Here is tonight’s match report:
Sarri's verdcit
“We played a good match against a very physical team. We were only at risk in setpieces and were in control of the match. We deserved to win by more. But I am happy because we played with confidence and that wasn’t really very easy after the last match.”
“We conceded a goal on a mistake. That can happen. But the level of attention was very god for 90 minutes. So I am very happy but we know very well that we have to gain qualification in the next match. I am always confident but sometimes we’ve had the wrong approach to matches os we need to be careful in every match.”
Azpilicueta’s verdict: “After that tough defeat last Sunday it was important to start well. We were in control at 2-0 and had chances to have a more comfortable result but they scored. So we still have to play next Thursday. In the second half we had control of the game so it was frustrating to concede a goal and not go to Stamford bridge with a better result ... Chelsea is all about winning. Sunday was unacceptable. We’ve had our reaction but we need consistency.”
Here, courtesy of Hakan Burden, are the lyrics (and translation!) to the Dirty Old Town song that Malmo wins were signing throughout much of the second half. Thanks Hakan.
Min far han sa, att i Malmö stad
Spelar ett lag, som är så jävla bra
Färgen är blå, den är vacker som få
Kom här min påg, så kommer du förstå
(My father said, in Malmö city
There is a team, so fucking pretty
The colour is blue, a colour so grand
Come here my boy, and you’ll understand)
Full-time: Malmo 1-2 Chelsea
Chelsea have their first away win of 2019, one foot in the last 16 of the Europa League and some self-respect back after Sunday’s spanking by Man City. This was a deserved win and a broadly satisfactory performance, although there were still sloppy lapses, notably from Barkley and David Luiz, who both did some fine things as well.
90+2 min: Barkley gets caught in possession in midfield and suddenly Malmo pile forward on the counter. Chelsea regroup quickly enough to suppress the mini-revolt, but Sarri is furious on the sidelines: one severe ear-bashing on the way for Barkley, you fancy.
90+2 min: Giroud has a blast from a difficult angle after a pass by his usual accomplice, Hazard. The keeper makes a good save with his feet.
90 min: Chelsea are playing smart now, keeping the ball deftly. Malmo have three more minutes to find an equaliser but don’t look capable of getting the ball.
88 min: Chelsea have the ball where they want it - deep in opposing territory - and look happy to just keep it there. “David Luiz is killing this team with yet another run forward followed by a poor pass followed by him not getting back in time to prevent goal on the break,” snorts Rob Coughlin. “It’s infuriating.”
86 min: Malmo attack down the right, Vindheim helping it on to Rosenberg. David Luiz clears the incoming cross.
Chelsea substitution: Hudson-Odi on, Pedro off. Malmo fans are signing a chant to the tune of Dirty Old Town. Anyone know their words?
82 min: That goal has infused Malmo with new belief. Suddenly this look like being a far more awkward last 10 minutes for Chelsea, who seemed to be cruising just a couple of minutes ago.
GOAL! Malmo 1-2 Chelsea (Christiansen 80)
Malmo looked out for the count but have suddenly hit a powerful blow thanks to a rapid counter-attack! Rosenberg did well to collect the ball wide on the right and then pick out Christansen scampering through the middle, with Kovacic struggling to keep up. And Christiansen touch one touch before slotting the ball past the advancing Kepa from 16 yards!
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75 min: It look as though Kante has not, in fact, gone in as the central linchpin. Kovacic has been moved there instead and Kante is at his now familiar berth on the right. Sarri really doesn’t trust his passing.
Chelsea substitution: Kanté on, Jorginho off. Kanté as a central defensive midfielder? What is Sarri thinking!?
Chelsea substitution: Hazard on, Willian off.
71 min: Willian releases Giroud with a cheeky quick freekick over the top of the dozing Swedish defender. Giroud tries to sweep it into the net with an acorbatic volley but slices it badly, eliciting jeers from the crowd.
Malmo substitutions: Strandberg and Lewicki on, Antonsson and Traustason off.
69 min: Another classy Chelsea attack ends with Barkley teeing up Pedro, who tries to curl into the far corner from the edge of the box. Again a defender gets a touch on it - Vindheim, to be precise - and the ball drifts just wide for a corner.
67 min: Malmo are looking weary as Chelsea turn the screw.
66 min: Barkley makes a jagged run infield from the left and the slips a pass into Giroud at the edge of the area and continues his run in anticipation of a return ball. Giroud duly obliges and Barkley is in with another scoring opportunity - but his shot is deflected over the bar by a lunging defender for a corner!
64 min: Chelsea are starting to swish it up now. Lots of nice one-touch passing and Willian, in particular, is playing with a flourish.
62 min: Sarri spoke beforehand about introducing Hazard and Higuain with about 15 minutes left but there’s no need for him to do that now. Let’s have another look at Hudson-Odoi instead.
GOAL! Malmo 0-2 Chelsea (Giroud 59)
A lovely counter-attacking goal! Barkley led the charge from midfield before feeding Willian to his left. The Brazilian ran into the box, danced past a defender and aimed a low pass to Giroud, who helped the ball into the net from close range with an artful flick!
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56 min: The pressure keeps coming from Malmo. A corner is cleared to the edge of the area, where Traustason arrives to unleash a fierce shot. David Luiz does well to nod it just wide of the post for another corner.
55 min: Pressure growing from Malmo. Azpilicueta has to make another important intervention to stop Rosenberg from collecting a clever through by by Bachirou, who had broke from midfield by playing foxy one-two with a teammate.
53 min: Corner to Malmo following a well worked attack. Azpilicueta had to put a low cross from the left behind. Malmo botch the corner.
52 min: Pedro leads a promising Chelsea counter-attack, fizzing a low pass into the feet of Giroud, who tries to hold off the defender and take the ball as he swivels. But he gets it wrong and clumps into the defender instead, conceding a freekick.
50 min: Bengsston aims a good diagonal pass towards Vindheim, who has momentarily got the wrong side of Emerson. But the forward miscontrols and Emerson takes advantage.
48 min: Giroud lays the ball back nicely to Jorginho, who considers opening fire from 25 yards but then turns to his right and slides the ball out to Azpilicueta, whose low cross is cleared.
47 min: David Luiz snuffs out the first hint of danger from the hosts in the second half, albeit thanks to a suspiciously soft fall under slight pressure. The ref awards a freekick.
46 min: Here we go again. Neither side made any changes during the interval.
Half-time: Malmo 0-1 Chelsea
Barkley’s goal on the half hour, following a mistake at the back by Malmo, has put Chelsea in a comfortable position. They controlled much of the first period but Malmo remain a threat because of their organisation, athleticism and gumption. Sarri will be confident, however, that if his team avoid daft mistakes, they will see this through and perhaps even add to their goal tally.
42 min: Chelsea are steadying things down, circulating the ball with slow precision. All very annoying for Malmo.
40 min: This is impressive from Malmo. They’re putting Chelsea under a lot of pressure, winning the ball back with frenetic pressing and then attacking with robust directness.
36 min: After Kovacic is harshly penalised, Malmo flight over a freekick from near the left-hand corner flag. There follows mayhem in the Chelsea box! Twice Malmo players try to divert the pinging ball towards goal, and twice Chelsea manage to bundle it away. But only at the expensive of a corner. Rosenberg misses the ball when given a free header in front of goal, then Azpilicueta blocks a follow-up shot from the edge of the area.
34 min: Malmo do not look discouraged and the crowd remain in full voice. Christiansen tries to crank up the volume even louder by letting fly from nearly 30 yards. It takes a nick off a Chelsea player on its way over the bar, giving the hosts a corner.
32 min: Untidy play at the back by Chelsea, first by Azpilicueta and then by Pedro, who rather casually played a pass towards a Malmo forward. Fortunately for Chelsea they were able to scramble and crowd out the player before he got off a meaningful shot from 16 yards.
GOAL! Malmo 0-1 Chelsea (Barkley 30)
Pedro curled over a routine cross from the right. Bengsston made a mess of trying to cut it out, missing the ball completely. Barkley reacted quickly to take the dropping ball under control and then sort out his feet and slot into the net from eight yards.
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27 min: A foul on Emerson down the left gives Chelsea another freekick in a dangerous position. William aims for Giroud at the back post. But the ref blows for a foul before the ball even reaches him, David Luiz apparently having pushed a defender in the box.
25 min: That’s is better from Chelsea! William makes gains down the left and then delivers an excellent cross towards the back post. Giroud takes it down on his chest but is then outmuscled by Bengsston, who steps in and ushers the ball to safety. Excellent defending.
24 min: Chelsea spend a couple of minutes probing but can find no gap in the diligent home defence.
22 min: Splendid control by Kovacic in midfield, followed by an equally fine pass wide to Pedro on the right. But the Spaniard’s cross on the run undoes all that, the ball sailing harmlessly in the goalkeeper’s grateful arms.
20 min: A snappy buildup by Chelsea, until Kovacic loses possession on the edge of the Malmo box after making a good run to collect a pass from Giroud.
17 min: Malmo are, as advertised, well organised and strong and dynamic. They’re really pestering Chelsea when Sarri’s side have possession and are quick to launch attacks when they get it.
15 min: There’s a hint of spite creeping into this contest: lots of pesky little fouls and various players are showing signs of frustration.
13 min: An oafish challenge by Christiansen on Barkley gives Chelsea a freekick wide on the left. He curls over an in-swingers that David Luiz meets about seven yards out. The defender’s efforts goes wide, and it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, as he was offside.
11 min: Barkley pounces on a misplaced pass at the back by Malmo. Then his shot from 20 yards is deflected out for a corner by Nielsen.
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8 min: Kovacic gives the ball away in midfield with a sloppy pass. Suddenly Malmo break forward. Antonsson lumbers towards the box, with Kovacic in hot pursuit, before going down under a challenge by David Luiz at the edge of the area. The ref waves play on and it looks the right decision, as Antonsson ran into David Luiz rather than the other way round.
6 min: A smart short corner by Chelsea results in Willian pinging a low pass towards Giroud, who peels away from his marker near the front post and tries to sidefoot the ball goalwards from eight yards. But there are too many bodies in the way and his shot lacks power.
5 min: Emerson and Willian combine nicely down the left before flipping a pass forward for Barkley, who scampers to reach it at the byline. He pulls the ball back, hoping to find Giroud, but a Malmo defender get to it first and clears.
3 min: Chelsea knock the ball around midfield, as much to settle themselves as anything else.
1 min: Malmo win a corner almost immediately, as a shot from the left by Rieks deflects out off Azpilicueta. They take it short to Safari, who dodges past William and then crosses to the far post. Jorginho makes an important block at the expense of another corner.
1 min: Malmo get the game going.
Before kickoff there is a well observed minute’s applause in tribute to Emiliano Sala.
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Here come the teams. The stadium is full to its 24,000 capacity with people making commendable noise and some setting of red firecrackers. As for the teams, Chelsea are wearing an all yellow kit, while Malmo are wearing an outfit that looks jarringly close to Manchester City’s home kit. Those are their usual colours but, for the sake of argument, let’s say they’re trolling Chelsea.
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Sarri speaks
Regarding the City defeat: “We discussed it of course with the staff and players. But this discussion has to remain between the staff and players.
He’s asked whether the Europa League is now the season’s priority: “We need to fight also in the Premier League because our target is the top four. We are very close. Europa League is a very difficult competition but we will try. This is a difficult match against a very solid team.”
About today’s team selection he says: “The thinking is that we have to play four or five very important matches so we have to change. Today I prefer to have very strong players on the bench for the last 20-25 minutes.”
One London club has already lost today, as Arsenal went down 1-0 at Bate Borisov. Elsewhere, Sevilla, Internazionale and Benfica all enjoyed impressive away wins.
Travelling Chelsea fans hoping to get over their repulsion at their team’s performance in Manchester may have chosen to visit some of the Malmo’s attraction before kickoff. The Disgusting Food Museum, for instance, where visitors are “challenged to reassess their perception of what is and isn’t palatable”. Exhibits include maggot-infused cheese from Italy, ammonia-scented shark from Iceland and, perhaps, Ngolo Kante on the right wing.
TEAMS
Sarri has made five changes to the lineup that started Sunday’s humiliation in Manchester, but there’s still no place for Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Malmo: Dahlin; Safari, Rieks, Bachirou, Traustason, Christiansen, Bengtsson, Nielsen, Vindheim, Antonsson, Rosenberg
Subs: Melicharek, Larsson, Binaku. Lewwicki, Strandberg, Ahmedhozic, Gall
Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Christensen, Emerson; Kovacic, Jorginho, Barkley; Pedro, Giroud, Willian
Subs: Cabellero, Rüdiger, Kanté, Higuain, Hazard, Hudson-Odi, Zappacosta
Referee: A Kulbakov (Bul)
Preamble
Technically, this first leg is about Chelsea trying to set themselves up well for next week’s home leg and, they hope, safe passage into the last 16 of the Europa League. But, more broadly, today’s mission for Maurizio Sarri’s team is to show unity of purpose, sharpness and actual dignity in the wake of Sunday’s 6-0 spanking by Manchester City. That defeat was merely the most damnable of a run in which they have also been trounced 4-0 at Bournemouth and 2-0 at Arsenal. Can they end their terrible away form today? Or at least score their first away goal of the year? If they can’t, then expect more calls for Sarri to be replaced by someone more flexible and/or more able to motivate this odd squad. On the other hand, a rousing win might convince a few more people that Sarri knows how to pull this lot together and should be given more support.
Malmo began this season in the Champions League before being eliminated in the preliminary stages by Vidi, who were later eliminated themselves and wound up meeting Chelsea in the group stages of this competition, where they were pesky opponents (losing 1-0 at Stamford Bridge and gaining a 2-2 at home, the only match Chelsea have not win in this competition this season). Having dropped into the Europa league, Malmo have had a decent European campaign, finishing second in their group below Genk but above Besiktas and Sarpsborg. They are a hard-working and well organised unit under manager Uwe Rösler and haven’t lost any of their last eight home European matches. Their best player is said to be 36-year-old Markus Rosenberg (zero goals in 28 appearances for West Brom half a decade ago). It would, of course, be wrong to underestimate the hosts yadda yadda blah blah blah. Anything less than a Chelsea win here would be embarrassing for the Premier League crew.
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