Without the Ecuadorian Moisés Caicedo not even the Argentine Enzo Fernandez, Chelsea settled its European premiere with a comfortable victory against KAA Gent and continues its good streak, five wins in the last five games (4-2).
Christopher Nkunku celebrates a goal with his teammates EFE
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Enzo Maresca’s team debuted in this UEFA Conference League against a weak Gent and with an eleven of regular substitutes, but due to the length of the ‘blue’ squad, they amass a lot of quality.
Thus, Joao Félix, Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Mikhailo Mudryk, among others, had fun against Gent, a team that, like the rest of the competition, is very far from the level of those from Stamford Bridge.
With this superiority – Chelsea’s squad is worth more than that of all the other teams – the English passed the steamroller in the first half, but with a single goal that came from the boots of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The English midfielder filtered a ball between Gent’s too-separated lines and Mudryk, one of the most discussed in this team, put a cross from the baseline directly to the head of Renato Veiga. The Portuguese, who instead of being a winger became a forward, hit it into the net.
At 1-0, Andri Gudjohnsen, the son of the legendary Eidur, formerly of Chelsea and Barcelona, could have left the mark in the same place as his father, but his volley in the area, without much of an angle, went too high.
From that same position and as soon as the second half began, the one who did not fail was Pedro Neto. The Portuguese received help from Tsuyoshi Watanabe, who was too soft in the fight, and was able to shoot the Gent goalkeeper.
The Japanese, however, retaliated minutes later by heading home the 2-1 scoreline that brought the Belgians closer on the scoreboard. Something that led the thousands of displaced Belgian fans to raise their phones in the air with the flashlight active, in celebration.
When Nkunku scored 3-1 and made it clear, the ‘Blue’ fans, traditionally among the weakest in the Premier, responded with the same gesture, phones in the air and mocking the Belgians, who did not take it well at all. the joke Part of his fans began to throw plastic and drinks at the English, luckily without major consequences.
Dewsbury-Hall, with his first goal for Chelsea, rounded off the night and made it 4-1, before Omri Gandelman closed the gap with no time left for more. Chelsea are fourth in the Conference League standings, with five wins in the last five games in all competitions.
