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Score: Sevilla 0-4 Chelsea (Olivier Giroud 8’ 54’ 74’ 83’)
Chelsea eased past Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League courtesy of four goals by Olivier Giroud, and in the process became only the second English team to win at Seville. The Blues were thoroughly impressive despite ringing in the changes and will finish top of Group E regardless of what happens on the final matchday in the group stages.
Frank Lampard had hinted before the game that he was going to give some of the fringe players an opportunity, and he did just that as he made a whopping nine changes to the team that drew against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday.
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An early goal by Olivier Giroud in the eighth minute of the game helped calm the nerves, and even though Sevilla passed it around comfortably, they rarely threatened the Chelsea goal. The second half saw Chelsea be a bit more aggressive as they took the game to Sevilla and pressed the Spaniards high up the pitch to pose questions.
Giroud scored thrice in 30 second half minutes to guarantee the points in what eventually turned out to be a spectacular display by Chelsea.
Here are the main talking points from the game:
#5 Olivier Giroud ageing like fine wine at Chelsea
The perfect hat-trick, and then a neatly tucked in penalty to cap off quite a night; Giroud is having fun in the twilight of his career isn’t he? Not many expected him to do well this late in his career, and even though there has been talk of him leaving Chelsea in January to enhance his chance of starting for France in the Euros next year, he can still be a vital part of the team in December.
The Frenchman is not the quickest, and certainly not the niftiest of players, but he makes up for it with his understanding of the game and composure. His movement and finishing for the opening two goals were just scintillating, and the third goal was harder to miss after he was excellently found by an N’Golo Kante cross (of all people!).
Giroud’s ability to release the ball quickly is also something that holds him in good stead in this side, and he offers something different when compared to the likes of Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner. Lampard couldn’t hide his smile after Giroud scored his third of the game, and perhaps he should do everything to convince the Frenchman to stay on until the end of the season with a title charge potentially looming.
#4 A game of two halves?
The 4-0 score line in Chelsea’s favour is extremely one-sided, and in fairness, they did dominate in the second half. However, the first half was actually pretty enjoyable for the neutrals as there was some good passing football on offer.
Chelsea scored early and it helped them ease into the rest of the first half as Sevilla probed for openings with patient build up. However, the clear-cut chances never came. It must be mentioned that like Chelsea, Sevilla too made several changes to the team that previously featured in the league.
Julen Lopetegui made seven changes to the team that faced Huesca in La Liga on Saturday, as he rested some of the key players for the bigger game against Real Madrid next Saturday.
Despite the changes, there were some talented players on the pitch for the Andalusians. Lopetegui will be disappointed his side capitulated like the way they did in the second half after a decent first half showing.
#3 Sevilla’s struggle for creativity
The likes of Lucas Ocampos, Oliver Torres and Munir El Haddadi did not start for Sevilla, and their absence was felt as the team struggled to create openings against Chelsea.
This was a Chelsea team that did not have its first team defenders nor the presence of someone like Kante in midfield for large parts of the game, so they were there for the taking.
Most of Sevilla’s chances came from set-pieces as they never really tested Edouard Mendy in the Chelsea goal. Compared to Chelsea’s 14 attempts, Sevilla mustered 17, but a whopping nine of them came from set-pieces, while Chelsea relied just twice on the deadball situations to create openings. That’s a telling stat, and one Lopetegui will want to take a look at.
#2 Kai Havertz puts in a solid display
In what was his first start for Chelsea since late October, Kai Havertz impressed with a solid display. In his absence due to Covid19, Hakim Ziyech set the stage on fire and was the in-form attacker for Chelsea. So much so that Havertz was almost a forgotten man.
The German is yet to really settle and needs more time, but last night's display will do him a world of good as he played a hand in Chelsea’s opener and did well off the ball.
Lampard has placed a lot of faith on Mason Mount because of his tenacity and off the ball work, and that is something Havertz will need to match to evolve as a player in the English top flight.
In Seville, he managed to make the second most tackles (three) after Cesar Azpilicueta, and that stat will perhaps make Lampard happier than his goal contribution. From an attacking sense, he completed two dribbles, the joint most in the Chelsea team.
#5 A promising display by the Chelsea defence
Chelsea’s season started off with all sorts of injury problems and they just couldn’t stop conceding. A few months later, even their changed team can put no foot wrong.
Even without Kante protecting the changed centre-back pairing of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, Mendy had a largely quite game in the Chelsea goal as Sevilla struggled to test the Blues.
Chelsea have conceded just once in their five games in the Champions League, and that is an excellent showing for a side that were deemed to have a soft underbelly by many fans and pundits. Lampard’s side are becoming a more complete unit with each passing game.
(All stats taken from Whoscored)
