LIVE BLOG

90+3min: FULL TIME.

90min: GOAL!! CHELSEA!!! Zappacosta and Pedro counter on the right, the latter switching to Loftus-Cheek, who lays it off to Hudson-Odoi and he makes no mistakes after taking a touch. Game. Set. Match. 3-0, CHELSEA!!

89min: Alonso and Kovačić conspire to turn the ball over on halfway, but Dynamo can’t take advantage as the ball in towards Shaparenko is too long. Chelsea have a goal kick and can hold.

88min: Hudson-Odoi bursts down the left after beating his man, but his cross is behind both Giroud and Pedro. The latter also slips and Dynamo have the ball instead.

87min: Dynamo come again after Kanté loses the ball, but they stray offside and Chelsea get a breather.

85min: Dynamo still looking for that away goal and it gets a bit shaky between Alonso, David Luiz, and Kepa. Kanté blocks a long shot for a corner, which Giroud clears with a forceful header.

82min: Great play from RLC who drives at the defense, plays out wide to Pedro, who returns it with great timing. RLC takes a touch past the defender, but the ball bounces up and he balloons his shot well over from about five yards out. Another big chance missed.

78min: Hudson-Odoi on for Willian

77min: Chelsea getting a bit too casual, but no real danger at either end. Alonso then goes for a snap shot from the corner of the penalty area, but it goes well wide.

72min: Dynamo trying to press as Chelsea drop deeper and hold fast.

67min: Christensen alert at the other end to clear for a throw.

65min: RLC straight into the action, draws a foul 20 yards out just outside the corner of the penalty area. Willian lines it up ... AND SCORES AGAIN! Almost exactly like in 2015. 2-0, CHELSEA!!!

62min: Loftus-Cheek and Kanté arrive, Barkley and Jorginho make way. Kovačić slides into the central regista role. Eden, CHO, and Higuaín go to warm up.

60min: Rusyn cons the referee into a foul, 30 yards out, as he falls down in Christensen’s vicinity. Shaparenko clips it in and Chelsea clear. Dynamo were offside anyway.

58min: Kepa launches a quick attack and Willian slices through the midfield, but his pass out left for Giroud is just a bit too strong and he has to check back, before losing the ball.

56min: Great turn from Barkley almost creates a chance, but his defender makes a tremendous last ditch sliding tackle to clear for a corner. The corner is almost turned home by David Luiz but Shaparenko gets his body in the way and runs it clear.

54min: Willian finds Pedro up the right channel this time; he cuts inside his man and has a go from the top of the box, but Boyko, of course, makes the save. This one wasn’t a clear-cut chance but Pedro’s frustrated.

53min: Chelsea have lost their way a bit, and Sarri sends Kanté and Loftus-Cheek for a warm-up down the sideline.

49min: Pattern same as the first half so far, with Dynamo looking to counter from a deep, solid block. Chelsea probing for a way through.

46min: And we’re back underway; no changes for either side.

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HALF-TIME: Chelsea dominant, but lead only 1-0. Pedro’s missed a hat-trick of great chances in addition to his goal while Alonso came within a whisker after his shot was partially blocked.

45+1min: Half-time whistle goes.

45min: Pedro misses another chance after Jorginho forces a turnover and Barkley links the play. Pedro cuts inside his man on the left side of the penalty area, but his shot is straight into the arms of Boyko. That’s 1-for-4 for the goalscorer.

43min: Kovačić and Christensen manage to knock heads while going for the same ball and the game is stopped. Kovačić seems to have come off worse and gets some further examination from the physios.

41min: Buyalskiy goes into the book (and is suspended for the second leg) after taking down Kovačić, who absolutely undressed him with a couple skill moves.

38min: Giroud once again starting things, this time with a flick to Willian, but he runs into a cul-de-sac. Still he finds Pedro, then finds Zappacosta after getting the ball back, but his cross doesn’t find a blue shirt.

35min: This time it’s Willian who manages to turn his defender to pull a great ball back to Alonso, whose shot is on target until it’s luckily blocked by a defender. David Luiz gets his head on the ensuing corner, but it flies high.

34min: David Luiz finds Pedro with a fantastic Hollywood ball over the top, but Pedro’s denied once again by the goalkeeper. Pedro could’ve, should’ve had a hat-trick by now.

32min: Shaparenko trundles forward and sprays a great ball out wide right, but Alonso recovers to block the cross for a corner — replays show that it might have inadvertently come off his arm, but there’s no VAR today to overanalyze the situation. Dynamo commit a foul on the ensuing corner however and Chelsea have the ball back.

30min: Another great little interplay between Giroud and Pedro, but the latter’s then barged to the ground by the defender inside the area. Close enough to a shoulder-to-shoulder for the referee, it would appear.

25min: Barkley makes the run up the left channel, beats his man, but can’t quite beat the goalkeeper who closes his legs just in the nick of time.

23min: Dynamo keep the ball for a minute, but Chelsea hold the lines well enough and prevent any danger.

20min: Pedro then has an awful miss, hitting his tap in straight into the belly of the goalkeeper after Zappacosta puts in a good cross. Chelsea could fill their boots here if we wanted to.

18min: GOAL!! CHELSEA!!! Pedro swaps to the left and is found by Barkley. Pedro drives the box, plays it in to Giroud, who smuggles a backheel through the legs of the defender back to the still running Pedro, who pokes it through the legs of the goalkeeper. Double megs! 1-0, CHELSEA!!

15min: Zappacosta wins yet another corner with a blocked cross. Willian completely mis-hits it, straight and low into the first man 10 yards away.

13min: Willian loses the ball and Rusyn sprints forward, drawing the contact from Alonso out wide. David Luiz heads clear the ensuing free kick.

12min: David Luiz finds Pedro again on the right, but his pass is just a little too strong for Kovačić bursting into the box.

11min: Pedro tries to weave through the middle, but Barkley gets in his way and the space is gone. Barkley then wins a corner to make up for it. Willian makes a mess of this one however, with a mistimed and misdirected fizzed cross after initially playing it short with Pedro.

9min: Willian takes the free kick, but Dynamo clear it easily for a throw.

8min: It’s all Chelsea though without truly threatening. Zappacosta involved a lot and wins a free kick, with Shepeliev getting the game’s first booking for it as well. Dynamo barely getting a touch let alone venture forward.

3min: Chelsea come forward again, but this time Zappacosta strays offside.

2min: David Luiz’s next long ball finds Pedro on the big switch. He controls with a tremendous touch, finds the underlapping Zappacosta, whose cross is blocked for a corner. From the corner, Willian finds Barkley at the near post, but the ball gets stuck under his feet and the chance is gone.

KICK-OFF: Chelsea get us underway with the usual long ball down the left by David Luiz. Dynamo win the duel, but Chelsea retain possession in their own half.

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Chelsea are down to two competitions this season, both of which offer a path back into the Champions League next yea. Achieving that remains the minimum expectation for this season. But even beyond that goal, Chelsea need to win today to keep the momentum building and the recent good vibes going.

Chelsea have won back-to-back games for just the second time in 2019 and could make it three in a row for the first time since early November.

Here we go!

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Chelsea starting lineup (4-3-3):
Arrizabalaga | Alonso, David Luiz (c), Christensen, Zappacosta | Barkley, Jorginho, Kovacic | Willian, Giroud, Pedro

Substitutes from: Caballero, Rudiger, Kante, Higuain, Hazard, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi

Dynamo Kiev starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Boyko | Mykolenko, Shabanov, Burda, Kedziora | Shepeliev, Sydorchuk (c) | Buyalskiy, Shaparenko, Tsygankov | Rusyn

Substitutes from: Bushchan, Sidcley, Andriyevskiy, Garmash, Tsitaishvili, Kadar, Smirniy

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Date / Time: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 20:00 GMT; 3pm EST; 1:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Slavko Vinčić

On TV: BT Sport 2 (UK); UniMás (USA); SONY TEN 2? (India); elsewhere
Streaming online: BT Sport Live (UK); B/R Live, Univision Deportes En Vivo (USA); SONY LIV? (India)

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Be excellent to each other.