Glorious Chelsea crush Maribor
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ByEurosport
Updated 22/10/2014 at 08:13 GMT
Champions League Group G, Stamford Bridge - Chelsea 6 (Remy 13, Drogba 23 pen, Terry 31, Viler 54 og, Hazard 77 pen 90) Maribor 0
Chelsea's Didier Drogba (R), Branislav Ivanovic (C) and Eden Hazard celebrate after an own goal by Maribor (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
A majestic team display saw Chelsea continue their unbeaten start to the Champions League with a 6-0 demolition of Maribor at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues’ opener came at great cost, with Loic Remy forced off after picking up an injury when firing home the opener.
There was a touch of fortune about their second and third goals with Didier Drogba converting a dubious penalty before John Terry prodded home from an offside position.
Mitja Viler inadvertently turned into his own net after the restart as the one-way traffic showed no signs of abating, before a late penalty miss and an Eden Hazard double compounded the Slovenians misery.
Chelsea top Group G with seven points from three matches, two clear of Schalke in second. Maribor sit third on two points.
KEY MOMENTS
PRE-MATCH! Petr Cech gets the nod in goal, with Thibaut Courtois demoted to the bench. Loic Remy continues in attack at the expense of the injured Diego Costa.
13’ - GOAL, BUT CHELSEA ARE IN TROUBLE! Chelsea 1-0 Maribor. Remy feigns to go down the outside, before darting inside and arrowing a low left-footed shot into the corner. Delirium turns to concern moments later – Remy is too injured to celebrate. Surely not another striker injury?
16’ – REMY TAKEN OFF! The goalscorer hobbles off to polite applause. A huge cheer greets the arrival of Didier Drogba.
23’ – GOAL (PEN)! Chelsea 2-0 Maribor. Hmmm. The ball strikes Mertelj’s hand in the box – but this is an extremely bold call from the referee. The Maribor player was about half a metre away! Didier Drogba smashes home the penalty into the left-hand side of the net. Game over?
31’ - GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Maribor. The Blues break at phenomenal pace through Hazard, who gets to the edge of the area and waits for the overlap. It comes in the form of Fabregas and the Spaniard flashes a low ball across the goal face… And turned in by Terry! Eh, what's he doing up there? Maribor want a flag but the goal stands!
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Chelsea's John Terry celebrates after scoring a goal during their Champions League match against Maribor (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
44’ – WHAT A MISS! Hazard weaves down the right flank and delivers a low cross into the mixer. Handanovic’s palms the ball into the path of Ivanovic… How’s he turned that over? He was about four yards from goal!
52’ – HE’S BLOWN IT! Hazard plays a delightful one-two with Drogba, but – with the keeper preparing to pick the ball out of his net for the fourth time – the Belgian bottles a trick. Oh dear. He sinks down on both knees and cries out in anguish.
54’ – OWN GOAL! Chelsea 4-0 Maribor. Filipe Luis scampers clear and roams along the byline. His cut-back deflects agonisingly away from goal, but Hazard is alive to the situation and turns the ball back across the goal face… And in! It’s an own goal from Mitja Viler!
64’ - PENALTY MISS! Ibraimi dusts himself off after being clattered by Matic and pops the ball on the spot… Crashed against the woodwork. Cech went the right way, but he didn’t need to get a touch.
75’ – CROSSBAR! Willian cuts off the left flank, runs along the 18-yard box and unleashes a shot which cannons against the crossbar. What a biff.
77’ - GOAL (PEN)! Chelsea 5-0 Maribor. Ivanovic rides one naughty challenge, but hits the ground after Marko Suler gives him a shove. Spotkick number three! Hazard stares at Handanovic as he runs up to the ball. The keeper dives right; Hazard rolls the ball to the left. So, so cool.
90’ – GOAL! Chelsea 6-0 Maribor. Ake’s searching pass picks out the run of Hazard. The Maribor defence is missing, but the Belgian still shows incredibly composure to control the ball over his shoulder, turn inside, bamboozle his marker with another touch before lashing home.
90+2’ – SO CLOSE TO THE TREBLE! Hazard floats along the edge of the penalty area, beating yellow shirts with ease, but his shot lacks power. Almost the perfect end to a perfect night for Chelsea.
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Chelsea's Nemanja Matic (L) fouls Maribor's Agim Ibraimi (C) to concede a penalty (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
KEY STATS
Didier Drogba scores his 43rd CL goal and surpasses Alessandro Del Piero in 8th place of the all-time top scorer list
Dominic Solanke becomes the youngest player ever (17-112) to play for Chelsea in the CL, overtaking Joshua McEachran (17-198)
The last four penalties Petr Cech has faced in the Champions League have not been scored (excluding shootouts)
Stats courtesy of Infostrada and Opta
TALKING POINT
Can Chelsea go all the way? Sterner tests await the Blues, but they had few problems deposing a Maribor outfit that had garnered draws from their opening pair of fixtures. With Hazard, Oscar and Willian in that sort of form, they will take some stopping.
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Eden Hazard celebrates after scoring Chelsea's sixth goal (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
MAN OF THE MATCH
Eden Hazard (Chelsea): His mazy dribbles perplexed the opposition defence. Unplayable in this sort of form.
PLAYER RATINGS
Chelsea: Cech 7, Ivanovic 7, Zouma 7, Terry 7, Filipe Luis 7, Matic 7, Fabregas 7, Willian 8, Oscar 6, Hazard 9, Remy 6. Subs: Drogba 6, Ake 6, Solanke 6.
Maribor: Handanovic 6, Stojanovic 5, Rajcevic 5, Suler 5, Mejac 4, Viler 5, Mertelj 5, Filipovic 5, Bohar 5, Tavares 4, Ibraimi 6. Subs: Vrsic 6, Zahovic 6, Mendy 6.
MATCH IN A TWEET
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