Report as Jorginho's double, Andreas Christensen's first Chelsea goal and Kai Havertz's smart finish give Chelsea a 4-0 victory over Malmo in Champions League Group H; Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner are both injured for the hosts
Thursday 21 October 2021 09:26, UK
Jorginho's double from the spot helped Chelsea romp to a 4-0 win over Malmo in a victory marred by injuries to strikers Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner.
Thomas Tuchel admitted both strikers will be out for "a while" after they were both forced off in the first half of an otherwise sterling night for the Blues, who romped to their biggest win under his management to reignite their Champions League campaign.
"We need more examinations to be more precise but they will be out for some matches," the Blues boss said, barely a day after telling reporters Lukaku had been suffering from mental and physical fatigue.
By the time of Lukaku's departure after 23 minutes the Blues were already two goals to the good thanks to Andreas Christensen's volleyed opener, his first goal in Chelsea colours, as well as Jorginho's spot kick given for Lasse Nielsen's horror scissor slide-tackle on him, for which the defender escaped with only a booking.
Chelsea's injury concerns worsened when Werner was forced off when he went down off the ball with what appeared a hamstring complaint.
Without a recognised striker left among their squad, the makeshift partnership of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kai Havertz then combined well for the German to add the Blues' third three minutes into the second period, before Jorginho rounded off the scoring with his second from 12 yards after Antonio Rudiger was bundled over in the area by Eric Larsson.
Odds of 40/1 for a Malmo victory laid bare the chances of the Swedish champions sending their small but loyal band of supporters home with three points ahead of kick-off, and the visitors, soundly beaten in both of their previous two Champions League games, never looked likely to upset the form book.
The game was less than nine minutes old when Christensen, perhaps Chelsea's least-fancied goalscorer after Edouard Mendy, ended a run of 136 games without a goal by volleying in Thiago Silva's cross with the finesse of a seasoned striker.
There was a strong suggestion Nielsen should have been penalised for bundling over Jorginho in the box on the quarter-hour mark in an incident which left the referee unmoved, but he could not contemplate anything other than a penalty for the defender's scissor-challenge, reminiscent of Pascal Struijk's challenge on Harvey Elliott, on Lukaku.
Ironically the striker's punishment was worse than the perpetrator's with Lukaku forced off minutes later while Nielsen escaped with a yellow card. The Belgian did stay on long enough to watch Jorginho bury the spot-kick past Johan Dahlin, before hobbling over to the sidelines and down the tunnel.
Werner teed up his replacement Havertz for a fine chance which he planted wide before the former, too, was forced off after he pulled up with a hamstring complaint before the break.
Hudson-Odoi was chosen ahead of Hakim Ziyech to replace him and repaid Tuchel's faith three minutes after half-time, driving at the visiting defence before teeing up Havertz to add a third.
Three became four soon after as an increasingly flexible, and eager to attack, Chelsea cut Malmo apart at will. Rudiger stayed forward from an attack and, after pressing captain Anders Christiansen, won the ball back, raced into the box and was felled by Larsson before he could get a shot away, allowing Jorginho to fire in his second of the night from the penalty spot.
Hudson-Odoi, Mount and Jorginho came close to adding a Chelsea fifth as the hosts' intensity remained high to the last kick, but the game was long won - and Tuchel's attentions fast turned to consider what attacking line-up he will be able to field when Norwich visit Stamford Bridge in less than three days' time.
Chelsea's next game is back in the Premier League against Norwich City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday; kick-off at 12.30pm.
