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8 hours ago
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The onus was on Chelsea to silence the jibes about their lack of experience. Behind to a goal from Rasmus Højlund at half-time, they were facing the inconvenience of a two-legged playoff to reach the last 16 of the Champions League. Another lead had been thrown away and the momentum was with Napoli after they cancelled out a penalty from Enzo Fernández at a bouncing Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Yet the night ended with a humiliating early exit for Napoli and another failure for Antonio Conte in Europe. The former Chelsea manager watched in despair as Cole Palmer came on to undo his depleted side with a devastating cameo. Palmer set up João Pedro for two outstanding goals as Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea finished in the top eight thanks to their first away win at this level in over three years.
Rosenior sought to neutralise Napoli by matching Conte’s 3-4-2-1 system. Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto lined up as wing-backs, Reece James and Marc Cucurella joined Wesley Fofana at the back and there were opportunities for the young Brazilians, Estêvão Willian and Andrey Santos, to build on bright displays against Crystal Palace.
The question was whether Rosenior would be accused of overthinking his lineup. He had four centre-backs in reserve and there were times when Chelsea looked far from secure at the back. There was space for Napoli on the flanks and, while their injury problems meant Conte was only able to name five outfield players on the bench, they had little trouble creating chances.
Chelsea soon found themselves under pressure. They almost conceded when Robert Sánchez dithered on the ball in the seventh minute and Scott McTominay charged down the goalkeeper’s clearance. Yet there were gaps at the other end. Chelsea led when Fernández, on spot-kick duties with Cole Palmer not fit enough to start, dispatched a nerveless penalty after Clément Turpin, the French referee, spotted the left arm of Juan Jesus blocking a free-kick from James in the 19th minute.
There was momentary silence when Fernández’s shot zipped past Alex Meret. Yet Napoli gathered their thoughts. Conte had said his side were in a state of emergency, so packed was their treatment room, but the sirens were soon flaring in the Chelsea defence. They were pulled around with alarming regularity and could hardly argue that it was against the run of play when they trailed at half-time.
Napoli had survived a scare when Meret denied the scampering Neto at 1-0. Undeterred, they responded with a flurry of inventive, intense attacks. They targeted Chelsea’s wing-backs and were level when Antonio Vergara won possession on the left, held off Moisés Caicedo, produced a pirouette to beat Fofana and finished off a magnificent piece of solo play by driving a low shot beyond Sánchez.
It was Napoli’s first goal from open play in the competition this season. Creativity has been an issue with Kevin De Bruyne absent with a torn hamstring, although not here. Napoli pushed again and were in front when Gusto lost Mathías Olivera, who crossed for Højlund to score from close range.
Chelsea were arguing amongst themselves when the first half ended. Rosenior responded by switching to a back four after replacing Neto with Palmer. Napoli sat back in an attempt to protect their lead. There was a lot of possession for Chelsea at the start of the second half but the challenge was making it count in the areas that mattered.
There was no sign of an improvement from the visitors as the hour approached. It felt as if Rosenior was owning up to a tactical error when he removed Gusto for Trevoh Chalobah, who moved alongside Fofana in central defence. The set-up was more conventional now. Jamie Gittens was on for Santos, Estêvão moved to No 10 and Fernández dropped next to Caicedo in midfield.
The changes were effective. Palmer stirred, drifting inside. He flicked the ball to João Pedro and the forward drew Chelsea level by making a yard of space and ripping an outrageous shot past Meret from 25 yards.
The goal meant Napoli were staring at elimination. They had to push again. Surely there would be opportunities for Chelsea on the counterattack. Yet they had little flow in attack. Estêvão was quiet before making way for Alejandro Garnacho as the minutes ticked away.
Napoli responded by bringing Romelu Lukaku on to face his former side. Having committed players forward, though, they were picked off when Palmer released João Pedro in the 82nd minute. The Brazilian ran at an exposed defence, swerved right and drove the ball home.
