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Chelsea player ratings: Did anyone impress against BATE as Blues book knockout spot?
CHELSEA saw off a stubborn BATE Borisov to seal a place in the Europa League knockout rounds.
Olivier Giroud scored the only goal on a foggy night in Belarus as Chelsea failed to hit top gear.
The Blues were frustrated and put in a patchy display which saw Eden Hazard given another 62 minutes, but he was far from his best.
Chelsea were unusually out of sync, perhaps due to the changes at the back with Gary Cahill, Andereas Christensen, Davide Zappacosta and Emerson Palmieri all coming in.
Giroud was in for Morata but the rest of the team was pretty strong with N’Golo Kante the only notable absentee.
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But Maurzio Sarri’s side were fortunate to come away with another but are on course for the knockouts with a 100% record from four games.
Chelsea top Group L with 12 points. Mol Vidi are second on six with PAOK Salonika and BATE on three each.
Chelsea now turn to Everton on Sunday where they will look to keep pace with Manchester City in the Premier League.
Chelsea player ratings
Sub ratings
Willian 5
Kovacic 6
Hudson-Odoi n/a