Chelsea earned a 4-2 victory against KAA Gent to kick off their UEFA Conference League campaign with Renato Veiga and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scoring their first goals for the club.
Chelsea piled the pressure on Gent from the first whistle and took the lead after just 12 minutes when Veiga headed home to score his first goal for the club.
Pedro Neto scored a superb volley just two minutes into the second half to double Chelsea’s advantage.
Gent pulled one back on 50 minutes after some sloppy Chelsea defending, Tsuyoshi Watanabe rose highest to head his effort past Filip Jorgensen.
Less than 15 minutes later Christopher Nkunku restored Chelsea’s two-goal advantage, squeezing an effort past Davy Roef.
Dewsbury-Hall scored Chelsea’s fourth and final goal of the night 20 minutes from time, pouncing on a loose ball to squeeze an effort underneath the Gent goalkeeper Roef.
Gent though refused to give up and grabbed another consolation in stoppage time, with substitute Omri Gandelman firing home first time.
Talking Point – Staking their claim
Chelsea came into this match on the back of four consecutive victories across all competitions and tonight was an opportunity for those players who haven’t played many minutes this season to make an impact and potentially stake their claim for a future place in the team. In a competition that Chelsea are considered strong favourites to win, it’s a testament to their strength in depth that they the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix and Mykhailo Mudryk can all come into the side and help Chelsea to victory. Chelsea have now made it five wins from five and tonight’s victory should help to breed confidence ahead of what is a tough run of fixtures across all competitions, including a trip to Anfield, two matches against Newcastle United and a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. Matches that Chelsea’s supporting cast will hope they can perhaps play a leading role in.
Player of the Match – Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Chelsea)
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall put in a fantastic performance for the Blues tonight, showing his quality in midfield. He completed 62 of his 68 passes, helped Chelsea get up the pitch with his progressive and positive play. He won six of his eight duels, completed all three of his dribbles and capped off a fine performance with what was his first goal for the club since joining from Leicester City.
Player Ratings
Chelsea: Jorgensen 6, Disasi 6, Tosin 6, Badiashile 6, Veiga 7, Casadei 7, Dewsbury-Hall 9, Neto 8, Felix 7, Mudryk 7, Nkunku 7 Subs: Guiu 6, George 6
Gent: Roef 6, Torunarigha 5, Watanabe 6, Mitrovic 6, Gambor 6, Ito 6, Delorge 6, Brown 7, Surdez 6, Gudjohnsen 7, Fadiga 6 Subs: Araujo 6, Dean 7, Gandelman 7, Kums 6, Samoise N/A
Match Highlights
12’ GOAL! CHELSEA 1-0 GENT (VEIGA) – It’s been coming! Chelsea’s constant pressure has paid off after just 12 minutes and Renato Veiga hashis first goal for the club. Mudryk fires in a cross to the back post and Veiga is on hand to head the ball into the bottom corner.
46’ GOAL! CHELSEA 2-0 GENT (NETO) – Chelsea have a second just a couple of minutes into the second half! The ball bounces up in front of Pedro Neto who thumps it home on the volley.
50’ GOAL! CHELSEA 2-1 GENT (WATANABE) – The Belgian side have pulled one back! Just a couple of minutes after Neto put Chelsea 2-0 up it’s now 2-1. Chelsea fail to clear their lines, the ball is floated in from the right-hand side and Watanabe heads home into the far corner.
63’ GOAL! CHELSEA 3-1 GENT (NKUNKU) – Christopher Nkunku makes it 3-1 to Chelsea! The ball falls to the Chelsea attacker just outside the box who strokes it home down the middle. Gent goalkeeper Roef won’t be happy with his work when he watches that goal back.
70’ GOAL! CHELSEA 4-1 GENT (DEWSBURY-HALL) – Dewsbury-Hall pounces on a loose ball to slide home an effort underneath the goalkeeper to make it 4-1 and that you feel is game over!
90’ GOAL! CHELSEA 4-2 GENT (GANDELMAN) – Max Dean finds Gandelman in the box who slides home past Jorgensen.
Key Stat
Chelsea have now won five consecutive matches across all competitions, scoring 17 goals – an average of 3.4 goals per match.
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