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Olivier Giroud scored his first goal under Maurizio Sarri to hand Chelsea a 1-0 win against BATE Borisov and seal qualification to the next round in the Europa League .
The French forward made a run towards the front post to convert Emerson’s cross shortly after half-time and could have added a second minutes late, but saw another header tipped over the bar.
BATE Borisov made Chelsea work hard for their win and twice hit the frame of the goal and forced Kepa Arrizabalaga into a handful of decent saves.
BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratingsShow all 11 1 /11BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Kepa Arrizabalaga - 6 BATE hit the post on three occasions with the Chelsea goalkeeper left totally helpless. Other than that though, Kepa didn’t have too much to do.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Davide Zapppacosta - 6 The full-back always looks a threat when surging down the right flank. We didn’t see too much of that tonight, but he had a solid game nonetheless.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Gary Cahill - 6 Captain for the night. BATE didn’t often threaten, but when they did, Chelsea’s defence could probably have dealt with things better.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Andreas Christensen - 6 The Denmark centre-back was given another opportunity to impress but his performance is unlikely to have disrupted the first choice pairing of David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Emerson - 7 The former Roma man was the liveliest of the two Chelsea full-back’s tonight and set up Olivier Giroud’s goal with an impressive cross from the left side. He did some important defensive work in the second half, too.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Ross Barkley - 7 Like most of the Chelsea players, it wasn’t the most dazzling of performances from the England midfielder, but it’s great to see him performing at this level having been sidelined for so long.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Ruben Loftus-Cheek - 6 Chelsea fans would have been hoping to see more from the England midfielder tonight. There were a few reminders of what he can do but his passing was sloppy at times.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Jorginho - 6 Not the best of performances from the midfielder, who was guilty of giving possession away cheaply on numerous occasions in the first half.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Eden Hazard - 6 Flashes of brilliance, as you’d always expect from Hazard, but the Belgian failed to make a significant impact on the game.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Pedro - 6 The Spaniard made some dangerous runs from the right-hand side at times but didn’t see a lot of the ball.
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BATE Borisov vs Chelsea player ratings Olivier Giroud - 8 The match winner. The Frenchman ended a six-month drought without a club goal with his second half strike for the Blues in Belarus.
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