Chelsea ease past 10-man Qarabag to seal last 16 spot
Chelsea secured a comfortable 4-0 victory over the Azerbaijani champions after an early red card for the hosts, to book their place in the knockout stages of this year's Champions League.
Following the sending off of Rashad Sadygov in the first half, Antonio Conte’s side were able to ease past a spirited Qarabag side with two goals from Willian, and penalties from Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas sealing their fate.
In the opening stages it was the visitors who were seeing most of the ball but didn’t manage to create any guilt-edged chances, and a low drive from Cesc Fabregas was saved easily by Ibrahim Sehic.
Qarabag still have a possible Europa League spot if they manage a third place finish in the group, and they came inches away from taking the lead in this match after 13 minutes.
Some excellent build-up play between Dino Ndlovu and Maksim Medvedev ended with Michel shooting from the right side of the area, but his effort rattled the crossbar with Thibaut Courtois beaten and Richard Almeida could only volley over from the rebound.
That early scare for Chelsea seemed to kick them into action and after 20 minutes they were presented with the perfect opportunity to take the lead. Sadygov pulled Willian back as he broke into the area and he was given his marching orders for denying a goalscoring opportunity and Chelsea were awarded a penalty. Eden Hazard then calmly dispatched from the spot for his third goal in as many Champions League games to put Chelsea on their way.
With their one-man advantage the Blues started to dominate proceedings, although the Azerbaijani side didn’t through in the towel, and Hazard’s close-range header after Cesar Azpilicueta’s inviting cross was saved by Sehic.
After 36 minutes Chelsea doubled their lead following a brilliantly flowing move starting in midfield. Pedro tapped the ball to Willian who played in Hazard as he made his way into the box. The Belgian then backheeled the ball back into the path of his team-mate, and the Brazilian calmly slotted past Sehic to double his side’s lead.
The Premier League side continued to threaten for the remainder of the half, and Willian curled a free-kick just wide of the post after Pedro was tripped as he tried to break.
After the break Antonio Conte’s side were sitting fairly deep and seemed happy to let the home side see most of the ball, although they failed to trouble Thibaut Courtois in the Chelsea goal.
Hazard almost had his second goal of the night after receiving the ball from N’Golo Kante and hammering goalwards, but Sehic did very well to make a fingertip save and deny the Chelsea winger.
The away side then increased their lead yet again from the spot after 73 minutes. Medvedev tugged on Willian’s shirt as he made his way into the box, and Fabregas converted from the spot, firing low into the bottom left corner at the second time of asking, after his first effort was ruled out for encroachment.
Courtois was finally forced into action in the final 10 minutes, but it was a routine stop for the Belgian goalkeeper after a speculative effort from Wilde-Donald Guerrier.
Willian put the cherry on the cake for the West London side in the 85th minute when he scored the fourth goal of the night. Pedro laid the ball off to the Brazilian winger, who took a few strides before firing into the corner from the edge of the area, leaving Sehic with no chance.
It was a comfortable victory for Chelsea as they managed to seal their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League, although they still have something to play for in their final group match against Atletico Madrid as they look to top the group ahead of Roma.