Sevilla started the brighter of the two sides, and dominated the first half, certainly in terms of possession. They also had a couple chances, though their best opportunity to score was via an unfortunate deflection. Mendy’s quick, big, strong hand clawed the ball away from danger.
At the other end, Chelsea were struggling to impose ourselves on the game, unable to play through Sevilla’s press and unable to win too many of the first or second balls on long passes forward. A couple half-chances for Werner aside, Chelsea posed no danger.
Chelsea started the second half much better, and created several decent chances in the first 15 or so minutes. But the rest of the game was a much more even affair, and in the end, neither side could conjure enough quality to find the breakthrough.
One point gained, I suppose.
Carefree.
- Three changes from the weekend, with Mendy, Silva, and James coming in for Kepa, Christensen, and Azpilicueta.
- Ziyech for Mount (just as on the weekend, though 10 minutes earlier), Kovacic for Jorginho. Abraham and Hudson-Odoi came on in added-on time, but hardly had time to take a touch let alone make a difference. We had five subs to use, only used four — and really only two.
- Mendy with two clean sheets in two Chelsea starts.
- In the other match of the group, Rennes and Krasnodar battled to a 1-1 draw, which is good.
- Next up: Manchester United, away, on Saturday.
- KTBFFH