

Midfielder Jorginho scored from the spot as Chelsea finished their successful Champions League Group E campaign with a point against Krasnodar.
Frank Lampard made 10 changes to the side that defeated Leeds at the weekend, giving a first senior start to Tino Anjorin, while fellow 19-year-old midfielder Billy Gilmour made his first start since recovering from injury.
The ‘second string’ Blues dominated the early possession, but the Russian side looked dangerous on the break and took the lead in the 24th minute through Remy Cabella. The former Newcastle player started and finished the move with a low shot that sneaked in past the reach of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
However, four minutes later the English side were level when Jorginho converted a penalty after Tammy Abraham had been fouled in the area by Brazilian midfielder Kaio.
England striker Abraham also went close with a low shot that was deflected wide by the boot of keeper Evgeni Gorodov.
The Blues finish Group E as winners with 14 points from their six games.
Chelsea teenagers given chance to shine
Lampard lauded the potential of Gilmour and Anjorin during the build-up, although will the pair, like many before them, struggle to break through at the club?
Anjorin, at the Blues since under-7 level, was making his first start and third senior appearance. Described as a box-to-box midfielder, the Dorset-born player stayed largely on the left of the pitch and produced a couple of loose balls early on before settling.
He came close to an assist when his peach of a pass into the area for Kai Havertz was not given a suitable finish by the German midfielder.
Gilmour made a big impression last season before he suffered a knee injury in July that kept him out of action until last week when he came on in the final minutes of the 4-0 thumping of Sevilla.
The Scot, who moved from Rangers to Chelsea at 16, was excellent in linking the play between the midfield and the likes of Abraham and Havertz further forward. One early strike on goal would have tested Gorodov had it not come off Abraham’s shoulder, while a half-volley was easily saved by the Russian keeper.
As for Kepa, he was making his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt since October. Aside from picking the ball out of the net, the only other time the Spaniard got his jersey dirty was in diving to push away Wanderson’s angled strike.
With speculation over moves for both Kepa and Gilmour in January, it will be interesting to see how many more appearances the pair will make for the high-flying Blues this season.
Blues on the spot – stats
- Chelsea are unbeaten in six Champions League games (W4 D2), their longest run without defeat in the competition since September 2015 (W5 D4).
- Krasnodar have suffered just one defeat in their last four European games on the road (W1 D2), after losing three of the four before that (W1).
- Chelsea finished the group stage with a haul of 14 points, their highest tally at this stage of the competition since 2014-15 (14).
- Chelsea have won 10 penalties in all competitions this season, more than any other Premier League side, scoring eight of them (level with Leicester and Manchester United).
- Anjorin is the ninth youngest player to debut for Chelsea in the Champions League (19y 15d) and the youngest since Callum Hudson-Odoi in October 2019 (18y 329d).
- Cabella netted his first goal in the Champions League in his ninth appearance in the competition.
- Kepa has conceded seven goals in his four appearances for Chelsea this season in all competitions, as many as fellow Blues keepers Edouard Mendy and Willy Caballero have shipped in their 15 games combined in 2020-21 (seven).
What’s next?
Chelsea are at Everton in the Premier League on Saturday (20:00 GMT).
Player of the match
GilmourBilly Gilmour
Chelsea
-
Squad number23Player nameGilmour
Average rating7.76
-
Squad number18Player nameGiroud
Average rating6.95
-
Squad number11Player nameWerner
Average rating6.91
-
Squad number7Player nameKanté
Average rating6.78
-
Squad number29Player nameHavertz
Average rating6.49
-
Squad number55Player nameAnjorin
Average rating6.43
-
Squad number17Player nameKovacic
Average rating6.11
-
Squad number5Player nameJorginho
Average rating6.09
-
Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta
Average rating6.08
-
Squad number2Player nameRüdiger
Average rating6.06
-
Squad number4Player nameChristensen
Average rating5.61
-
Squad number9Player nameAbraham
Average rating5.56
-
Squad number33Player nameEmerson
Average rating5.44
-
Squad number1Player nameArrizabalaga
Average rating4.66
FK Krasnodar
-
Squad number16Player nameClaesson
Average rating6.88
-
Squad number14Player nameOlsson
Average rating6.74
-
Squad number28Player nameSmolnikov
Average rating6.67
-
Squad number7Player nameCabella
Average rating6.63
-
Squad number1Player nameGorodov
Average rating6.59
-
Squad number52Player nameVilhena
Average rating6.53
-
Squad number6Player nameRamírez
Average rating6.53
-
Squad number33Player nameBerg
Average rating6.52
-
Squad number4Player nameMartynovich
Average rating6.44
-
Squad number31Player nameKaio
Average rating6.35
-
Squad number10Player nameWanderson Maciel
Average rating6.31
-
Squad number2Player nameSorokin
Average rating6.18
-
Squad number18Player nameChernov
Average rating6.08
-
Squad number93Player nameShapi Suleymanov
Average rating6.07
-
Squad number77Player nameKambolov
Average rating6.07
-
Squad number20Player nameMarkov
Average rating5.83
Line-ups
Chelsea
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 28AzpilicuetaBooked at 82mins
- 4Christensen
- 2Rüdiger
- 33Emerson
- 17KovacicSubstituted forKantéat 74′minutes
- 5Jorginho
- 23Gilmour
- 29HavertzSubstituted forWernerat 74′minutes
- 9Abraham
- 55AnjorinSubstituted forGiroudat 80′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Alonso
- 7Kanté
- 10Pulisic
- 11Werner
- 13Caballero
- 14Tomori
- 15Zouma
- 18Giroud
- 19Mount
- 21Chilwell
- 24James
- 40Ziger
FK Krasnodar
- 1Gorodov
- 28Smolnikov
- 4Martynovich
- 31da Silva PantaleãoSubstituted forSorokinat 74′minutes
- 6Ramírez
- 14OlssonSubstituted forKambolovat 80′minutes
- 52Vilhena
- 10Sousa CamposSubstituted forChernovat 80′minutes
- 7CabellaSubstituted forSuleymanovat 80′minutes
- 16Claesson
- 33BergSubstituted forMarkovat 90′minutes
Substitutes
- 2Sorokin
- 18Chernov
- 20Markov
- 47Utkin
- 53Chernikov
- 77Kambolov
- 88Sinitsyn
- 93Suleymanov
- 98Petrov
- Referee:
- Pavel Královec
- Attendance:
- 2,000
Match Stats
Live Text
-
Match ends, Chelsea 1, FK Krasnodar 1.
-
Second Half ends, Chelsea 1, FK Krasnodar 1.
-
Foul by Olivier Giroud (Chelsea).
-
Aleksandr Martynovich (FK Krasnodar) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Foul by Tammy Abraham (Chelsea).
-
Ruslan Kambolov (FK Krasnodar) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Foul by César Azpilicueta (Chelsea).
-
Evgeni Chernov (FK Krasnodar) wins a free kick on the left wing.
-
Substitution, FK Krasnodar. Evgeni Markov replaces Marcus Berg.
-
Foul by Olivier Giroud (Chelsea).
-
Igor Smolnikov (FK Krasnodar) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Olivier Giroud (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
-
Foul by Tonny Vilhena (FK Krasnodar).
-
Foul by Olivier Giroud (Chelsea).
-
Ruslan Kambolov (FK Krasnodar) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
César Azpilicueta (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
-
Foul by César Azpilicueta (Chelsea).
-
Evgeni Chernov (FK Krasnodar) wins a free kick on the left wing.
-
Substitution, Chelsea. Olivier Giroud replaces Faustino Anjorin.
-
Substitution, FK Krasnodar. Evgeni Chernov replaces Wanderson Maciel.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Tumblr
RSS