Chelsea made to sweat to book Europa League semi-final spot despite Pedro's first-half double

OH Maurizio, just when the Chelsea fans were starting to think about liking you.

Beleaguered Blues boss Maurizio Sarri was on course to win over his critics as his side went in 4-1 up at half-time — 5-1 on aggregate.


But their blundering second-half display showed why it will take more than a Europa League semi-final spot to convince their supporters Sarriball is the future.

This win highlighted all that is good — and bad — about the Italian coach.

The way his team tore Prague apart and put this tie beyond doubt — or so we thought — with three goals in the opening 17 minutes only made you wonder why they have not been so ruthless in the rest of their campaign.

But their second-half display, in which they almost undid all of their fine work, left you trying to fathom how a team with Eden Hazard in it can be reduced to playing so poorly.

While Sarri’s players — renowned for turning on and off performances like a cold tap — must shoulder some of the responsibility, the majority of the blame must lie with the manager.

Chelsea fans, certainly the newbies, may have an unfortunate air of entitlement about them.

But when they are unhappy with their manager even after reaching a European semi-final, it surely speaks volumes.

And with owner Roman Abramovich still absent from the club on political grounds, the Blues’ regulars are screaming out for a leader to put their faith in.

For 45 minutes Sarri still had a chance of being that man.

Any hopes the Czechs had of making it a nervy night for the hosts at the Bridge were extinguished after just five minutes.

Pedro finished off a fine move by dinking the ball over keeper Ondrej Kolar to double the Blues’ first-leg advantage.

The Spanish forward should have been the scorer of Chelsea’s second in the ninth minute but he somehow fired Hazard’s cross against the post.

And the rebound comically cannoned off the head of Slavia defender Simon Deli and into the net. Rarely has a Deli down the Fulham Broadway been so cheap.

Chelsea were not done feasting and on 17 minutes they went 3-0 up when Pedro passed for Olivier Giroud to net his tenth in the competition this season.

Even when defender Tomas Soucek did pull one back for Slavia with a header on 25 minutes, the visitors’ joy did not last for long.

The Blues went straight back down the other end and this time Giroud squared for Pedro to slot in his second of the night.

With a half-time lead of 4-1 on the night, 5-1 overall, that really should have been that.

But if you are not a Chelsea fan — and struggle to understand why their supporters simply cannot take to Sarri — you only had to tune into the second half.

Within six minutes of the restart, their £71.6million keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was beaten by Petr Sevcik’s powerful but stoppable long-range shot for 4-2.

Under another “top” coach this would have been a mere consolation. But Chelsea under Sarri do not do blips, only catastrophies.

And the night nearly became one after Sevcik added another with an even better shot from distance three minutes later.

Luckily for Chelsea the same player stood on the ball when played in late on.

So the Blues join Arsenal in the Europa League last four. It is a shame it did not feel like it.





 

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