Barkley wastes lifeline to save Lampard’s big night
The game looked to be slipping away from Chelsea when Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir was invited to review a handball in the box after Daniel Wass blocked Fikayo Tomori’s header.
After a lengthy review, a spot-kick was awarded and Ross Barkley, only on as a substitute a few minutes earlier, immediately picked up the ball to take responsibility.
However, his effort clipped the crossbar on its way over and Chelsea were resigned to a defeat on Frank Lampard’s managerial debut in the Champions League.
Willian and Tammy Abraham looked keen to have the opportunity, but Barkley took charge and wasted a glorious chance with two minutes left to salvage a point.
Lampard’s pre-match premonition comes true
Valencia were painted as a club in crisis following the controversial departure of Marcelino Garcia Toral last week, a decision which prompted the players’ refusal to conduct pre-match media duties in protest.
Lampard may be a managerial rookie at this level but he was quick yesterday to dismiss any notion of an easy encounter, claiming the inner turmoil could bring Valencia closer together as a team.
So it proved. Although they rode their luck at times, the visitors, who reached last season’s Europa League semi-final and are two-time Champions League finalists, showed their pedigree with a resilient display that provides a stark reminder of how difficult Group H could be.
Set-pieces cause Chelsea problems again
This is a problem which pre-dates Lampard’s arrival. Since August 2018, 19 of the 50 Premier League goals Chelsea have conceded have been from set-pieces.
At 38 per cent, that figure is the joint-second highest along with Everton and only surpassed by Manchester City (16 out of 29, 55.2 per cent).
Chelsea were slovenly from corners – Kevin Gameiro wasted a clear opportunity 11 minutes into the second half when firing over, unmarked from a simple pass to the edge of the box – and eventually they paid the price.
Daniel Parejo sent over a free-kick which Rodrigo met with not the cleanest contact but still sufficient to beat Kepa for the only goal.
Mount suffers his first setback
This season has been nothing but a string of highs for Mason Mount but a crunching ninth-minute tackle from former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin brought him, literally, crashing back to Earth.
The 20-year-old appeared to turn his right ankle in the challenge – which could easily have brought more than a yellow card – and attempted to play on for a further seven minutes before limping off, shaking his head and receiving an arm around the shoulder from Lampard in the process.
His Champions League debut ended in disappointment and it is a sign of how influential he has become that the Blues lost a little impetus after Mount went off.
They won’t want to be without him for long, especially with Liverpool to come on Sunday
