Chelsea have just one loss in 15 home games in all competitions after making a successful start to their first UEFA Conference League campaign. The Blues won 4-2 over KAA Gent at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are accustomed to the glare of the UEFA Champions League, but after a year in European exile, a return to some form of European competition seems welcome. Still, given the abundance of quality at his disposal compared to this year’s league phase opponents, Enzo Maresca felt he could do without the services of the impressive Cole Palmer in this Conference League phase. Jadon Sancho, Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo and several other first-team players sat with him in the stands, and yet the Blues were in the lead for most of the first part of the match.
Check the details of the Chelsea – Gent match
Although the first real chance did not come until the 12th minute, it eventually found the back of the net when Renato Veiga scored his first goal for the club, directing Mykhailo Mudryk’s cross to the far post.
For a long two quarters of an hour, the guests were almost unable to get out of their own half, but then they were able to create several opportunities to show that they could cause problems. First, Archie Brown fired straight at Filip Jorgensen as he played on goal, then Andri Gudjohnsen, son of former Chelsea hero and two-time Premier League winner with the Blues Eidur, fired over the crossbar from inside the penalty area.
After a first half that was rather quiet for the most part, all indicators clearly showed Chelsea’s dominance. Even having over 80 percent possession, the Blues could have wished they were ahead higher. Especially since the beginning of the second one was crazy. Within 60 seconds of the restart, Pedro Neto doubled his team’s lead with a shot from close range for his second goal for the club.
However, Gent’s deficit was soon halved when Tsuyoshi Watanabe, unmarked, headed Gudjohnsen’s cross to the far post, beyond Jorgensen’s reach.
Once again, however, one of Chelsea’s many stars restored the two-goal lead. It was Christopher Nkunku, who had been invisible until then, who beat Gent goalkeeper Davy Roef from the edge of the penalty area.
Gent’s strength faded a bit from that point onwards, and then they fell even further when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall also opened his account for Chelsea, beating Roef.
This effort ultimately allowed Mareska’s players to decide the match relatively easily, although Omri Gandelman scored a goal to make the score 2:4 for the visitors from Belgium. The Londoners are among the clear favorites to win the trophy – which would make them the first club to win every major UEFA club competition – and it was the perfect way to start their league campaign.
Gent, meanwhile, realize there wasn’t much to win at Stamford Bridge and will see the visit of Molde after the international break as a much more winnable fixture.
Match statistics Chelsea – GentOpta by Stats Perform
