Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri admitted his players made life difficult for themselves following their Europa League quarter-final triumph over Slavia Prague.
The Blues won 4-3 at Stamford Bridge, going through 5-3 on aggregate in a contest that saw Sarri’s men race to a 3-0 lead after just 15 minutes.
3
It was set to be a rout when Giroud’s finish put the Chelsea 3-0 up
But Chelsea have developed a nasty habit of conceding early in the second half and once again there were some hairy moments as the visitors hit back twice to trail by just one on the night.
“We played very well in the first half,” said Blues boss Sarri. “But as usual in the last two months we started very badly in the second half.
“We need a solution. In the last 10 matches we started like in this match, it’s a big problem.
“Probably at the end of the first half we thought we had qualified, but against this opponent it was not true. I have never seen something like these opponents physically, so it was clear the second half could be difficult for us.
3
Sarri recognises there’s a problem with his side’s start to the second-half of games
“But we did something wrong in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
“At half-time I told them to start with the same application as they started the first, but we didn’t do it. It’s not easy to understand.
“I could try without going in the dressing room at half-time if I could solve the problem.”
Pedro opened the scoring following a flowing move involving Cesar Azpilicueta and Olivier Giroud, with the Spaniard applying the finish.
3
Pedro bagged a brace
Pedro should have claimed the second but he somehow side-footed Eden Hazard’s inviting ball across goal on to the post.
Fortunately for the Blues the ball ricocheted into luckless defender Simon Deli and bounced into the net.
N’Golo Kante then set Pedro through to tee up Giroud for his 10th goal in the competition this season.
That should have been that, but Chelsea’s defence dozed off in the 26th minute to allow the unmarked Tomas Soucek to pull one back with a header at the far post.
LATEST FOOTBALL NEWS
Chelsea merely went straight down the other end and restored their four-goal cushion, Pedro pouncing on the rebound after Giroud’s close-range effort was saved.
Yet a 5-1 aggregate lead at half-time became 5-3 only 10 minutes into the second half, a quickfire double from Petr Sevcik raising the Czech side’s hopes of a staging remarkable comeback.
But Chelsea weathered the storm to set up a semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Hazard, the subject of a couple of clattering early challenges, was taken off midway through the second half, but Sarri hopes he will be fit to face Burnley on Monday.
“It’s nothing serious, I hope,” he added. “It’s only a strong knock. But I think we can recover him for the next match on Monday.”
Disappointed Slavia coach Jindrich Trpisovsky said: “We scored three goals, but it is only a little remedy after the first half.”
West London outfit boss Maurizio Sarri has made it clear that the club cannot count on Ruben Loftus-Cheek so far this season because he has not fully fit to play a full game. However, the Italian boss has stated that he would not seek to have Ruben Loftus-Cheek to be on his starting line-up at […]
'Never question Jordan Henderson again' - Liverpool captain hailed for stunning display in 'miracle' Barcelona win Jordan Henderson has had his fair share of criticism over the years. The midfielder has often suffered with unfair comparisons to his predecessor as Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard. But there was..
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona (agg 4-3): Reds pull off a miracle to
Stats recap. Chelsea are the first English side to win 11 major European games in a single season. Chelsea have reached 14 European semi-finals since April 1966 - seven in the Champions League, four the Cup Winners' Cup, two in the Europa League and one in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
When was the last time an English team won the Champions
Bolton's rearranged Championship game against Brentford planned for 7 May will now not take place and the Bees will get three points for a 1-0 win. The match was scheduled to take place on
Bolton Wanderers latest: Brentford awarded three points as
Montenegro vs England live on talkSPORT: Exclusive commentary, free stream for Euro 2020 qualifier and confirmed teams Follow tonight's game on the radio , as former England star Stuart Pearce
Exclusive commentary, free stream, kick-off time and
sportsalert.org/2019/03/29/exclusive-commentary-free-stream-kick-off-time-and-confirmed-teams/
West Brom vs Birmingham: Kick-off time. The game kicks off at 8pm at the Hawthorns on Friday, 29 March. West Brom vs Birmingham: How to listen. Full commentary will be exclusively live on talkSPORT 2, with our coverage getting underway at 8pm. Click here for the live stream or click the radio player below.
Brighton vs Southampton live on talkSPORT 2: Exclusive
hollywoodadviser.com/brighton-vs-southampton-live-on-talksport-2-exclusive-commentary-kick-off-time-and-confirmed-teams/
Who will climb further away from the bottom three? Find out on talkSPORT 2. LIVE on talkSPORT talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 West Brom vs Birmingham (Friday, 8pm) - talkSPORT 2 Brighton vs Southampton (Saturday, 3pm) - talkSPORT 2 West Ham vs Everton (Saturday, 5
West Ham vs Everton live on talkSPORT: Exclusive commentary
David Luiz has met Chelsea bosses over his Stamford Bridge future, Maurizio Sarri has revealed.. Brazil defender Luiz's contract expires at the end of the season, with the 32-year-old still in
Maurizio Sarri confirms Chelsea are in talks with David Luiz
Chelsea star Loftus-Cheek set to miss Europa League final after limping off in Boston friendly Ruben Loftus-Cheek is a major doubt for the Europa League Final after suffering an injury in
Ruben Loftus-Cheek out of Europa League final - legit.ng
Manchester City: Spanish media claim up to EIGHT City stars have asked to leave in the summer, including Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus Spanish media are reporting Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus are just two of eight Manchester City players who have asked to leave the club in the summer. Neither Sane or Jesus started in Man City's..
Chelsea transfer news: Olivier Giroud will be at Stamford
Saints have the appetite to fight for survival, says Hasenhuttl Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl feels his side remain "very hungry" as they hunt down the points needed to secure Premier League survival.
Hasenhuttl would not have taken Southampton job if he doubted
Leeds vs Aston Villa: Marcelo Bielsa plays down decision to allow Villa to score unopposed equaliser • Bielsa instructed his players to allow Villa to walk in an equaliser after a controversial opening goal • Sports • newsR: Sunday, 28 April 2019
Pontus on Wikinow | News, Videos & Facts
Manuel Pellegirni has confirmed that Marko Arnautovic is unhappy at the moment, but has urged West Ham supporters to get behind the out-of-form forward. Arnautovic, 29, was widely linked with a move to China in the January transfer window with Sky Sports reporting in the winter that an unnamed
England 1 Netherlands 3 LIVE updates: Dutch reach Nations
Lucas Moura and son Miguel were endlessly cheered by Tottenham fans Mauricio Pochettino's men have beaten Crystal Palace, Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals and Huddersfield. Moura ensured Harry Kane, who could miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury, was not missed in a dominant victory.
Best Design Ideas and Wallpaper - tottenham 4 0 huddersfield
Chelsea transfer news: Alvaro Morata confirms he wants to join Atletico Madrid after successful loan spell Alvaro Morata has declared his intentions to finish his career with Atletico Madrid. Although still technically a Chelsea player, the Spain international has talkSPORT 9 hours ago: Chelsea's Alvaro Morata wants to end career at Atletico
Chelsea transfer news Alvaro Morata 'to complete Atletico
The Arsenal boss has to decide whether to start Petr Cech in the final game of his career or whether to stick with No1 choice Bernd Leno. 3 Predicted line-up for Arsenal in the Europa League clash
Bernd Leno or Petr Cech - Who would you pick for the Europa
0 comments:
Post a Comment