Here’s what happened in Wednesday’s UEFA Europa League final, in case you missed it…
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• Chelsea 4, Arsenal 1: Game report
MATCH RECAP IN A SENTENCE
After a dull stalemate in the opening 45 minutes, Chelsea exploded in the second half with a brace from Eden Hazard, and goals from Olivier Giroud and Pedro Rodriguez to earn a comprehensive 4-1 win over Arsenal in Baku, Azerbaijan.
WHAT STOOD OUT
16 magical minutes for Chelsea
How dull was the opening 45 minutes? Consider this: Chelsea’s Emerson led the game with 53 touches in the first half, and he also managed more shots than any other player. Before Wednesday, only two of the previous 17 Europa League/UEFA Cup finals ended 0-0 at halftime. It was one of those games.
Any hope that Arsenal had of qualifying for next season’s UEFA Champions League by winning this tournament quickly evaporated after the re-start. Olivier Giroud nodded home off a cross from Emerson in the 49th minute to break the deadlock and score his tournament-leading 11th goal.
With a rumoured summer move to Real Madrid in the works, Eden Hazard came to life late in the first half, and he pulled the strings on Chelsea’s second goal, setting up Pedro Rodriguez, who doubled the Blues’ advantage on the hour-mark. Just three minutes later, it was 3-0 as Hazard converted a penalty. Alex Iwobi scored a screamer to give Arsenal some hope, but Hazard answered back with his second goal of the contest just minutes later to put the game beyond reach.
Giroud’s opening goal stunned Arsenal, but Pedro’s strike to make it 2-0 essentially stuck the dagger into the Gunners. They were never the same after that, and chased the game the rest of the way.
After the final whistle, Hazard dropped a major hint that this was his last appearance for Chelsea.
“I think it is a goodbye but in football you never know,” Hazard told reporters. “My dream was to play in the Premier League. I did this for seven years for one of the biggest clubs in the world. Maybe it’s time for a new challenge.”
Petr Cech deserved better
Spare a thought for Petr Cech, who played his final game on Wednesday before going into retirement. He deserved a much better send-off than this after enjoying a successful career as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League in recent times.
The Arsenal shot stopper came up with a big stop to deny Olivier Giroud in the first half and was in full command of his penalty area, helping Arsenal go into halftime tied at 0-0.
But then the Blues scored three times in a 16-minute span in the second half to take full control of the match. Cech had performed admirably up until that point, but he had no chance on any of the three goals, as he was left totally exposed by his defence.
All-English final?
For an all-English final, there was scant English representation in this game. Both teams are coached by foreign coaches, and there was only one Englishman – Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles – on the pitch between the two sides when the game kicked off.
Of the six substitutes, only two were English: Arsenal’s Joseph Willock and Chelsea’s Ross Barkley.
Chelsea became the first club to play in a major European final without a player from its home nation in their starting 11 since Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final.
BEST GOAL
Just minutes after entering the game as a substitute, Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi smashed a rocket of a half-volley from the edge of the box across a crowded penalty area inside the far corner. A brilliant strike by the Nigerian.
BEST SAVE
In the 40th minute, Eden Hazard burst down the middle before finding Jorginho. The Italian played a quick pass across to tee up Giroud, and the Frenchman unleashed a powerful drive on goal. Cech had other ideas, though, as he managed to get down low to tip Giroud’s shot out of danger with his left hand.
BEST MOMENT
After being denied by Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech in the first half, Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud exacted revenge in the 49th minute. Emerson Palmieri delivered a ball into the box and Giroud connected on a diving header to redirect the ball past Cech and inside the near post.
BEST TWEET
BURNING QUESTION OF THE DAY
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SIX PACK OF STATS
• Wednesday marked the 198th meeting in all competitions between Chelsea and Arsenal, but only the third in Europe.
• Petr Cech is the first player to play both for and against the same English team in a major UEFA final (for Chelsea in 2013, against them in 2019).
• Olivier Giroud is the first player to score 11 goals in major European competition for an English club since Alan Shearer scored 11 for Newcastle United in in 2004-05.
• Pedro is the fifth player to score in a European Cup/Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League final, after Allan Simonsen, Hernan Crespo, Dmitri Alenichev and Steven Gerrard.
• There were just 133 seconds between Alex Iwobi coming on as a substitute and scoring for Arsenal.
• Arsenal is the first team to concede four goals in a Europa League/UEFA Cup final since Middlesbrough lost 4-0 to Sevilla in the 2006 UEFA Cup final.
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS
1) Eden Hazard, Chelsea: Bagged a brace and earned an assist on Pedro’s goal in what was likely his last match for the Blues.
2) Olivier Giroud, Chelsea: Opened the scoring with a great header and then set up Hazard for his second goal.
3) N’Golo Kante, Chelsea: Shook off a nagging knee injury to start and put in solid 90-minute effort in midfield.
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