Slavia Praha 0-1 Chelsea: Alonso heads late to earn first-leg lead for Blues
42 minutes ago / R47
Slavia Prague dominated Chelsea on Thursday but fell to a potentially costly home defeat thanks to Marcos Alonso’s winner.
Match Events
25′ OFF THE BAR! Willian almost scores
OFF THE BAR! Willian with a superb curling effort from the edge of the box, after cutting inside from the left wing and it looked to be heading into the top corner, but it cannons off the top of the crossbar. Kolar in the Slavia goal was beaten, it just didn’t quite have enough dip on it.
79′ OFFSIDE! Jorginho scores but goal is disallowed
Goal ruled out! Chelsea have the ball in the back of the net, but it’s ruled out for offside. Jorginho was the man with the final touch from just a few yards out, but Kante was already offside in the build up.
86′ GOAL! Slavia Praha 0-1 Chelsea (Alonso)
GOOOAAALLL! Chelsea take the lead it’s 1-0! Alonso is the man with the vital away goal, breaking the deadlock late on! Willian with a terrific cross into the penalty area and Alonso was completely unmarked and free to head the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Match Reports
Marcos Alonso snatched a precious 1-0 away win for Chelsea in their Europa League quarter-final first leg at Slavia Prague on Thursday.
The Blues started with N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard on the bench and were outplayed for long periods until Alonso headed in an unlikely winner four minutes from time.
Victory was scarcely deserved for Chelsea, with Kepa Arrizabalaga starring in the away goal and the notion of a kind draw for the visitors put to bed by an excellent Slavia display.
Line-ups
Slavia Praha XI: Miroslav Stoch, J. Bořil, Vladimir Coufal, Ondrej Kolar, M. Ngadeu-Ngadjui, Lukas Masopust, Petr Sevcik, Peter Olayinka, S. Deli, Ibrahim Benjanim Traore, A. Král
Subs: M. Škoda, O. Kúdela, Premysl Kovar, J. Hušbauer, M. Frydrych, Mick Van Buren, J. Zmrhal
Chelsea XI: Willian, Azpilicueta, O. Giroud, Pedro, M.Alonso, Barkley, M. Kovačić, Jorginho, A. Rüdiger, Kepa, A. Christensen
Subs: G. Higuaín, D.Luiz, E. Hazard, W. Caballero, Zappacosta, N. Kanté, R. Loftus-Cheek
