Chelsea have secured top spot in Group L with a game to spare after comfortably defeating PAOK 4-0 in the Europa League.
PAOK were made to suffer early on when last man Khacheridi was shown a straight red for a late tackle on Olivier Giroud which denied a goal scoring opportunity. PAOK were then made to play 83 minutes with just 10 men.
It didn’t take long for Chelsea to take advantage either, Giroud made it 1-0 in the 27th minute with a lovely finish from inside the box to open the scoring on the night. It was almost 2 just a minute later after Callum Hudson-Odoi’s effort from just outside the box struck the crossbar.
Only 10 minute after the first, Giroud got his second by getting onto the end of an immaculate forward pass from Fabregas. With just 37 minutes on the clock, Chelsea were looking extremely comfortable for the victory.
Pedro should have made it 3-0 just before half time after a good low driven cross from the right hand side from Emerson Palmieri however Pedro just couldn’t get a clean shot. Ruben Loftus-Cheek also came close to making it 3 in the 56th minute but a good save from Paschalakis denied the 22-year-old.
The third finally came in the 60th minute thanks to a first senior goal from 18-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi who stroked the ball home from the left hand side. After a very impressive game, Hudson-Odoi also assisted the fourth and final goal by crossing the ball into the box for substitute Alvaro Morata to head home in the 78th minute.
4-0 was the final score at Stamford Bridge and on the whole is was a very comfortable victory from the blues. It was the first time in over a decade that there were four English players in the starting line-up for Chelsea and all of them played well. The standout performance of the evening was by far from the young Englishman Callum Hudson-Odoi who not only scored his first senior goal, but also assisted Morata and hit the crossbar with an impressive effort from outside the box. This is not the first time that the youngster has impressed either. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the player during pre-season however he is yet to make an appearance in the Premier League so far this campaign.
If he’s good enough to play in a big team in the Premier League at 18 then he could be the best player in Europe in two years.
– Sarri
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri claims that he is not yet ready to play in the Premier League despite being impressed with his performances. In a recent interview, Sarri said this: “I don’t know if Hudson-Odoi is able for the Premier League at 18, especially in a big team, If he’s good enough to play in a big team in the Premier League at 18 then he could be the best player in Europe in two years. I think he played very well but the type of match was for his characteristics as they had 10 men after seven minutes. We only needed to play in the offensive phase, he’s very able to do this but I want to see him in a match when he has to play in a defensive phase.”
