Chelsea reach Conference League semi-finals despite loss to Legia Warsaw at Stamford Bridge
The Blues were beaten 2-1 at Stamford Bridge but reached the last four of the Conference League with a 4-2 aggregate victory
Chelsea progressed to the last four of the Conference League but Enzo Maresca’s problems continued to mount as Legia Warsaw won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in their quarter-final second leg to deepen supporters’ frustrations with the head coach.
The Blues will be favourites to reach the final in Wroclaw on May 28 but there was little here to strike fear into any opponent, as the hosts were made to rely on their victory a week ago in Poland to go through 4-2 on aggregate.
A penalty by Czech forward Tomas Pekhart gave Legia the lead before Marc Cucurella levelled, but Chelsea were soon undone again when Steve Kapuadi scored early in the second half, as the Shed End glowed ominous red in the light of flares lit by the uproarious away fans.
The manner in which Chelsea were defeated at home by the team currently fifth in the Polish Ekstraklasa does not bode well for their bid to qualify for the Champions League and could have serious repercussions for the confidence fans place in Maresca, which has been sorely tested in recent months.
Cole Palmer was a surprise inclusion, Maresca perhaps sensing the chance for his number 10 finally to break a three-month scoring drought.
Legia did their best to oblige in the first five minutes, displaying abject carelessness on the ball and letting in first Palmer, who skewed badly wide when clean through, then Christopher Nkunku whose shot was saved.
A former Tottenham man quietened west London after nine minutes. Pekhart never played a first-team game for Spurs but left his mark on this tie, reaching a through-ball ahead of Filip Jorgensen who dived in recklessly and fouled.
The stand-in goalkeeper landed his ungainly routine by fumbling Pekhart’s weak penalty into the corner.
Ryoya Morishita then galloped clear and finished inches past a post as Chelsea tottered at the back, their seemingly unobstructed path to the last four suddenly looking less than straightforward.
Order was restored just past the half-hour mark when Cucurella tapped in Jadon Sancho’s square-ball.
The left-back, who has made a habit this season of bailing out his shot-shy side, has now scored four times since Palmer’s last goal on 14 January. The Spain international found the net again before the break but was denied by VAR for offside.
Chelsea found themselves with bigger problems when Legia regained the lead at the start of the second half. Claude Goncalves was left free on the edge of the box to volley a corner towards goal, and unmarked in front of Jorgensen was Kapaudi who headed in.
There followed a long-awaited burst of urgency from Chelsea. Noni Madueke saw his volleyed effort saved on the line by goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic who got up smartly to beat away Tyrique George’s rebound. George then tapped in Madueke’s cross but the goal was ruled out for offside. It was a less than impressive performance but Chelsea clung on to limit the damage and reach the semi-finals.