CHELSEA complete their Champions League group stage at Zenit this evening.
Thomas Tuchel’s Blues will go through to the Last 16 as Group H winners with victory, with a better head-to-head than Juventus.
The big draw for the Last 16 takes place on Monday.
- Kick-off: 5.45pm GMT
- TV/ live stream: BT Sport 3/ EE Customers can watch for free
- Zenit XI: Kerzhakov, Karavaev, Lovren, Santos, Rakitskiy, Kuzyaev, Malcolm, Barrios, Claudinho, Wendel, Azmoun
- Chelsea XI: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Sarr, James, Mount, Barkley, Saul, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Lukaku
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THANKS FOR JOINING US
That’s all from us tonight, as Zenit and Chelsea played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in St. Petersburg.
Timo Werner put the Blues ahead early on, only for Claudinho and Sardar Azmoun to hit back for the hosts.
Second half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Werner seemingly had the Blues on course to top Group H.
But a last gasp stunner from Magomed Ozdoev means Thomas Tuchel’s side go through to the last-sixteen of the Champions League in second place.
Zenit meanwhile exit into the knockout stages of the Europa League after finishing third in the group.
The Blues will discover their opponents for the next round when the draw takes place on Monday.
But for now attention turns back to the Premier League and the title race, with a busy festive period on the cards.
Tuchel and Co host Leeds on Saturday, before Everton are the visitors to Stamford Bridge a week tomorrow.
That’s all from us for now though.
Thanks for joining us, it’s been a pleasure.
MORE FROM TUCHEL
“I think we had a very good first 15 minutes but we stopped doing the things we did. I had the feeling, and this is my opinion, that we forgot why we were the better team.
“And once this drops, once we start managing results, we get punished.
“It happened against West Ham and today. The reaction is good because it shows that it’s not about what we can do.
“When we concede goals we can show a reaction but once we have the lead, we give it away again.
“We start playing balls back, not attacking with the same aggression and hunger than before.
“We got punished twice and it is for me the level of investment we have to do right not matter what is on the scoresheet.”
THOMAS TALKS
And here are Thomas Tuchel’s thoughts on the game, as reported by football.london: “If you are coach of Chelsea and you concede six goals in two matches, four times we’ve given the lead away, my ambition to talk about individual performances is not so high.
“We can’t be happy today or against West Ham.
“It is like that now not to talk about individual performances. Nobody can be happy.”
TUCHEL TROUBLE
Tonight’s 3-3 draw follows Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat against West Ham at the weekend.
So the Blues have now conceded three goals in back-to-back games.
It’s the first time a Thomas Tuchel side has conceded three or more goals in consecutive games since April 2019.
SEMAK SPEAKS
Here are the full time thoughts of Zenit boss Sergai Semak: “Chelsea played openly today.
“If you look at the last five games, they let their opponents only score once and today we scored three times. For them, the game was easy in terms of motivation.
“Their head coach let a lot of players rest so today’s team meant the game was open and it meant there were a lot of opportunities.
“It’s difficult to play like that all the time.”
FINAL STANDINGS
Here’s what tonight’s result means for the final classification in Group H.
Juventus go through as group winners, despite being outclassed by the Blues 4-0 at Stamford Bridge last month.
Chelsea only needed to match the Italians’ result tonight, but could only draw against Zenit, while Juve beat Malmo 1-0.
SUBSTITUTES
Christian Pulisic for Barkley (64 mins) – 6
Full of running and intensity what we had been missing.
Hakim Ziyech for Hudson-Odoi (64 mins ) – 5
Few nice switch passes but didn’t add anything extra.
Kai Havertz for Lukaku (74 mins) – N/A
Marcos Alonso for Saul (74 mins) – N/A
FRONT THREE
Mason Mount – 7
Some bright moments from Mount and he should have scored, at least he had some guts in his game and was trying to rally around the team.
But it wasn’t his best 45 either and luckily he improved a lot and was a threat for Chelsea in the second half.
Timo Werner – 9
Scored Chelsea’s first half goal with some good reactions, looked hungry at times but could not do much to help Chelsea in the first 45 minutes anyway when they were under intense pressure.
It was his great one two that set Lukaku up to score Chelsea’s equaliser and he did amazing to make and score Chelsea’s third goal. Great stuff.
Romelu Lukaku – 5
He was certainly trying hard and trying to get involved, and looked good early on, but again just like Werner he could not do much to effect the play as Zenit bossed the last 35 minutes of the first half.
He looked very tired and slow, but he scored the equaliser and that will do him good.
MIDFIELDERS
Ross Barkley – 5
First half he looked absolutely clueless on the ball and kept giving it away putting Zenit on the counter attack.
He was far too slow when on the ball and looked very laboured.
He improved a lot in the second half and made a lovely one two with Werner to set Lukaku up for the equaliser.
Reece James – 8
The only one real bright spark from Chelsea’s midfield/defence from the first half anyway.
He was at least comfortable in possession and could hold on to the ball and make a decent pass.
WING-BACKS
Callum Hudson-Odoi – 5
Kept giving the ball away and getting tackled easy in the first half.
He came into it a bit more and looked more of a threat in the second half, but then got subbed off.
Saul Niguez – 4
Albeit a couple of good moments early on, his first half performance mirrored those around him.
He lacked positional awareness and gave the ball away needlessly, and didn’t get much better in the second half.
CENTRE-BACKS
Cesar Azpilicueta – 4
The captain was non-existent in the first half, really terrible. But he composed himself a bit more in the second half as Chelsea tried to fight back.
Andreas Christensen – 5
Poor from him as well in the first half, bad decision making and bad defending.
But as like most of his team mates he stepped it up in the second half and remembered how to defend!
Malang Sarr – 4
He was all over the place in the first half and didn’t even look Championship level.
But he did make a few good interceptions and tackles in the second half as he tried to redeem himself.
CHELSEA RATINGS
How did you think Thomas Tuchel’s side performed tonight?
Well here’s how Simon Phillips rates the Blues who took to the turf tonight.
Kepa Arrizabalaga – 8
More than kept Chelsea in the game in the first half when the rest of the players in front of him folded and got rolled over.
He made three or four world class saves, and couldn’t do anything about the goals.
OZ TARGET
Magomed Ozdoev’s thunderbolt was more than worthy of earning Zenit a draw against the European champions.
Credit: AP POTENTIAL OPPONENTS
Chelsea cannot draw a team from the same nation as them, or from their group, in the next round of the competition.
It means their possible opponents are:
- Bayern Munich
- Real Madrid
- Ajax
- Group G winner (Lille, RB Salzburg or Sevilla)
CHANCE WASTED
Thomas Tuchel and Co squandered the chance to go through as group winners by dropping points tonight.
It means they now face a trickier last-sixteen draw, with German giants Bayern Munich one of the Blues’ possible opponents.
NINTCHDBPICT000698948535Credit: Reuters
STAT ATTACK
Here’s a look at the full time stats, courtesy of Opta.
Zenit managed to get 18 shots away over the 90 minutes, compared to Chelsea’s 13.
The Blues though had eight efforts on target, with Zenit on target with seven of their efforts.
Chelsea shaded the possession stats 54%-46% and overall the numbers from the game reflected the tight affair that it was.
On balance a draw is probably a fair result, with Zenit more than holding their own against the European champions.
LATE HEARTBREAK
Magomed Ozdoev celebrates after rifling in a dramatic late equaliser.
A six-goal thriller ends all-square in Russia.
NINTCHDBPICT000698947790Credit: AFP FT: ZENIT 3-3 CHELSEA
Full time in St. Petersburg after a brilliant 90 minutes of football.
Timo Werner looked like he’d earned Chelsea a hard fought victory with a lovely touch and finish on 85 minutes.
But a worldie from Magomed Ozdoev means the points are shared in Zenit, meaning Chelsea do NOT top Group H.
Juventus beat Malmo 1-0 in Turin, so it’s the Italians who progress as group winners with Chelsea second.
FULL TIME!
ZENIT 3-3 CHELSEA!
ZENIT 3-3 CHELSEA
95. The cross into the box is headed away and that might be that.
Ozdoev’s late screamer looks to have snatched the victory away from Chelsea right at the last.
ZENIT 3-3 CHELSEA
94. That goal means Chelsea drop back to second in Group H as things stand.
And it might be worse as Zenit win a last gasp free kick on the right win after handball by Alonso.
ZENIT 3-3 CHELSEA
93. What a goal that is!
A cross in from the left towards Dzyuba is headed clear by Sarr, but only as far as the edge of the box.
It bounces up perfectly for Ozdoev, who comes steaming on to it.
The substitute makes perfect contact with the ball as it bounces up, sending an effort screaming past Kepa and into the top corner!
What a hit!
GOAL!
CHELSEA CONCEDE AT THE DEATH!
ZENIT 2-3 CHELSEA
93. Azpilicueta is now down after being tripped by Mostovoy.
The substitute is the target of a long ball forward but the Chelsea captain gets his body between the Zenit man and the ball and defends well.
ZENIT 2-3 CHELSEA
92. The Blues safely negotiate the first couple of minutes of stoppage time without incident.
Marcos Alonso then uses his experience to win a cheap free kick and tick some more seconds off the clock.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
