Cobham Academy trio strike as Chelsea sink Juventus to move top of CL group
Chelsea produced a dominant performance to sink Juventus 4-0 at Stamford Bridge and move ahead of their Italian opponents at the top of Champions League Group H.
Thomas Tuchel’s side – the reigning European champions – showed why they are a team very much to be feared again with a stellar performance from front to back. With much made of the lavish sums of money spent at Stamford Bridge over the years, it was left to three of their homegrown stars to lead the way and sink Juve.
The Blues took the lead after 25 minutes through the unlikely source of Trevoh Chalobah, his goal capping a spell of extended Blues dominance.
Chalobah fired into the roof of the net with a fierce volley after Juve failed to clear a corner. It was no less than the hosts deserved, with the strike seeing them capitalise on their overall control.
However, former Blues striker Alvaro Morata almost grabbed a rapid equaliser. His chip towards goal was heading in but for a goalline heroics from Thiago Silva.
And Thomas Tuchel’s side could have doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Wojciech Szczesny pulled off an excellent save to push away Reece James’ half-volley.
The Blues were forced to withdraw N’Golo Kante with an injury issue, to be replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek. According to BT Sport, Kante is now a fitness doubt for Sunday’s clash with Manchester United.
Callum Hudson-Odoi then had a sight at goal only to see Leonardo Bonucci stamp out the fire just in time.
Rodrigo Bentancur then saw an effort from outside the box just flash wide as the half drew to a close.
Chelsea make dominance count
Thiago Silva’s glancing header was well held by Szczesny as the Blues made a strong start to the second half.
Moments later Hakim Ziyech played in Hudson-Odoi, but with the angle narrowing, Juve snuffed out the danger.
However, the second goal arrived though in the 56th-minute through argubaly their player of the season so far in James. Cushioning the ball into space with his chest, he unleashed a ferocious volley that flew past Szczesny. It was a stupendous strike.
STRIIIIIIIIKE!
A thunderous hit from Reece James!#UCL pic.twitter.com/fQzbafKMug
— BT Sport (@btsport) November 23, 2021
And two quickly became three when two minutes later. The goal was the result of a lovely move involving Ziyech and Loftus-Cheek, who helped work some space for Hudson-Odoi who drilled a quality finish into the net.
The game then saw a couple of injury treatments interrupt the flow. However, the Blues were able to bring on little-used loanee Saul Niguez with 15 minutes left.
And there was still time for Timo Werner to tap home from close range late on to wrap up the win. The win illustrated exactly why Chelsea are a team to be feared in the knockout stages.
It was the heaviest Champions League defeat Juventus have ever had.
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