Chelsea drew 2-2 against Qarabag in the UEFA Champions League last night. Playing against the Azerbaijani side Qarabag in Azerbaijan, Chelsea earned a point that puts them at 12th place in the table with a total of 7 points. For this match, Coach Maresca made seven changes to the starting lineup that defeated Tottenham Hotspur in their last Premier League match.
In a competitive game from both teams, Chelsea’s young forward Estevao Willian scored in the 16th minute to give his team the lead. Before this goal, Chelsea defender Lavia suffered an injury in the 8th minute and was replaced by Moises Caicedo.
However, Qarabag’s Leandro Andrade equalized in the 29th minute. Qarabag took the lead for the first time when Marko Janković converted a penalty six minutes before the end of the first half. With this goal, the cheers of Qarabag supporters echoed throughout the stadium. Having lost all seven of their previous matches against English teams in the Champions League, this scoreline raised fears that Chelsea might face embarrassment.
At the start of the second half, Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca made three substitutions. Enzo Fernández, Alejandro Garnacho, and Liam Delap came on to replace André Santos, Gusto, and João.
In the 52nd minute, Garnacho capitalized on a mistake by Qarabag’s Kevin Medina while trying to defend a ball from Liam Delap, scoring to level the match at 2-2. After this goal, both teams had good opportunities to score. Among these chances, Garnacho had a golden opportunity to take the lead for Chelsea with a powerful shot from inside the area, but the Qarabag goalkeeper managed to save it.
