid further injuries. The 4-0 was enough. The ‘blues’ (6 points) are second in Group H behind Juventus (9), but their classification does not worry.
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