Qarabag vs. Chelsea - 22 November 2017

Minute		Description
90' +3		Chelsea have one final opportunity to push forward as Morata bursts into the box to try and latch onto a lofted pass from Fabregas, but he's flagged offside as soon as he makes contact with the ball in front of goal.
90' +2		Diniyev bursts forward on a great run as he takes the Chelsea midfield by surprise. He does really well to beat three players before trying to pick out Quintana on the edge of the penalty area, but his pass is poor and brings a promising attacking move to a disappointing end.
90'		The fourth official has indicated that there will be three minutes of added time.
89'		Thumping strike by Fabregas! Willian showcases great skill to easily get the better of two defenders deep down the left flank. He then spins and works the ball over to Fabregas, who shoots from 25 yards out but can't get the better of Sehic at the near post.
87'		Another chance for Morata to get on the scoresheet! A tame Qarabag attacking move fails to come to anything and allows the striker to sprint into the box and shoot, but he loses his footing at the final moment and has the ball poked away from him by Medvedev.
86'		Daniel Quintana has come on to replace Ndlovu in Qarabag's third and final substitution.
85'		Dani Quintana enters the game and replaces D. Ndlovu.
		Willian has scored a goal for Chelsea! Assist by Pedro.
		It was Pedro who did well to tee up Willian with his pass into the centre of the pitch, but the Qarabag defenders really should have come out to meet the Brazilian rather than sitting back and inviting him forward.
		GOAL! It's another for Willian! The Brazilian picks up the ball midway inside the Qarabag half of the pitch and quickly bursts forward. He isn't closed down quickly enough and manages to get a shot away, and it's one that screams past Sehic before finding the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
83'		Fabregas launches a clever lofted pass into the heart of the hosts' box and manages to pick out Morata. The striker brings the ball down well and tries to spin and shoot, but he's put under pressure by Rzezniczak and is unable to do so.
81'		E. Yunuszadə enters the game and replaces D. Guerrier.
81'		Qarabag have made their second alteration of the evening, with Guerrier making way for Elvin Yunuszada in a defensive switch.
80'		Willian is presented with an opportunity to burst into the Qarabag penalty area after good play by Azpilicueta out wide, but he can't quite find a way past Gara Garayev and the defensive midfielder does well to blast the ball out for a throw-in.

Minute		Description
78'		Courtois has had very little to do since the break due to Chelsea's dominance of the game, but he's finally called into action after Guerrier cuts inside from the right flank and fires a curling effort straight into his hands.
77'		Qarabag try to push forward on a rare foray into the Chelsea half of the pitch, but they quickly lose the ball and are hit by a quick counter-attack. Zappacosta charges down the right wing and gets himself into a good position on the edge of the penalty area, but his cross over towards Morata is poorly hit and fails to set up the Spaniard to shoot.
76'		Great opportunity for Morata! More great play by Chelsea deep inside the hosts' half of the pitch sets up Morata to test Sehic once again, but the Bosnian does really well to smother the effort at the near post to deny the striker.
75'		D. Drinkwater enters the game and replaces N. Kanté.
75'		Chelsea have made another alteration as Conte looks to rest some legs, with Danny Drinkwater coming on to replace Kante.
73'		Penalty goal scored by Cesc Fàbregas for Chelsea!
73'		GOAL! Fabregas' initial penalty is ruled out for encroachment by Zappacosta, but the Spaniard is easily able to rifle his second past Sehic and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
71'		M. Medvedev gets yellow.
71'		PENALTY! Poor defending from Qarabag allows Willian to latch onto a bouncing ball and burst into the box, where he's clumsily dragged back by Medvedev and wins Chelsea their second penalty of the evening.
70'		Morata scores, but it's ruled offside! Another wonderful pass penetrates the home side's penalty area and perfectly picks out Azpilicueta. The Spaniard then pokes the ball over to Morata to comfortably slot the ball back into the net from close range, but the linesman's flag is raised and denies the Spaniard the goal.
68'		Morata goes close to making it 3-0! A beautiful pass from Rudiger slides through the middle of the Qarabag back line and picks out Morata. The striker is all alone in front of goal and only has Sehic to beat, but somehow he ends up side-footing a tame effort just inches wide of the far post. He really should have buried that!
66'		Vital interception by Guerrier! Pedro picks up the ball midway inside the Qarabag half of the pitch and quickly pokes a pass into the left-hand side of the box. Morata sprints onto it and looks set to shoot, but a well-timed sliding tackle from Guerrier denies him the opportunity to do so.
65'		Álvaro Morata enters the game and replaces E. Hazard.
65'		With the win as good as Chelsea's, Antonio Conte has decided to take off Hazard to be replaced by Alvaro Morata.
64'		Great save by Sehic! A wonderful team move from Chelsea causes all sorts of problems for the Qarabag defenders as they quickly make their way into the hosts' penalty area. Hazard is then presented with an excellent opportunity to make it 3-0, but Sehic is there to palm his curling strike away with a brilliant diving stop.
62'		Azpilicueta picks up the ball in a promising position deep down the left wing and quickly tries to tee up Fabregas just outside of the Qarabag box. The midfielder is in a decent pocket of space, but Richard immediately closes him down and forces the Spaniard into playing the ball back to the halfway line.
60'		The tempo of the game has understandably dropped, with neither side in too much of a rush to push forward. With the win as good as Chelsea's, the visitors seem happy to sit back and allow Qarabag to spend time on the ball as they comfortably hold on to their two-goal lead.
58'		G. Cahill enters the game and replaces Marcos Alonso.
58'		Chelsea have made their first change of the night, with Alonso making way for Gary Cahill.
57'		Azpilicueta gets himself into a good position over on the right flank after a bit of space opens up for the defender. It allows him to launch a cross over towards the far post, where Willian manages to get a head on the ball but can only nod it comfortably wide of the goal.
55'		Guerrier tries to carve out a pocket of space for himself over on the right wing once again, and this time he's easier to get the better of Alonso before teeing up Ndlovu. The striker then tries to spin and set up another team-mate, but he's closed down well and quickly loses the ball.
53'		Marcos Alonso gets yellow.
53'		Alonso cynically sticks out an arm and denies Guerrier the opportunity to sprint down the right flank, sending the winger crashing to the ground and resulting in a yellow card being shown to the Chelsea defender.
52'		Pedro goes close to making it 3-0! The Spaniard catches out the Qarabag defence with a clever run into the box and only has Sehic to beat. He brings the ball down really well and quickly shoots, but the Bosnian goalkeeper smothers his strike with a decent diving save.
50'		Willian makes a good run down the left-hand side of the hosts' penalty area as he latches onto a clever pass forward from Rudger. He spins and attempts to fire a cross into the box, but he's well dealt with by the Qarabag defence and has to settle for a corner that sails straight into the hands of Sehic.
48'		Qarabag try to push forward on an early attacking move through Michel, who charges down the right flank on a marauding run. He tries to find a way through a group of white shirts camped in front of him, but he's unable to do so and is dispossessed by Pedro without too many problems.
46'		C. Diniyev enters the game and replaces M. Emreli.
		Qarabag have made a substitution during the half-time break, with Cosqun Diniyev coming on to replace Madatov.
		We're underway once again!
45'		The home side try to push forward on one final attacking move before the half-time break, but they're totally outnumbered inside the Chelsea half of the pitch and are unable to do much with the ball before the referee brings an end to the first half.
44'		Willian bursts through the middle of the Qarabag back line as he tries to latch onto a lofted pass forward, but his run towards the hosts' penalty area is slightly mistimed and he's flagged offside as soon as he makes contact with the ball.
42'		Not very much, it turns out. Willian steps up and shoots from the dangerously placed set-piece but can only curl his strike comfortably wide of the near post.
41'		J. Rzeźniczak gets yellow.
41'		Pedro embarks on a brilliant run through the middle of the pitch after space opens up for the Spaniard. He evades one tackle as he sprints towards the penalty area, but he's eventually tripped over just outside of the box after being caught by a cynical challenge from Rzezniczak, who receives a yellow card. What can Chelsea do with this free-kick?
40'		Qarabag enjoy their best spell of possession since going a man down as they patiently knock the ball around inside the Chelsea half of the pitch. It initially looks as if Madatov will be able to swing in a cross from the left wing, but he finally loses out to Zappacosta before he's able to do so.
38'		That should be that for Chelsea, who have dominated possession since going a goal up and are continuing to cause all sorts of problems for Qarabag. The home side are trying their hardest to hit their opponents on the counter-attack but are struggling to find the space needed to punish them.
36'		Willian has scored a goal for Chelsea! Assist by E. Hazard.
		That really was wonderful play by Hazard, who perfectly picked out Willian with his clever flick. The Chelsea forwards were surrounded by black shirts but somehow managed to carve their way through the lot of them.
		GOAL! It's 2-0 to Chelsea! Wonderful, quick passing from the Blues' front three causes all sorts of problems for Qarabag and results in the second goal of the evening. Fabregas links up nicely with Pedro before the latter pokes a pass to Hazard inside the penalty area. The Belgian then surprises his marker with a clever back-heel, and it perfectly sets up Willian to beat Sehic with an excellent side-footed strike.
35'		Ndlovu makes a determined run into the right-hand side of the Chelsea box as he tries to latch onto a pass from Michel, who did well to wriggle away from Alonso in the build-up. The midfielder's ball forward is slightly overhit, however, and Ndlovu can't quite reach it on the byline.
34'		Luiz is proving to be a bit of a menace at set-pieces. Once again, a nicely hit corner from Fabregas sails into the heart of the hosts' penalty area and manages to pick out the Brazilian, who rises high and meets the ball but, off balance, can't test Sehic.
33'		Fabregas slips on the edge of the Qarabag box and loses the ball, allowing the home side to break forward quickly once again. Richard powers forward and launches a lofted pass up towards Ndlovu, who initially looks as if he's got the better of Antonio Rudiger but can't find a way past the German defender.
31'		Qarabag are presented with another good opportunity to counter-attack after more clever play by Richard in the centre of the pitch, but Ndlovu and Michel get themselves in a bit of a muddle and the Spaniard loses possession before he can do much with it.
29'		Chance for Hazard! Azpilicueta carves out a pocket of space for himself over on the right flank and quickly chips a well-placed cross in the middle of the penalty area. Hazard rises high and does well to meet it, but his headed effort lacks the power needed to beat Sehic in the middle of the goal.
27'		A bit of space opens up in the middle of the pitch, allowing Qarabag to counter-attack quickly. Richard Almeida does well to sprint through a sea of white shirts before setting up Ndlovu, who tries to spin round his marker on the edge of the box but immediately loses out to Alonso.
25'		Understandably, it's all Chelsea at the moment now they have a numerical advantage over the home side. This time it's Alonso who curls in a cross after getting himself into a decent position, but Agolli is there to nod the ball back to Sehic without too many problems.
23'		Chelsea quickly win the ball back from the restart and work their way down the right wing on a determined attacking move. Fabregas takes over from Zappacosta and fires a cross over to Pedro, who unleashes a volley from the edge of the penalty area but can only send his strike comfortably wide of the goal.
21'		Penalty goal scored by E. Hazard for Chelsea!
21'		GOAL! After a lengthy wait, Hazard steps up and coolly fires a low shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to give Chelsea the lead.
19'		R. Sadıqov goes off after a red card!
19'		RED CARD! Huge call by the referee! Willian darts into the Qarabag penalty area and gets the better of Sadygov as he tries to take on Sehic. He then goes down under a challenge from behind by the captain, leaving him with no choice but to point to the spot and show a red card to the hosts' captain.
17'		It hasn't been the best of starts for Chelsea, who are seeing plenty of the ball inside the hosts' half of the pitch but are struggling to do much with it. Qarabag look well organised at the back and are doing well to keep their visitors at bay.
15'		Eden Hazard looks set to dart into the Qarabag box after Willian pokes a clever pass towards the Belgian. However, Rashad Sadygov is there to throw his body in the way of the attacking midfielder to deny him the opportunity to take on Sehic.
13'		Michel hits the crossbar! The home side knock the ball around really nicely as they swiftly make their way into the Chelsea penalty area. Medvedev and Ndlovu link up well before the latter sets up Michel, who then blasts a thumping strike past Thibaut Courtois and onto the woodwork. The ball then bounces down to Guerrier, who quickly shoots but can't find the back of the net.
11'		Fabregas' cross in from the resulting set-piece is a decent one and manages to pick out David Luiz in a promising position, but the Brazilian can't hit the target with his headed effort and sends it comfortably wide of the near post.
10'		Chelsea patiently work the ball around midway inside the hosts' half of the pitch before N'Golo Kante chips a lovely ball into the penalty area. It looks set to pick out Davide Zappacosta over at the far post, but Ansi Agolli is there to nod it behind for a corner.
8'		Another attempted attacking move from Chelsea fails to result in a chance on goal, and Qarabag use the opportunity to counter-attack quickly. Dino Ndlovu darts through the middle of the pitch before trying to set up Mahir Madatov out wide, but his pass is poorly hit and can only find Cesar Azpilicueta.
6'		Chelsea come back once again as they try to put plenty of early pressure on the Qarabag back line. Alonso gets himself into a good position out wide and then whips a low cross into the box, but there's only Willian there to meet it and the ball is easily cleared by Jakub Rzezniczak.
4'		Early chance for Cesc Fabregas! Willian quickly cuts inside from the right flank and pokes a deflected pass into the path of Pedro on the edge of the penalty area. The Spaniard's first touch is poor but Fabregas is there to get a shot away, and it's one that's well saved by Ibrahim Sehic.
3'		After an even start to the game from both sides, it's Qarabag who push forward on the first attack of the evening. Maksim Medvedev patiently works his way down the right wing before trying to pick out Wilde-Donald Guerrier, but his pass down the flank is slightly underhit and easily cut out by Marcos Alonso.
1'		We're off! Qarabag get us underway, attacking from right to left.
		Good evening and welcome to our live text commentary of today’s Champions League group stage game between Qarabag and Chelsea at the Baku Olympic Stadium.
		Chelsea suffered a miserable evening in Rome three weeks ago, with a dreadful performance resulting in them being on the receiving end of a 3-0 thrashing by Roma. However, despite that, they head into this evening’s clash knowing that they just need one more victory to confirm their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League with one game to spare.
		The Blues have certainly improved since the dreadful defeat in the Italian capital, and it seems to have acted as a wake-up call for a side that haven’t started the season as strongly as they would have liked. They went on to pick up an impressive 1-0 win at home to Manchester United before thumping West Bromwich Albion 4-0, setting them up perfectly for tonight’s contest against the Azerbaijani minnows.
		On paper, a win for Chelsea should be obtained easily enough, but they should be wary about Qarabag’s ability to frustrate. After losing heavily in their opening group stage game against the reigning Premier League champions, they were only narrowly beaten by Roma before holding Atletico Madrid to back-to-back draws, indicating that they aren’t the pushovers many believe them to be.
		That is particularly the case in Baku, where they have lost just one of their last 18 games and have proved to be a tough nut to crack for visiting opponents. They currently lead the way in the Premyer Liqa thanks to nine victories from their opening 11 league games, while they’ve only conceded two goals in their last eight clashes since narrowly losing to Roma.
		There’s just under 15 minutes left to go until kick-off, so let’s have a look at how the two teams will be lining up this this evening…
		Chelsea substitutes: Caballero, Sterling, Christensen, Cahill, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Morata.
		Chelsea XI (3-4-3): Courtois; Rudiger, Luiz, Azpilicueta; Zappacosta, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso; Pedro, Hazard, Willian.
		Qarabag substitutes: Kanibolotskiy, Yunuszada, Ismayilov, Diniyev, Amirquliyev, Quintana, Seydayev.
		Gurban Gurbanov has decided to make two changes to the Qarabag side that drew away to Atletico Madrid in their last Champions League game, with Mahir Madatov and Dino Ndlovu coming into the starting line-up to replace Ramil Seydayev and Pedro Henrique, the latter of whom is suspended after seeing red three weeks ago.
		Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has made three alterations to the team that featured in their last European outing, with Gary Cahill, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata making way for Davide Zappacosta, N’Golo Kante and Willian, respectively. Tonight’s game represents the first time David Luiz has featured for the Blues since the defeat in Rome.
		The two sides are making their way out onto the pitch, with just a few minutes to go until kick-off.
		Qarabag XI (4-1-4-1): Sehic; Medvedev, Rzezniczak, Sadygov, Agolli; Garayev; Guerrier, Michel, Richard, Madatov; Ndlovu.
		HALF-TIME: QARABAG 0-2 CHELSEA
		It's all going smoothly for Chelsea, who are now just 45 minutes away from booking their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League. Qarabag started the game well and caused a few early problems for their opponents with some impressive counter-attacking play, but since Sadygov's sending off they've understandably struggled. The Blues have rarely been troubled since then, and Willian's goal has all but wrapped up the victory for them.
		The two teams are making their way back out on to the pitch ahead of the start of the second half.
		FULL-TIME: QARABAG 0-4 CHELSEA
		In the end, it was an incredibly comfortable night for Chelsea, who never looked in danger after going a goal up from the penalty spot. Sadygov's red card desperately hurt Qarabag, who started the game well but were constantly on the back foot from then onwards. It was just a case of how many goals Chelsea could score, and in the end they were able to add four more to their tally thanks to some lovely play in the final third.

More…

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Qarabag	31	+54	73
2	Zira	31	+10	49
3	Sumqayit	31	-2	47
4	Neftchi Baku	31	+7	47
5	Sabah	31	+6	46

#	Team	MP	D	P
7	Newcastle United	33	+15	50
8	West Ham United	34	-9	48
9	Chelsea	32	+4	47
10	AFC Bournemouth	34	-11	45
11	Brighton & Hov…	32	+2	44

Qarabag vs. Chelsea 0 - 4

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