Chelsea went to Naples knowing what they needed and in the end they got it, winning 3-2 against a Napoli side who tired as the evening went on and crashed out of the Champions League as a result.
It means Chelsea head straight to the round of 16 as one of the top eight teams in the competition, avoiding a play-off spot and deservedly so.
Victories over Benfica, Ajax, Barcelona and Pafos were added to here with a huge win, earned through a penalty from Enzo Fernandez and two sensational strikes by Joao Pedro.
Chelsea secure top-eight spot
This was a night when the result mattered more than the performance to Chelsea, and they got what they came to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona hoping for.
The pendulum swung this way and that, with Napoli the better team for much of the game after Fernandez’s penalty. The same was true as Chelsea grew passive in the second half, and it took a fine late save by Robert Sanchez to deny the hosts a stoppage-time equaliser.
But they held their nerve. The significance of victory was not lost on Chelsea or their fans, who were able to celebrate automatic progression to the round of 16 without the need for an extra unwanted play-off round first.
In a gruelling season with a packed schedule, avoiding those two extra matches by finishing sixth in the table is welcome. They will face one of Monaco, Newcastle, Qarabag or defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16.
Rosenior matches Conte up
Chelsea set up with a back-three system tonight, the formation many expected Rosenior would deploy at the club irrespective of opposition, having had success in that shape with his Strasbourg team.
Instead, he has tended to prefer a 4-2-3-1 formation. This switch to a back-three felt a reactive move from the Englishman, in order to match up ex-Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte and the back-three system he has used to such great effect throughout his career, as Blues fans well know.
Chelsea gave the ball away in poor areas but generally adapted well to the formation. It gave them better functionality in midfield and a better chance of recovery runs when the defence were running back towards their own goal. By the end, Rosenior’s call was vindicated.
Joao Pedro produces his best
This was Joao Pedro’s best performance in a Chelsea shirt this season, since his two goals on his very first start for the Blues in the Club World Cup semi-final against his former team Fluminense, and it was quite possibly better also than that.
He was coming off the back of a goalscoring display at Crystal Palace on Sunday when he used his aerial threat to win flick-ons and hold the ball up.
This time, it was all about what he could do with his feet, and it was very much both feet, not just one.
His two goals saved Chelsea from defeat and earned them victory — the first an absolute screamer from range, the ball arrowing into the top corner off his left boot from outside the box.
The second came from a swift counter, the Brazilian set free by substitute Cole Palmer and finishing with ice-cold composure off his right foot, low into the far corner.
