toptop
Olivier
Giroud's first goal under Maurizio Sarri gave Chelsea an unconvincing 1-0 win at
BATE Borisov to seal their Europa League progress.
Chelsea are now guaranteed to reach the last 32 after their fourth win from
four, which was not without difficulty in Belarus.
The hosts hit the woodwork in both halves and defended stubbornly, which proved
problematic for a sluggish Chelsea who failed to register a shot on target in
the first half.
But after the interval, they opened the scoring through Giroud's header from an
Emerson cross (52) and, courtesy of a welcome clean sheet, kept up their 100 per
cent record in Europe this season.
Player ratings
BATE: Scherbitski (7), Rios (6), Volkov (8), Filipenko (7),
Filipovic (7), Hleb (7), Dragun (8), Baga (8), Skavysh (6), Signevich (6),
Stasevich (6).
Subs: Tuominen (6), Moukam (5), Berezkin (n/a).
Chelsea: Kepa (7), Zappacosta (5), Cahill (6), Christensen (6),
Emerson (7), Barkley (5), Jorginho (6), Loftus-Cheek (5), Pedro (6), Giroud (7),
Hazard (6).
Subs: Willian (6), Kovacic (6), Hudson-Odoi (n/a).
Man of the match: Zakhar Volkov
Chelsea had much of the possession but little creativity before half-time, and
were nearly a goal down before they had even settled when Dzmitry Baga struck
the post from range.
Kepa also had to keep out a near-post header from Stanislav Dragun following a
corner, as the visitors went in grateful to be level.
Immediately after the restart, there was a sense of increased urgency from
Sarri's side and after spending most of the opening five minutes camped in the
BATE half, they took the lead.
Jorginho's first-time pass was fizzed in from wide towards Giroud by Emerson,
and the France striker's near-post header went underneath Denis Scherbitski's
despairing dive for the opener.
The Belarusian side, who had never beaten an English team on home soil, went in
immediate search of an equaliser and nearly found it six minutes after falling
behind, when Nilokai Signevich struck the bar after turning Dagun's long-range
shot into one of his own.
Moments later, when Ihar Stasevich's cross was missed by Signevich, it allowed
full-back Alexei Rios a chance to shoot with a late run into the box, but he
blasted over when he should at least have hit the target.
Team news
Maurizio Sarri included Eden Hazard after his two-week lay-off, but Chelsea were
missing David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger and Alvaro Morata from the squad altogether,
with Maurizio Sarri choosing to rest them in England.
Chelsea threatened to move further ahead with Giroud's header from a corner and
Ross Barkley's long-range effort both forcing Scherbitski into saves, but the
closest the game came to a second goal was in injury time, when BATE hit the
woodwork for a third time.
A corner in the dying seconds was half-cleared to substitute Evgeni Berezkin,
who smacked the post from outside the area.
That narrow escape summed up BATE's night, as they were left empty-handed from a
strong performance against the only unbeaten side left in Europe, but Chelsea
had more to smile about, and now need only a point from their two remaining
games to win Group L.
Opta facts
BATE Borisov have lost on each of the three occasions they have hosted an
English side in Europe (also 1-2 vs Everton in Oct 2009 and 2-4 vs Arsenal in
Sep 2017).
Chelsea have won four consecutive games in European competition for the first
time since April 2012, when they went on to win the Champions League.
Maurizio Sarri has won all 10 of his Europa League group stage games as a
manager, with his sides scoring 28 goals while conceding just four in return.
Three Englishmen started for Chelsea against BATE (Ross Barkley, Gary Cahill,
Ruben Loftus-Cheek), the most for the Blues in European competition since April
2014 vs Atletico Madrid (Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, John Terry).
Olivier Giroud scored his first goal for Chelsea since netting against Liverpool
in May - he had gone 14 games, 793 minutes and 24 shots without scoring.
Man of the match - Zakhar Volkov
Volkov was a man mountain for BATE at the back, taking on eight duels and
winning a higher percentage than any other starter for his side. He also made
several vital clearances, including from another Jorginho dinked through-ball
which has already caught out a number of Premier League defenders this season.
Teams
BATE Borisov Shcherbitski, Rioa, Volkov, Filipenko, Filipovic,
Baga, Dragun, Hleb (Berezkin 81), Skavysh (Moukam 76), Signevich (Tuominen 73),
Stasevich (c)
Subs Not Used Yablonski, Ivanic, Polyakov, Chichkan
Booked
Goals
Chelsea Kepa, Zappacosta, Cahill (c), Christensen, Emerson,
Loftus-Cheek (Kovacic 64), Jorginho, Barkley, Pedro (Hudson-Odoi 85), Giroud,
Hazard (Willian 62)
Subs Not Used Caballero, Azpilicueta, Ampadu, Kante
Booked
Goals Giroud 52
Attendance
Referee Nikola Dabanovic (Montenegro)