Chelsea were held 2-2 by Azerbaijan champions Qarabag in the Champions League as Enzo Maresca’s young side showed yet more inconsistencies.
The draw dents Chelsea’s hopes of achieving direct passage to the last-16 of the Champions League by finishing in the top eight.
The hosts had already beaten Benfica and FC Copenhagen in this year’s competition but Chelsea made the perfect start in Baku when the effervescent Estevao opened the scoring.
However, Qarabag played with great intent and physicality which saw them fire in two goals in 10 minutes before the break. Leandro Andrade hammered home after Camilo Durán hit the post and then Marko Jankovic scored from the penalty spot after Jorrel Hato’s handball.
Chelsea found a way through after the break – after Maresca had sent on Alejandro Garnacho, Enzo Fernandez and Liam Delap – and it was Garnacho that pounced for 2-2, drilling a low effort home with his left foot.
Maresca said: “The big difference today for me was inside the box. The goal we conceded, they are silly goals for me. In their box, for the amount of times that we arrived, we have not been clinical enough. So this is the big difference for me.”
With one defeat already in the competition, there is little margin for error for Maresca’s side between now and January if they expect to finish in the top eight and avoid February’s play-off round.
What they did not need was dropped points against a team which, according to UEFA’s seeding, are one of the weakest to have reached this stage, but an ambitious Qarabag looked anything but as they have now taken seven points from their four games.
Maresca defends team selection
Maresca left Caicedo, Fernandez, Delap and Garnacho on the bench but ended the game with all of them on the pitch as the Premier League side fought back from 2-1 down.
The Chelsea boss said: “The intention tonight was to rest Enzo [Fernandez], Moises [Caicedo], Malo [Gusto], to rest more players, because they are not able to play every three days. They need recovery from last season, the Club World Cup affects a lot.
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Enzo Maresca defends resting players and felt the difference was conceding ‘silly goals’ in Chelsea’s Champions League draw with Qarabag.
“We try to rotate. When you win, no-one mentioned all that. I know that when we don’t win, everyone is focused on that and now I think it’s important to recover energy for Saturday and go again.”
On the result, Maresca added: “They are a good team, I said already a few days ago, they are a good team, they are doing well. And especially at home, it’s difficult.”
Maresca: Lavia injury is a great shame
Another disappointing sidenote to Chelsea’s evening was the early withdrawal of Romeo Lavia through injury.
Maresca said he believed it was a problem with the midfielder’s quad.
He said: “It’s a great shame, especially for him. He’s not able to be fit for a long period. It’s too early to understand what kind of injury, but hopefully it’s not a big injury.”
Inexperience costs Chelsea in Baku
Estevao (right) opened the scoring in Baku
Analysis by Sky Sports’ Laura Hunter:
No doubt frustration will be the overriding emotion for Maresca after his side conceded a lead to draw with Qarabag, wasting the chance to move into the top eight places.
Chelsea weren’t really at the races, caught out by inconsistencies and hindered by inexperience. Maresca made seven changes to his starting selection with an average age of 23y 97d – it did not pay off.
Within the first 10 minutes Caicedo had to be introduced to replace injury-blighted Romeo Lavia, and three more were hooked at half-time to add better balance and quality. Substitutes Delap and Garnacho combined for the equaliser.
This is not yet a side capable of making wholesale changes and producing the same level of performance. Tosin and Jorrel Hato showed their naivety in defence, while Jamie Gittens and Tyrique George were completely ineffective in forward areas. Work to be done for Maresca.
