Maurizio Sarri was in desperate need of a win to save his Chelsea job, and he made several changes from the XI that lost so emphatically to Manchester City. Gonzalo Higuain was dropped, making way for Olivier Giroud, while Mateo Kovacic came into the side at Eden Hazard's expense. Emerson Palmieri also made a rare appearance, slotting in at left-back.
After a fairly dull opening half an hour, in which Chelsea had enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, the breakthrough came. Ross Barkley, who had looked so sub-par against City, latched onto Pedro’s curling cross in acres of space. He took one touch before prodding past Malmo goalkeeper Johan Dahlin.
The goal stung Malmo into action, and for the next 10 minutes Chelsea found themselves under the cosh. First Anders Christiansen went close, before the home side saw three shots at goal blocked in a brief game of penalty box pinball. By the end of the half Chelsea found themselves relieved to be hearing Aleksei Kulbakov's half-time whistle.
And although Malmo started the second half as they had ended the first, it was the away side who scored next. Barkley surged down the pitch on the break, before sending a ball to Willian on the left-wing. The Brazilian put in a low cross slightly behind the onrushing Olivier Giroud, but the Frenchman improvised with an exquisite flick to double the lead.
Chelsea sensed blood and went looking for the third goal that would put the tie to bed, but Barkley and Pedro were wasteful with successive chances that came their way. Sarri wanted a third too, and sent on Eden Hazard with 15 minutes to go. But the change had the opposite effect, and five minutes later Malmo had pulled one back. Markus Rosenberg held the ball up well before slipping a ball through for Christiansen, who calmly rolled the ball past Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa.
Both were keen to add to their tally as the game drew to a close, but were unsuccesful, leaving the tie nicely poised for the return leg. Sarri and Chelsea will be relieved to have bounced back from the 6-0 drubbing to Manchester City, but their far from dominant performance will give Malmo hope of a comeback in west London.