Chelsea 0-1 Valencia
A penalty miss in the closing minutes spoiled Frank Lampard’s first European game as Valencia picked up a surprise win at Stamford Bridge in this Champions League Group H opener.
Rodrigo’s goal on 74 minutes was enough to settle the tie, but only after Ross Barkley had missed a penalty with just three minutes remaining. It was the perfect tonic for Los Che’s new head coach Albert Celades, who has taken over the La Liga team at a torrid time.
The Valencia players are still refusing to speak to the media after the sacking of former boss Marcelino but they put in a classic smash and grab performance to come away from Stamford Bridge with all three points.
The Champions League 2019 betting tips aren’t about to change dramatically, with neither of these teams in the group of favourites, but Valencia have given themselves a good chance of navigating a tough group which also contains Ajax.
Meanwhile, the pick of the Champions League 2019 results elsewhere was a 6-2 win for Salzburg over Genk, while Napoli shocked champions Liverpool with two late goals in a 2-0 victory.
Highlights of the game
The first action of the game was not what Chelsea fans wanted to see. Young Mason Mount has been in inspirational form in his breakthrough season, but former Arsenal enforcer Francis Coquelin floored him with a wild challenge on just nine minutes.
Coquelin picked up a yellow card for his trouble, but Mount failed to recover and limped off to be replaced by Pedro.
Mount’s injury seemed to affect the hosts as they played at a low tempo for much of the first half. Los Che fired a warning shot when Rodrigo let fly from outside the box but his effort hit Kevin Gameiro as it headed towards goal.
Willian was Chelsea’s most creative player, and he embarked on a clever run through the Valencia defence before shooting just wide.
That sparked a Chelsea onslaught in the last five minutes of the half. First, Mateo Kovacic put in a brilliant cross to find Willian, who chested the ball down but fired over the bar.
Then Jorginho and Pedro both had shots blocked before the best effort of the half came on the stroke of half-time. It was Willian again who found space to fire in a fizzing shot which Jasper Cillessen saved well at his near post.
Valencia started the brighter in the second half and had a great chance to break the deadlock when a corner found Gameiro free and in space on the edge of the box, but he curled his effort over when he should have hit the target.
Chelsea gradually came back into the game with an effort from Marcos Alonso tipped round the post by Cillessen, and then Pedro had a shot blocked.
But the Blues’ progress was promptly halted on 74 minutes when Los Che went ahead with their best move of the night. Skipper Dani Parejo floated a delightful ball over the Chelsea defence and the unmarked Rodrigo collected the ball six yards out before finishing with a bouncing shot which left Kepa grasping at thin air.
Chelsea threw men forward in a desperate bid to level and the crowd howled when Fikayo Tomori’s header appeared to hit Daniel Wass on the arm. Then followed an agonising two minutes as the referee was instructed to consult VAR. And when he eventually pointed to the spot the home fans roared their approval.
But ecstasy turned to agony after Ross Barkley, who insisted he took the penalty, smashed it against the crossbar.
Key statistics
SBOBET football fans will know Chelsea boss Lampard captained the Blues to Champions League glory in 2012. And in his first Champions League match as head coach, he would have been pleased how his side finished a first half in which they won the shot count by nine to three with three to one on target.
And while the second half followed a similar pattern, with six shots on target to two in favour of the Blues, the game turned on those two big moments as Rodrigo scored and Barkley missed.
What’s next?
Chelsea now have a huge Premier League game to look forward to when leaders Liverpool head to the Bridge. That will be a big test for the Blues as they search for a first home win of the season, but they can hope that the Reds are still shaking after their own disaster in Naples.
Valencia took a 5-2 thumping at the hands of Barcelona last weekend and they head back to the Mestalla where Leganes are the visitors. The Madrid minnows have held their own in La Liga over the past two seasons, but they have made a disastrous start this time and are rock bottom after four defeats.
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