Zenit St. Petersburg vs Chelsea. UEFA Champions League Group H.
Saint Petersburg StadiumAttendance29,349.
Match report as Zenit St Petersburg deny Chelsea top spot in Champions League Group H and seeding position in the last 16; Timo Werner had scored twice with Romelu Lukaku also on target in topsy-turvy game in Russia
Thursday 9 December 2021 06:12, UK
Magomed Ozdoev's 94th-minute screamer consigned a much-changed Chelsea to a damaging 3-3 draw against Zenit St Petersburg as they surrendered top spot in Champions League Group H on Wednesday.
Timo Werner scored twice as Thomas Tuchel's side thought they had survived a scare in a thrilling contest in Russia, but Ozdoev pulled a rabbit out of the hat deep into stoppage time to ensure Juventus finished as group winners by virtue of their 1-0 win over Malmo in Turin.
Werner gave the visitors the lead inside 90 seconds when he converted from close range but quickfire goals from Claudinho (39) and Sardar Azmoun (41) in sub-zero temperatures gave Zenit a half-time lead.
The Champions League holders turned the game on its head as Romelu Lukaku levelled (62) before Werner completed the comeback after a sweeping move with five minutes remaining.
But substitute Ozdoev pounced on Malang Sarr's headed clearance to rifle an unerring strike into the top corner in the fourth minute of stoppage time as Chelsea were made to settle for second place.
The result means Thomas Tuchel's side will face a seeded team in the last 16, with the likes of Bayern Munich or Real Madrid potentially awaiting them in next week's draw for the first knockout stage. Chelsea had the better head-to-head record against group winners Juventus, but finished two points behind them as a result of the two dropped points at the Saint Petersburg Stadium.
Chelsea headed to Russia knowing they needed to match Juventus' result against Malmo in order to seal top spot, but Tuchel opted to make eight changes to the side which lost 3-2 at West Ham last Saturday. Werner, one of those alterations, made a blistering start.
Saul Niguez created an opening for himself inside the first minute as Mikhail Kerzhakov smothered his shot, but from the resulting corner it was Werner who was in the right place to touch home after Ross Barkley's delivery brushed off the top of Azmoun's head at the near post.
The hosts were struggling to settle and might have fallen further behind moments later when Andreas Christensen stepped into midfield to combine with Mason Mount before Lukaku's cross towards the lively Werner was crucially intercepted by Vyacheslav Karavaev.
With Juventus leading through Moise Kean's opener against Malmo, it was imperative that Chelsea tightened their stranglehold on proceedings, but Zenit grew into the contest from the midway point of the first half.
Tuchel's men were given a warning sign when Claudinho slipped through Malcom after 26 minutes but Kepa Arrizabalaga came rushing out to make a fine stop.
After Azmoun headed wide from another Claudinho pass, Zenit were by now knocking at the door but Mount had the chance to double Chelsea's lead when he met Lukaku's cross at the far post but his volley from close range was brilliantly kept out by Kerzhakov.
Chelsea were eventually punished for their poor defending, however, as Cesar Azpilicueta's poor clearance led to Douglas Santos crossing for Claudinho to glance his header beyond Kepa and restore parity.
Tuchel looked on bemused at how his side had let a position of control slip away from them, and things got even worse when Azmoun fired Zenit in front just four minutes later.
Christensen attempted to play the Iranian striker offside but having timed his run to perfection in receiving Malcom's pass, the Russian Premier League player of the year rounded Kepa to steer his shot into the unguarded net.
Tuchel was now alarmed at what he was witnessing, and it was Zenit who lay the first glove upon the restart as Malcom cut inside Sarr too easily to draw a routine save from Kepa.
This was a chance for Tuchel's understudies to stake a claim for regular inclusion, and on the hour-mark he finally got the response he was searching for as Werner and Barkley played a sharp one-two on the edge of the box for Lukaku to touch home from close range.
Zenit responded well and there was nothing routine about Kepa's next stop as Claudinho's deflected cross was headed towards the bottom corner by Azmoun only for Kepa to superbly claw the ball to safety.
Tuchel turned to Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic during a pulsating finale and Chelsea looked to have found the crucial third when Werner completed a fine team move involving the substitutes.
A give-and-go between Ziyech and Pulisic resulted in Werner cutting inside to bury his finish underneath Kerzhakov. After a brief VAR check for offside, the goal stood.
Six additional minutes were signalled as Chelsea looked to kill the game with Cesar Azpilicueta going to ground citing a foot injury but the Blues captain was crestfallen moments later.
Chelsea were unable to hold on as a long ball was won by Artem Dzyuba, and after Andrey Mostovoy's cross was headed out by Sarr, Ozdoev speered a first time shot high beyond Kepa into the roof of the net to spark wild scenes of celebration heard as far as Turin.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel: "I won't take it personally that you make a judgement here that my players are not listening to me, which I don't find so nice but I leave it with you and your opinion.
"I think that we had a very good first 15 minutes and we stopped doing the things we did in the first 15 minutes.
"We were forgetting why we were the better team, because of the investment, the level of concentration, the level of physical investment was high enough to be the better team.
"Once this drops, five, 10 per cent, and it does; once we start managing results and changing our behaviour from what the score is, we get punished at the moment.
"It happened to us at West Ham and it happened again today. The reaction was good again, that shows me that it's not about what we can do, because we can do it.
"Suddenly when we concede two goals we can step up, we can show a reaction. But once we have the lead we give it away again, like also today.
"The last six minutes again we started playing balls back, we started not attacking in the same aggression, the same hunger as before and we got immediately punished, now twice."
Alan McInally on Sky Sports News:
"Kepa made a couple of great saves but he could do absolutely nothing about Zenit's equaliser. Ozdoev couldn't have hit the ball any better. Chelsea were much better in the second half and the changes Tuchel made were aggressive.
"They got the two goals and it looked as though it was going to be enough. It was a really good equaliser from Zenit and it means that Chelsea unfortunately won't top the group. It's a bit of a blow.
"Don't underestimate the problems you can run into when you go away from home in Europe. It's not easy and I know Zenit are heading for the Europa League and they didn't really have anything to play for. Sergei Semak shuffled his pack because Zenit have a big game at the weekend.
"It looked as though they were there. Werner played really well and certainly Reece James in the middle of the park is a plus. But Ozdoev's goal is an absolute peach. Tuchel will obviously be disappointed and perhaps presumed this side would have too much for Zenit."
The Champions League last-16 draw takes place in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday, December 13.
The last-16 ties will be split across different weeks, with the first legs taking place on February 15-16 and February 22-23.
The second legs are then on March 8-9 and March 15-16.
Chelsea host Leeds at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League (kick-off 3pm); Zenit visit Dynamo Moscow at 11am on Sunday.
