Chelsea 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb, Champions League: Post-match reaction, ratings

Chelsea made another bad, slow start to a game, conceding once again in the first 10-15 minutes: Bruno Petković powering home a wide-open header from five yards out inside of seven minutes.

Thankfully, Dinamo followed that up with some messy defending of their own, allowing Raheem Sterling to pick out the bottom corner with a well placed left-footed shot some ten minutes later. Chelsea piled on the pressure immediately after, but were not able to grab a second goal until the half-hour mark, when Sterling caused havoc on the right and debutant Denis Zakaria blasted a shot past and seemingly through the goalkeeper and a defender on the line from the top of the box.

The teams traded chances at the start of the second half, with Aubameyang hitting the crossbar and Mendy making a good save on a header from a corner. Then it was mostly one-way traffic the rest of the way, as Chelsea cranked up the pressure and superiority, but were unable to find a third.

We did find another injury however, with Ben Chilwell pulling his hamstring in literally the final minute. FFS.

Carefree.

• Several changes from the weekend, but still practically a full-strength first-team lineup in an otherwise meaningless game, and only eight players on the bench of the twelve allowed.
• Koulibaly involved in an early knee re-injury scare, but was able to play on. Aubameyang also seen briefly favoring a leg, but also able to run it off.
• Unfortunately Zakaria not so lucky, limping straight down the tunnel after his substitution in the 70th minute. Azpi also seemed to have picked up a knock to his lower right leg late on.
• Chilwell injury sucks something fierce, for him, for us, for England
• Debut goal for Zakaria though! Sterling’s 5th goal of the season.
• Four wins in a row for Chelsea to close out the group stage.
• Milan easily beat Salzburg in the other game, Salzburg drop into the Europa League
• Draw for the Round of 16 on Monday. Potential opponents include: PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Inter Milan, Frankfurt, Club Brugge
• Next up: home against league-leaders Arsenal on Sunday high noon
• KTBFFH

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