Sports
Late Garnacho goal rescues Maresca’s Men in 2-2 Champions League thriller
Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to spare Chelsea from an embarrassing Champions League defeat as his second-half equaliser secured a 2-2 draw against Qarabag on Wednesday night.
Enzo Maresca’s side were staring at a shock loss at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium in Baku after squandering an early lead.
Estevao Willian opened the scoring for the Blues, but Qarabag hit back through Leandro Andrade before Marko Jankovic converted a penalty to give the Azerbaijani underdogs a 2-1 lead.
Former Manchester United winger Garnacho, introduced after the break, rescued Chelsea with a composed strike that ensured they left Baku with a point.
Both teams now have seven points from their first four matches in the Champions League league phase, keeping them in the race for a top-eight finish and automatic qualification for the round of 16.
Despite Chelsea’s staggering £1.5 billion spending on transfers over the last three seasons, they struggled to overpower Qarabag, a team whose total transfer outlay since 2020 is under £7 million.
The draw means Chelsea are still without an away win in the competition since October 2022.
Once mocked as “carrier bag” after their underwhelming Champions League debut eight years ago, Qarabag have become this season’s surprise package.
They had already recorded impressive wins over Benfica and Copenhagen before frustrating Chelsea.
Maresca’s side arrived in Baku early Wednesday morning after a long journey and opted to remain on UK time to minimise jet lag ahead of their Premier League clash with Wolves on Saturday.
The Italian made seven changes to the side that defeated Tottenham last weekend, fielding a youthful squad.
Chelsea started brightly, and Estevao gave them the lead in the 16th minute after receiving a clever pass from Andrey Santos.
The 18-year-old Brazilian shifted onto his left foot and fired home from 12 yards for his fourth goal of the season.
The youngster also became the third-youngest player in Champions League history to score in his first two starts, behind Ethan Nwaneri and Kylian Mbappé.
However, Chelsea’s defensive frailties soon surfaced.
In the 29th minute, Camilo Duran dispossessed Jorrel Hato before his shot rebounded off the post to Andrade, who coolly slotted in the equaliser.
Ten minutes later, Hato’s handball gifted Qarabag a penalty, which Jankovic converted to send the home crowd into celebration.
Maresca responded by introducing Garnacho, Enzo Fernandez, and Liam Delap at halftime, and the changes quickly paid off.
Delap found Garnacho, who fired a fierce effort from the edge of the box to make it 2-2, his second goal since joining Chelsea in August.
Fernandez nearly scored the winner with a long-range strike, while Garnacho and Delap both came close as Chelsea piled pressure late on.
But Qarabag’s goalkeeper, Mateusz Kochalski, made key saves to preserve the draw.
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