Jacob Steinberg’s verdict is in. Click away ... and thanks for reading this MBM.
It’d be unfair to say the scoreline flattered Chelsea, who went up through the gears towards the end in great style and were deserving winners. But it can also still be true that the result was a little hard on Krasnodar, who looked perfectly capable of equalising until they conceded a slightly harsh penalty. Their shoulders slumped after that, their home Champions League debut ruined. But Chelsea were simply too clinical. They’ll be delighted after rediscovering their goalscoring chops, and once again showcasing their newly found defensive resilience. Three clean sheets in a row, huh. Hats off to Frank Lampard for identifying a big problem and solving it. This puts Chelsea at the top of Group E with four points, Sevilla and Rennes kicking off in ten minutes or so.
FULL TIME: Krasnodar 0-4 Chelsea
A fine night’s work by Chelsea comes to a satisfying end.
90 min +4: Sulemanov tries to catch Mendy out, curling a surprise towards the bottom right when everyone was expecting a delivery into the packed box. But it’s inches wide, and Mendy would have got there anyway.
90 min +3: Suleymanov is clipped by Mount, just to the right of the Chelsea box. A late consolation for the hosts?
90 min +2: The first of four added minutes flies by without incident ... as does the second.
GOAL! Krasnodar 0-4 Chelsea (Pulisic 90)
Abraham strides down the right and slips inside for Pulisic, who takes a touch in the box, spins and fires towards the bottom right. Safonov is there, but allows the fierce drive to whistle between his knees.
88 min: Chernov crosses from the left. Mendy claims spectacularly. Chelsea’s new keeper is a few minutes away from his fourth clean sheet in a row ... and Chelsea’s third.
87 min: Berg, who has been quiet this evening, makes way for Sabua.
85 min: Ramirez slithers in from the left wing and fires a shot towards the bottom left. It’s easy pickings for Mendy.
83 min: Let the record show two Krasnodar changes: Utkin and Olsson off, Sulemanov and Spertsyan on.
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81 min: That’s Ziyech’s work done. He’s replaced by Abraham, while Emerson comes on for Chilwell. Incidentally, before the third goal, there were smiles all round as Pulisic misread the spin on a right-to-left cross and bicycle kicked thin air. The weight suddenly taken from Chelsea’s shoulders is palpable.
GOAL! Krasnodar 0-3 Chelsea (Ziyech 79)
Ziyech has been Chelsea’s most assured performer all evening. Now he gets his reward, found on the penalty spot by Werner, then taking a touch left before swivelling and threading a shot into the bottom right. What a lovely finish by a superb player.
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78 min: That was a proper no-nonsense penalty by Werner. I wonder whether he’ll be taking regular penalty duties away from Jorginho. Paul Kerton (29 mins) will surely approve.
GOAL! Krasnodar 0-2 Chelsea (Werner 76 pen)
Jorginho’s been substituted, so we’ll never know if he’d have been given a second chance from the spot. Werner takes again, and leathers an unpretentious penalty into the top left. Brilliant penalty!
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Penalty for Chelsea!
75 min: Pulisic takes a whack from an angle on the right. The ball blasts into the nearby Martynovich’s midriff, then up onto his forearm. The referee immediately points to the spot, though that’s an exceptionally harsh decision. VAR agrees with it, mind.
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73 min: Chelsea stroke it about the back with time management in mind. On the bench, Hudson-Odoi, rather like the farmer in Withnai & I, has his leg bound in polythene. An injury concern for Chelsea.
71 min: Chelsea make a Mourinhoesque triple change, swapping Jorginho, Kovacic and Hudson-Odoi with Kante, Mount and Pulisic. Plenty of fresh legs for a midfield Chelsea were struggling to control.
70 min: Chilwell crosses deep from the left. Azpilicueta gathers on the other flank, and slaps a low shot straight at Safonov. When Chelsea manage to get their act together going forward, they look dangerous.
68 min: Nothing comes of the corner. Chelsea are pushing their luck a bit here, though. The hosts will wonder how they’ve not managed to get the equaliser their second-half efforts deserve.
67 min: Chances at both ends. First Ziyech drives into the box from the right and sends a low shot straight at Safonov. Then Berg lashes from a tight angle on the left; Mendy parries. Finally Smolinkov makes good down the right, his shot-cum-cross deflected onto the post and out for a corner.
65 min: Utkin’s free kick is piss-poor, hammered witlessly into the wall. The ball breaks to Olsson, who is preparing to shoot when Utkin steps across for another go, and slices miles wide left. Utkin at least has the good grace to look embarrassed after the event.
64 min: Utkin shakes and shimmies 30 yards out, trying to work space for a shot. Kovacic keeps the door shut, but then hangs out a lazy leg, and Utkin somersaults over it in a ludicrously theatrical fashion. It is a free kick, though, just to the right of the D.
63 min: Chelsea are struggling to retain possession. The hosts have been well on top since the restart.
61 min: Chernov flings a throw into the Chelsea mixer from the left. Vilhena picks up possession to the left of goal. His dinked cross is half cleared by Chelsea. Chernov returns it with passion, his shot screeching high and wide. Chelsea are being properly pressure-tested here.
59 min: Smolnikov takes one in the mush from Werner. The collision is totally accidental. Smolnikov stays down. Chelsea play on, Chilwell crossing from the left. Krasnodar clear, and play is eventually stopped with the home fans making their feelings known in the traditional style.
57 min: Zouma takes a while to get up, but he’s soon ready to go again once the physio is sure he’s not concussed. A sore one for the big defender, but a handy time-out for Chelsea, who were beginning to ship half-chances at an alarming rate.
55 min: The corner’s swung into the mixer. Gazinski meets it with a volley. He hits it into the ground, but it balloons up, over Mendy, and off the crossbar! A melee ensues, and eventually the whistle goes as Zouma cops one in the face from his own flailing keeper.
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54 min: Ramirez works his way into the Chelsea box from the left, but his cross is no good. Soon after, another phase of play as Ramirez scoots down the inside right and tees up Gazinski down the inside left. Gazinski’s shot is deflected out for a corner on the left.
52 min: Jorginho messes up an easy clearance by slipping as he prepares to kick, player and ball sailing out for a cheap corner. From the set piece, Olsson is caught offside, and Chelsea get away with another careless mistake.
50 min: Mendy takes a hell of a risk by passing out between two rushing Krasnodar players. Through the eye of a needle. Chelsea go up the other end and nearly break clear down the left through Hudson-Odoi, but he miscontrols.
49 min: Kovacic latches onto a half-arsed Krasnodar clearance and whistles a first-time shot inches wide of the bottom left. Not entirely sure Safonov would have got there had it been on target.
48 min: ... Chernov heads harmlessly over.
47 min: Olsson sashays down the right and loops long. There’s nobody for Krasnodar over there, but there’s miscommunication between Azpilicueta and Mendy and a corner is conceded. From which ...
Chelsea get the second half underway. No changes.
Més que un shower. The Champions League could well go the way of the old European Cup if Barcelona have their way. By way of half-time entertainment, the pod reacts.
HALF TIME: Krasnodar 0-1 Chelsea
Chelsea have the half-time advantage, and troop off looking happy enough.
45 min: Chilwell one-twos cutely with Werner down the left, earning a corner. You’d expect Chilwell to hang one over the keeper, unsettled after his big mistake, but he delivers an outswinger, allowing Vilhena and Olsson to break up the other end! Olsson reaches the left-hand corner flag and scoops infield. Mendy claims easily.
44 min: Chelsea stroke it around the back again. A few impatient whistles from the home crowd.
GOAL! Krasnodar 0-1 Chelsea (Hudson-Odoi 37)
Ziyech and Havertz interchange on the edge of the Krasnodar box and slip the ball to Hudson-Odoi on the left. He drops a shoulder to make space in the box and shoots
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43 min: With that said, Azpilicueta curls in from the right. Safonov comes out and flaps. Havertz is allowed to win the header, six yards out, but slaps it over. A poor miss, but the flag goes up to save any blushes.
41 min: Chelsea stroke the ball around the back, the goal having visibly deflated the hosts. Lampard’s men will be more than happy to see this through until half-time.
39 min: A blue and white flag is unfurled in a stand otherwise full of Krasnodar supporters. Chelsea are not alone.
36 min: Chernov lumps down the left hoping to release Gazinski, but Rudiger has read the danger well, coming across to clear.
35 min: Chilwell makes good ground down the left and pulls back for Werner, waiting in space in the box ... but the full-back’s radar is wonky and the hosts clear easily.
33 min: Utkin crosses from deep on the right. Chernov rises to meet with his head just inside the box on the left. The ball loops harmlessly towards Mendy. On the touchline, an unhappy looking Lampard issues a trenchant order: “Faster!”
31 min: Ramirez leaves a little something on Azpilicueta. Another sprinkling of spice in this match. Don’t be surprised if something escalates at some point.
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29 min: Ziyech has a dig from distance. Safonov gathers the pea-roller. “I do wish penalty takers would desist from this [word redacted by Family Newspaper Swearing Ed] hop, skip and a jump before they kick the ball. It seems to be getting worse,” writes Paul Kerton. “Another month and they will be allowed to juggle with flaming swords before taking the penalty. That other kangaroo jumper, Bruno Fernandes, has already missed two penalties this term for Man Utd.”
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28 min: While all that was going on, Havertz clattered into Utkin on the edge of the Chelsea box, the pair contesting a high ball. He caught the Krasnodar man in the throat, nowhere near the ball at all, and you really have seen them given for that. But after a lengthy VAR check, we play on. Havertz a wee bit fortunate there.
26 min: Smolnikov breaks into the Chelsea box on the right. His hooked cross is cleared well by Zouma. Chelsea go up the other end through Pulisic, whose left-wing cross is eyebrowed away by Kaio with Havertz lurking. So close at both ends!
25 min: Vilhena concedes a garden-variety foul on Jorginho, who is disproportionately unhappy about it. The referee tells him to get up and calm down. Then Ramirez buys a cheap one by diving between Ziyech and Jorginho. A slight edge developing.
23 min: Zouma hacks a poor clearance onto the back of Chernov, and for a second it looks like the striker will be tearing free down the left. But the ball’s actually hit his upper arm, and though he knew nothing about it, looking the other way as he was, the flag goes up for a free kick. Zouma got away with that.
22 min: Olsson is booked for a totally unnecessary lunge on Havertz, who wasn’t really going anywhere or doing anything.
21 min: Both teams are taking turns to stroke the ball around in a very aesthetically pleasing fashion.
19 min: Vilhena busies himself on the edge of the Chelsea D and shoots towards the bottom left. The ball balloons off Zouma and nearly squeaks into the bottom right, with Mendy caught flat-footed by the deflection. From the corner, Ramirez tries for his second goal of this Champions League campaign, having notched against Rennes. His effort from distance flies straight down Mendy’s throat.
18 min: Azpilicueta enjoys another run down the right, crossing for Hudson-Odoi to nut over. Ah, there’s been a deflection ... not that the corner leads to anything.
16 min: That’s Jorginho’s second penalty miss of the season, after being denied by Alisson of Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea don’t have much luck with penalties in Russia, do they.
14 min: Jorginho misses it! A skip. A jump. He sends Safonov to the right, so strokes the penalty to the left ... but it caroms off the post, then off the back of the keeper, who is up again and wandering about in a confused fashion. Werner tries to whip home the loose ball, but Martynovich blocks and clears! An absurd game of bagatelle, and the hosts have got away with one.
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Penalty for Chelsea!
13 min: Ziyech slips Azpilicueta away down the right. The captain fizzes a low ball into the box from the right. Werner comes across to nick it away from Kaio, who clips him to the ground. A clear penalty!
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11 min: Does this Chelsea kit give anyone else flashbacks of Scotland in the 1990s?
9 min: Then suddenly they turn up the gas themselves, Ziyech scooting elegantly into the box from the right, his low shot towards the near post forcing Safonov to turn out for a corner. Nothing comes from the set piece. An enjoyable start to this match.
8 min: Chelsea take a little of the sting out of the game. Clever game management given Krasnodar’s early swagger.
6 min: Smolnikov barges his way down the right and nearly opens Chelsea up. Hudson-Odoi comes back to help Chilwell snuff out the danger. This is confident stuff from the Russians.
4 min: And now Utkin takes a run at Chelsea, Havertz having shipped possession carelessly. He curls low and hard towards the bottom left, forcing Mendy to fingertip around the post. The resulting corner is a waste of time, but now we must forget what I said at 2 min. This is a decent start by the hosts.
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3 min: So having said that, Jorginho has the ball ripped off him, 30 yards from goal, allowing Berg to advance on the Chelsea box down the right. He hoicks harmlessly over the bar.
2 min: Chelsea quickly grab possession of the ball and stroke it around awhile, finding their feet on foreign soil. Ziyech pings a pass to Hudson-Odoi on the left. Hudson-Odoi travels towards the box with great purpose, but his attempted return to Ziyech doesn’t come off and the ball rolls out for a goal kick. A decent start by the visitors.
Krasnodar get the ball rolling ... but only after the taking of a knee. Black lives matter. There’s no room for racism.
The teams are out! The official Champions League anthem rings around the futuristic Stadium Krasnodar ... and then the sweet, sweet, sweet sound of real cheers. There are thousands of socially distanced fans in the stands! Lovely. The hosts play in their third-choice black, while Chelsea sport third-choice salmon. We’ll be off in a sec.
Frank Lampard speaks to BT Sport. “We’re struggling for wins and looking for some improvements. It’s normal, a lot of teams are in the same position. But I have confidence in the team. Everybody feels good. So we approach the game with the same confidence as normal. It’s normal that everything doesn’t work. Football is a process, we have a lot of trust in [the new signings]. A lot of things we are working on, we are trying to improve in-game. The team will grow in confidence.” I’m not 100 percent sure Lampard appreciated the no-nonsense questioning of the local journalist conducting the interview, who repeatedly, and quite directly, suggested that Chelsea have yet to get much bang for their buck out of their big signings. An amusing edge to that little pow-wow. Should Chelsea lose, the post-match presser could be entertaining.
Krasnodar welcome back two Swedish internationals in Arsenal youth graduate Kristoffer Olsson and 34-year-old striker Marcus Berg. The third Swede at the club, Viktor Claesson, remains injured, as does Brazilian winger Wanderson. The one-time Newcastle midfielder Remy Cabella, who helped Montpellier win the French title in 2011-12 along with Olivier Giroud, is currently self-isolating after testing positive for the Coronavirus.
Antonio Rudiger makes his first appearance of the season in Chelsea’s defence. He’s one of four changes to the team named at Old Trafford last weekend. Mateo Kovacic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech also step up. Ziyech will make his full debut. Reece James, N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic drop to the bench, while Thiago Silva gets a rest.
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The teams
Krasnodar: Safonov, Smolnikov, Kaio, Martynovich, Chernov, Utkin, Vilhena, Olsson, Gazinsky, Ramirez, Berg.
Subs: Gorodov, Kutovoi, Spertsyan, Sabua, Sinitsyn, Suleymanov, Litvinov.
Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Zouma, Chilwell, Jorginho, Kovacic, Ziyech, Havertz, Hudson-Odoi, Werner.
Subs: Christensen, Kante, Abraham, Pulisic, Caballero, Tomori, Giroud, Mount, James, Emerson Palmieri, Ziger.
Referee: Ali Palabiyik (Turkey).
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Preamble
Third in last season’s Russian Premier League plays fourth in the English version at Stadium Krasnodar this evening. Both Krasnodar and Chelsea will be looking to build on solid starts to their Group E campaigns: while Chelsea were drawing 0-0 with Sevilla last week, Krasnodar - known as Byki, the Bulls - were holding Rennes to a 1-1 draw in France.
Neither are in scintillating form at present. Chelsea have drawn their last three matches in all competitions, while Krasnodar are coming off the back of a 3-1 home defeat to Spartak Moscow. But the Russians have won their last three home European matches, and are undefeated in their two previous games against English clubs, having drawn at home to Everton in the 2014-15 Europa League and beaten them at Goodison. Chelsea meanwhile will take heart from their record against Russian teams: they’ve won five out of six.
All of which means ... it’s on! Specifically, at 5.55pm GMT, 8.55pm in Krasnodar, Southern Russia.
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