By 90min | Created at 2024-11-08 20:23:26 | Updated at 2024-11-15 13:51:00
1 week ago
Chelsea scored six times in the first half alone against Armenian side Noah at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night, eventually winning 8-0 to sit firmly top of the Conference League standings.
Enzo Maresca made plenty of changes for this one, utilising his famously massive squad and even handing a first senior start to 18-year-old Cobham graduate Tyrique George.
Chelsea simply blew Noah away in the early stages. Centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo got the first goal from a corner, his maiden goal for the club. From kick-off, Noah lost the ball to Marc Guiu, who proceeded to double the lead with his first Chelsea goal.
Another corner five minutes later presented the third as Axel Disasi got his head to Enzo Fernandez's delivery. Having laid on the opener for Tosin as well, Fernandez completed his hat-trick of assists midway through the first half when he threaded a ball for Joao Felix to finish.
Mykhailo Mudryk took advantage of Chelsea's clear superiority to get a confidence-boosting goal to his name, before Felix got his second courtesy of a deflection in the closing stages of the half.
Six goals to the good when the half-time whistle sounded.
Joao Felix scored a classy goal / Mike Hewitt/GettyImages
Chelsea laid off the gas a little once the second half began, understandably so, although Maresca resisted any temptation of making sweeping changes and kept all but Fernandez on the pitch.
Christopher Nkunku had scored four in four Conference League games this season (including qualifiers) prior to kick-off and wasn't about to miss out on the action. He got Chelsea's seventh midway through the second half by gobbling up his own rebound, before adding an eighth for good measure from the penalty spot. Some fans online were immediately critical of the Frenchman for keeping penalty responsibilities and not affording Felix the chance for a hat-trick.
This was a Conference League record for the biggest winning margin in the competition’s short history, as well as Chelsea's biggest win since beating Aston Villa 8-0 in December 2012.
