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As Chelsea supporters filtered into the Malmo squares in the early hours of Friday morning, the theme of the conversation would be quite clear. Did this result represent a blanket over the flames? Or is there life yet in the ailing reign of Maurizio Sarri?
For long periods of this fraught encounter, another team in blue and white promised to deepen the malaise inflicting Sarri.
After Manchester City’s balletic exhibition in Manchester, this was an altogether different experience for Chelsea but for a while, it threatened to be equally haunting. After a lesson in the beautiful game by Pep Guardiola’s side, along came Malmo. The Swedes are a hard-nosed, gritty, energetic team that asked rather different questions of Chelsea’s faculties.
Ross Barkley and Olivier Giroud were on target as Chelsea defeated Malmo to ease the pressure on manager Maurizio Sarri
Barkley controlled the ball with a touch that allowed it get slightly away from him before reacting quickly to stab the ball home
Giroud then doubled their advantage with an exquisite flick at the near post to divert the ball into the net from Willian’s cross
Anders Christiansen pulled one back for the hosts on the break to give them a lifeline in the second leg with a good finish
The Dane collected the ball and sprinted back to the halfway line as he launched the search for an equaliser for the hosts
The win eased the pressure on manager Sarri after his position was called into question following the loss at Manchester City
MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND MATCH ZONE
Malmo: Dahlin, Vindheim, Nielsen, Bengtsson, Safari, Traustason (Lewicki 70), Christiansen (Gall 80), Bachirou, Rieks, Antonsson (Strandberg 70), Rosenberg.
Subs not used: Melicharek, Larsson, Binaku, Ahmedhodzic.
Goals: Christiansen 80
Bookings: None
Manager: Uwe Rosler
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Christensen, Emerson, Barkley, Jorginho (Kante 73), Kovacic, Willian (Hazard 71), Giroud, Pedro (Hudson-Odoi 84).
Subs not used: Caballero, Rudiger, Higuain, Zappacosta.
Goals: Barkley 30, Giroud 58
Bookings: None
Manager: Maurizio Sarri
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov
Ross Barkley opened the scoring after 30 minutes with his first European goal after a lengthy spell of possession for the visitors. Click HERE for more from our MATCH ZONE.
Then in one glorious, sweeping move, Sarri’s vision came to life. Chelsea were already leading through a Ross Barkley goal but they were under the cosh and managing the match rather awkwardly.
The second, however, was Chelsea’s first truly fluid attack of the evening. It began with Sarri’s essential figure, Jorginho, who was harried in central midfield but he hoodwinked his opponents, threading a pass that broke the lines and saw Barkley running over halfway with menace. Barkley carried the ball purposefully, teed up Willian, who crossed low and Olivier Giroud turned in the crucial second.
Amid the latest bout of pressure overwhelming their manager, both the result and Chelsea’s second-half confidence and swagger seemed to be a statement. A level of belief has been restored ahead of matches against Manchester United in the FA Cup and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final that will go a long way to defining Sarri’s reign.
Chairman Bruce Buck, who sat in on Sarri’s pre-match press conference, also took in a close-up pitch-side view of the players going through their warm-ups.
File this away, therefore, as a result urgently required for Sarri, particularly as in the first half, the home side challenged Chelsea’s resilience and the answers were not always convincing. Indeed, even when Chelsea looked safe, sound and sailing into the next round, angst crept into their play.
Both teams shake hands ahead of kick-off as fans did their best to create a partisan atmosphere inside the stadium
Chelsea winger Pedro guides through the air as he looks to dribble the ball past opposition defenders in search of a goal
Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta is shoved to the ground by Malmo’s Markus Rosenberg as they battle for possession
Under-pressure Maurizio Sarri barks instructions at his players as he looked to end his side’s recent woes on the pitch
Malmo’s Rasmus Bengtsson tries to deny Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud taking a shot on goal from a dangerous position
Chelsea finally took the lead after half an hour when Barkley pounced on the loose ball before steering it into the net
N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard were by now on the field as substitutes but with a 2-0 lead, suddenly the Chelsea defence parted and Anders Christiansen sped through to half the deficit and offer hope to the home crowd.
The Chelsea breakthrough, when it came in the 30th minute, actually represented their very first shot on target and Barkley seemed surprised as he initially stumbled when Pedro’s cross landed at his feet. The midfielder eventually settled himself and slipped the ball under the goalkeeper. Remarkably, Chelsea’s first away goal of the calendar year had arrived on Valentine’s Day.
Away from home, Chelsea had lost their past four matches in all competitions, conceding thirteen and failing to score. The beleaguered manager made five changes from the side that collapsed in Manchester, offering both a response to the defeat and an eye on Manchester United on Monday evening. Marcos Alonso was axed from the squad altogether and there were rests for Antonio Rudiger, N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard and Gonzalo Higuain.
Despite the reshuffle, Callum Hudson-Odoi had to make do once more with a place on the bench. The teenager, told he could not join Bayern Munich in January and assured he would receive first-team football, came on in the 84th minute and has played only eighteen minutes since the transfer window closed.
After the opener, Chelsea should have asserted their authority. Yet instead the more compelling reaction came from Malmo. Anders Christiansen’s long-distance strike dipped over and Chelsea then rode their luck from set-pieces. As the ball flew back-and-forth across the six yard box, Soren Rieks and Markus Rosenberg both came close to an equaliser.
The England international wheels away in delight after netting a vital away goal for the Premier League side
Malmo fans with flares before the match as one supporter appears to be using a megaphone to stir the atmosphere
Andreas Vindheim has a shot on goal as the Swedish side looked to drag themselves back into the tie after a tough start
Pedro tries to keep the ball in play as he chases a bass down the wing towards the byline under pressure from defenders
Giroud clutches his shin while complaining to the referee about a decision as he struggled to have any impact on the game
Mateo Kovacic felt the full force of a challenge by Malmo’s Fouad Bachirou as he caught the Chelsea midfielder in the air
As Arsenal demonstrated earlier in the evening, there are no walkovers in the knockout stages of the European competition. In these less-vaunted parts of the continent, matches like this do not come along very often and Malmo responded to a real sense of occasion.
Their manager Uwe Rosler set the tie up with much bravado. The former Manchester City striker spoke of his joy at Chelsea’s 6-0 defeat and warned that the ‘stadium would be cooking’.
The locals did not disappoint. They bobbed up and down in the manner usually seen at Germany’s most lively stadiums, they ignited red flares and a misty smoke enveloped their sold-out home. When the match began, a sinister hiss greeted every Chelsea touch and exaggerated outrage met every decision that went against their team.
Chelsea, already facing a potential partial stadium closure due to alleged anti-Semitic chants earlier in the campaign, saw their supporters once again riled. The two sets of fans hurled beer back and forth during the first period and a line of Swedish police intervened at the fence separating the two fans as matters promised to escalate. On the final whistle, two home fans invaded the pitch and needed to be caught by stewards.
Chelsea’s advantage was doubled in the second period when Giroud ran across goal and produced a stunning backheel
The goalscorer thanks his Brazilian colleague for assisting him as the Blues edged closer to the next round of the competition
Rasmus Bengtsson fires a shot on goal for the hosts as he looked to score a goal that would keep them in the tie
Eden Hazard was brought off the bench in the second half and received some rough treatment from the opposition defenders
Chelsea are an experienced team and should not be intimidated by the cliched European welcome on the field, and yet they were certainly rattled. During a fraught opening period, Sarri’s team continued to lapse. David Luiz misplaced passes, their midfielders were beaten in 50/50 challenges and the away team did not create a chance of note until they scored.
Yet Malmo finished third in the Swedish league last season and for all their effort, they sorely lack quality. They are also out of practice. Their domestic campaign ended in November and a training camp in Marbella, plus a handful of friendly games, is not ideal.
There was always the suspicion they may tire and after a lively start to the second-half, so it proved. Chelsea should have added more goals, first when Barkley was superbly denied by Johan Dahlin and then when Pedro curled wide – but for Sarri, this was welcome respite. How long it will last remains another question entirely.
Chelsea were caught cold by their opponents as Christiansen latched onto a through ball and steered his shot into the net
Chelsea’s David Luiz and Mateo Kovacic react after conceding their first goal and letting a two-goal advantage in the tie slip
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