Chelsea avoid Greek tragedy

Andrew McAlister 5 years ago 1.8k |

Reading time: minutes

Willian celebrates scoring the only goal of the game in Greece. AFP

Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea earned an important three points in Greece as they defeated PAOK 1-0 at the Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki. Morata & Co. may be disappointed with a plethora of missed chances - the result truly flattered the Greek outfit.

Sarri fielded a surprisingly-strong team, with Ross Barkley, Andreas Christensen and Davide Zappacosta coming back into the fray. Evidently, the Chelsea board are serious about the Europa League, with it providing an alternative route into the Champions League if things should go awry in the Premier League this season.

Despite the drought-like conditions in Thessaloniki, Chelsea were straight out of the blocks and took the lead within seven minutes. The 24-year-old Barkley drove forward and outmanoeuvred several of the PAOK defence, before finding Willian in space on the left side of the area. The Brazilian could do no wrong, as he finished beneath the on-rushing Paschalakis and gave the visitors the lead.

A string of chances then followed for the 'Blues', with the 'Constantinopolitans' unable to keep a foothold on possession. Pedro found Alvaro Morata for a free-header, though the out of form Spaniard failed to direct his effort to either side of Paschalakis. Christensen followed suit with another header, though the Dane's attempt went well wide of the far post.

Perhaps one of the best first-touches of the game saw Morata take down Antonio Rudiger's line-splitting pass, before turning Khacheridi and dragging a left-footed shot just centremetres wide of the far corner. Morata then fired over the crossbar twice more in the next five minutes - Sarri may be forced to question the striker's clinical nature if this persists in the Premier League.

Pedro was the next in the queue to test Paschalakis, though the Athenian stood firm and allowed Chelsea's lead to stay within touching distance of his side.

Chelsea went into the break deserving leaders, and returned with flashes of 'Sarrismo' seemingly taking hold. Barkley, Willian and Pedro combined on several occasions to carve out opportunities to double their advantage, but Paschalakis may have earned himself a call-up to Greece's national team with countless saves against Chelsea, who won the competition in 2013.

It was constant one-way traffic for PAOK's defence to deal with as Marcos Alonso cut inside onto his weaker right foot and forced an impressive block out of Ukranian international Khacheridi, while Pedro unleashed a powerful strike from 20 yards to force an excellent diving save from the goalkeeper.

A pragmatic Chelsea slowed down the pace of the game and played 'keep-ball' for a while, with only PAOK's Warda mustering an effort on target in the last half-hour.

Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea will be happy to leave Greece with a three points, in what will likely be their toughest fixture of the group stage.