Olivier
Giroud scored a perfect hat-trick as Chelsea thrashed Dynamo Kiev 5-0 (agg:
8-0) to sail through in the Europa League.
Giroud added to Chelsea's 3-0 aggregate lead from a corner with only five
minutes gone in Kiev to effectively end any slim hopes of a comeback from
the hosts, and notched a second from a wonderful Marcos Alonso cross just
after the half-hour mark.
Alonso turned goalscorer after great work from Callum Hudson-Odoi on the
stroke of half-time, after which Chelsea's dominance continued with Giroud
sealing his hat-trick with a header from Willian's free-kick.
Player ratings
Dynamo Kiev: Boyko (6), Kedziora (4), Burda (3), Kadar (5),
Mykolenko (4), Sydorchuk (5), Shepeliev (5), Tsygankov (5), Shaparenko (6),
Sidcley (4), Garmash (5).
Subs: Tche Tche (5), Smirniy (n/a), Andriyevskiy (n/a).
Chelsea: Kepa (7), Zappacosta (7), Christensen (6), Rudiger
(6), Alonso (7), Kante (8), Kovacic (6), Loftus-Cheek (7), Hudson-Odoi (8),
Giroud (9), Willian (8).
Subs: Jorginho (7), Azpilicueta (6), Pedro (6)
Man of the match: Olivier Giroud.
Hudson-Odoi netted one of his own on the same day he received his maiden
England U21 call-up with a composed finish beyond goalkeeper Denys Boyko, as
Chelsea outclassed their opponents to reach the quarter-finals in style.
The scoreline was just reward for a Chelsea performance which may put a
number of fringe players - Maurizio Sarri made seven changes from the draw
with Wolves - into contention to feature at Everton in their next game, live
on Sky Sports this Sunday.
They harried and pressed Dynamo's players from the off and, even when the
scoreline became increasingly one-sided, never relented to produce Chelsea's
joint-largest away victory in Europe since 1972.
The Blues made it look easy, and sometimes it was - like when Giroud was
given the freedom of Kiev to head home Willian's corner inside five minutes,
to leave Dynamo needing five goals without response to qualify.
They thought they had scored one of those when Denys Harmash was played
through and slotted beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga, but he was denied by the
linesman's offside flag in a rare attack from the home side.
Team news
Chelsea made seven changes from their 1-1 draw with Wolves on Sunday,
handing a seventh career start to Callum Hudson-Odoi, and only Kepa
Arrizabalaga, Antonio Rudiger, Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante keeping their
places.
Instead Chelsea added to their lead with Giroud becoming the joint top
scorer in this season's competition from a wonderful low, bending cross from
Alonso, leaving him with the job of simply guiding the ball beyond Boyko
from six yards.
Chelsea's third was all about the assist too, with Hudson-Odoi cutting
inside off the right, playing a perfect one-two and squaring for Alonso to
slot into an empty net on the stroke of half-time.
Would Chelsea relent in the second half, with the game out of sight of their
hosts? No danger. They continued their assault on the Dynamo goal, with
Willian again supplying the cross for Giroud - also totally unmarked - to
nod into the far corner and claim his hat-trick.
Finally Chelsea, with a long journey back to London ahead of Sunday's game
perhaps on their mind, began to take their foot off the gas, but Alonso
still came close to his second of the night when he pulled a world-class
save out of Boyko from a 25-yard free-kick heading right for the top-corner.
And Hudson-Odoi, still awaiting his first Premier League start, did his
cause no harm late on when he took Giroud's pass in his stride, held off a
shove in the back and raced through to calmly add Chelsea's fifth of the
night to round off the scoring.
What's next?
Chelsea travel to Everton live on Renault Super Sunday, with coverage
starting on Sky Sports Premier League from 4.15pm.
UEFA Press Kit
Teams
Dynamo Kyiv Boyko, Kedziora, Burda, Kadar, Mykolenko,
Sydorchuk (Tche Tche 65), Shaparenko, Sidcley Smyrniy 81), Tsganko, Shepelev
Andrievsky 87), Harmash
Subs Not Used Bushchan, Shabanov, Vitor Bueno, Albekov
Booked Mykolenko
Goals
Chelsea Kepa, Zappacosta (Azpilicueta 69), Christensen,
Rudiger, Alonso, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Kante (Jorginho 65), Hudson-Odoi,
Willian (c) (Pedro 74, Giroud
Subs Not Used Caballero, Luiz, Barkley, Hazard
Booked Azpilicueta
Goals Giroud 5, 33, 59, Alonso 45+1, Hudson-Odoi 78
Attendance 64,830
Referee Tobias Stieler (Germany)
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