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Malmo 1-2 Chelsea: Ross Barkley and Olivier Giroud on target in Europa League win
Ross Barkley and Olivier Giroud scored vital away goals as Chelsea edged past Malmo in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 tie. See how the action unfolded with Express Sport.
Chelsea: Maurizio Sarri is a 'dead man walking' says pundit
Malmo 1-2 Chelsea: Ross Barkley and Olivier Giroud on target in Europa League win
MALMO 1-2 CHELSEA | BARKLEY (30), GIROUD (58), CHRISTIANSEN (79)
Malmo XI: Antonsson, Bachirou, Bengtsson, Dahlin, Nielsen, Rieks, Ronseberg, Safari, Traustason, Vindheim
Chelsea XI: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson, Jorginho, Kovacic, Barkley, Willian, Giroud, Pedro
- Maurizio Sarri makes five changes from Manchester City defeat
- Ross Barkley opens the scoring
- Olivier Giroud makes it two
- Christiansen pulls one back with 11 minutes left
- Blues take two crucial away goals back to Stamford Bridge
MALMO 1-2 CHELSEA
FT: That’s that. Chelsea have beaten an extremely plucky Malmo away from Stamford Bridge. Olivier Giroud and Ross Barkley on the scoresheet with two away goals that should probably see Maurizio Sarri’s side into the last 16 of the Europa League.
90: Three minutes of added time. Am I the only one who wants to watch an episode of The Bridge after this?
89: Close! Olivier Giroud nearly has a second as Eden Hazard fizzes a ball his way but the striker fires at the goalkeeper.
Two away goals and a lead to take back to the Bridge! ������#MALCHE pic.twitter.com/4vJjHIlqhb
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 14, 2019
86: 20,312 is the attendance tonight. Sounded more like 60,000 for most of the night…
85: Malmo aren’t content to settle for a 2-1 defeat - they are going for the equaliser. However, an attack breaks down allowing Eden Hazard to burst forward. The Belgian finds Azpilicueta but his pass to CHO goes straight out of play.
82: Maurizio Sarri responds by bringing Callum Hudson-Odoi on for Pedro. Incredible pace vs tired legs? Could be a very wise decision.
MALMO 1-2 CHELSEA | CHRISTIANSEN
79: Where did that come from?! Chelsea looked to be in complete control but Malmo have given themselves a lifeline!
Totally out of the blue as Christensen’s poor touch gifts possession to Rosenberg. He finds Christansen (confusing, I know) who nips ahead of Kovacic before slotting cooly past Kepa.
78: Just to keep you informed with tonight’s latest Europa League scores: Celtic 0-2 Valencia, Brugge 1-1 Salzburg, Plzen 1-1 Zagreb, Shakhtar 2-2 Frankfurt, Sporting 0-1 Villarreal, Zurich 0-3 Napoli.
75: N’Golo Kante on for Jorginho. That should see him back in his favoured defensive position… oh, Mateo Kovacic has filled the role. Kante still playing in an advanced position - for some unknown reason.
73: No mercy from Maurizio Sarri, who sends Eden Hazard on for the closing stages. He replaces Willian.
The Malmo faithful give Hazard a jolly good boo. Not sure what Hazard’s done to upset them…
70: This could get messy. Chelsea are relentless looking for a third. Pedro’s deflected curling shot whistles past the post before Olivier Giroud slashes wide.
67: Wooosh! That should have been game, set and match Chelsea.
Giroud holds off his marker and flicks the ball back to Ross Barkley. The former Everton man darts into the penalty area and sees his shot saved by Johan Dahlin.
65: Olivier Giroud is the first Chelsea player to score in four successive games in European competition since Victor Moses in May 2013; a year in which they won the Europa League.
63: The game is really stretched now as Malmo go hunting for a goal. They leave themselves exposed at the back but Emerson can’t find Giroud with his cross from the left. Rieks clears the danger well.
A classy, classy finish from Olivier Giroud ������ pic.twitter.com/IfupsruxZX
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 14, 2019
60: Malmo got too excited in the moments before Chelsea’s second. They were having some joy and a few half-chances but committed too many bodies forward.
MALMO 0-2 CHELSEA | GIROUD
58: Olivier Giroud loves the Europa League. Fact.
The Frenchman has his FIFTH goal in competition to double Chelsea’s lead and it is a real beauty.
Ross Barkley does really well to break and take the ball 40 yards upfield. He feeds Willian, who reaches the byline and cuts it back for Giroud. It’s slightly behind the striker who produces a beautiful deft back heel to covert.
55: Like busses these Malmo chances. Traustason fires one towards goal and David Luiz manages to head it away from danger.
54: Close! Massive chance for Malmo. Bachirou bullies his way through the Chelsea midfield before poking it through to Vindheim, but Azpilicueta is quickly over to usher it out for a corner.
51: Traustason receives the ball on the edge of the penalty area but there’s Azpilicueta to close him down. Interesting that Sarri opted for Azpilicueta tonight - his most trusted defender clearly.
48: Chelsea with their first away goal of 2019 - can they wrap up their first win of the calendar year tonight? Good start to the second half. Maurizio Sarri’s side look calm and composed in possession.
MALMO 0-1 CHELSEA
45: Back underway here. It’ll be interesting to see if Malmo can keep up their levels of intensity given they are still in pre-season mode.
No changes for either side.
MALMO 0-1 CHELSEA
HT: And that’s half time. Ross Barkley’s goal separates these sides on a ferocious night in Malmo.
43: Chelsea trying to take the sting out of this one as we approach the break.
40: Malmo going for it now. A corner is headed clear to Ronseberg, whose 25-yarder pinballs around the box before being hacked clear. The former West Brom man should have scored
38: Oh my word! Not quite sure how Malmo aren’t level. Mateo Kovacic is penalised for a high arm and the hosts send a cross into the penalty area.
David Luiz makes an initial flying block and Rieks' rebound is headed away by Ross Barkley.
35: Ross Barkley has netted his first ever goal in European competition, in what is his 11th such appearance (between spells at Everton and Chelsea).
33: That’s just what Chelsea needed after the traumatic defeat to Manchester City. They look more settled now as Maurizio Sarri continues to jot things down in his notepad.
MALMO 0-1 CHELSEA | BARKLEY
30: GOAL! Chelsea take the lead right on the half-hour mark.
Malmo switch off and the Premier League side are quick to punish them. Bengtsson completely misses Pedro’s cross and the ball drops at the feet of Ross Barkley.
The midfielder takes it down before stabbing it past Johan Dahlin for his first ever European goal.
25: Nice stuff from Willian. The Brazilian does a couple of stopovers before beating his marker and floating a cross over to Olivier Giroud. The Frenchman should try the volley, but brings it down on his chest and sees the effort blocked.
22: Important to remember that Malmo haven’t played a competitive game since December. Their most recent friendly ended 0-0. Chelsea will be aiming to capitalise on tired legs later in the evening.
19: Rapturous applause as Malmo win a free-kick. Be tough to referee this one and not be influenced by the supporters. Both sides attacking at every opportunity but neither has delivered that killer ball as we approach the 20-minute mark.
16: Malmo manager Uwe Rosler is mirroring fans on the sidelines. He’s been livid with three or four decisions by the referee - all were fairly innocuous.
Willian stands over a free-kick for Chelsea but David Luiz strays offside.
13: Call me ignorant - but I did not see this kind of atmosphere coming tonight.
The Malmo fans are making this such a hostile environment and there are unconfirmed reports that bottles have been thrown by both sets of supporters in the stands. Feisty would be an understatement.
10: So there’s VAR in the Champions League but not the Europa League? Seems odd but who am I to question UEFA…
8: Chelsea win their first corner of the evening. That’s 4-1 to the Swedish side if you’re keeping score.
Willian sends it into the middle but Olivier Giroud snatches at it and Malmo clear.
5: Ross Barkley looks to help Chelsea take control when rushing onto Willian’s pass before seeing his cross blocked. Oh, he was offside. As you were…
3: Very foggy night in Malmo tonight. Cesar Azpilicueta is immediately in the thick of the action when blocking Rieks' cross behind.
Safari’s cross alludes everyone and finds Nielsen waiting at the back post, he pulls the trigger but Jorginho deflects it wide. String start from the hosts.
MALMO 0-0 CHELSEA
1: No rest for the wicked, fresh from watching Arsenal get beaten by BATE Borisov - I’m here to bring you LIVE coverage of Chelsea’s clash with Malmo.
It’s the first competitive encounter between these two sides. Malmo have not played a competitive game since the Europa League group stage ended in December.
Then again, nor had BATE before they just shocked the Gunners.
MALMO vs CHELSEA
Under-pressure Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri takes his Chelsea side to Malmo looking to recover from Sunday’s embarrassing 6-0 loss to Manchester City.
Left-back Marcos Alonso has been rested, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek has suffered a recurrence of a back problem.
Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has scored four goals in his last three Europa League games - but January signing Gonzalo Higuain is expected to spearhead the attack.
Chelsea provisional squad: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Willy Caballero, Jamie Cumming, Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta, Davide Zappacosta, Ethan Ampadu, Andreas Christensen, David Luiz, Emerson, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, Ross Barkley, Eden Hazard, Willian, Pedro, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Gonzalo Higuain, Olivier Giroud.