This shocking display—4-1 defeat to Celtic—plainly exposed gaping holes in Chelsea’s defense and somewhat put into question the strategic direction put forward by coach Enzo Maresca.
First Half: Celtic Domination and Chelsea’s Defensive Lapses
It all began with Chelsea having such a great opportunity in the 6th minute, which they couldn’t benefit from as it was ruled clear. Celtic took little time to stamp their authority and came close to scoring in the 8th minute. As Chelsea failed to hold onto the ball, it paved the way for Celtic to dictate terms on them. The domination was reflected in their clinical finishing—the first goal arrived in the 18th minute—with an almost disorganized Chelsea defense, especially through the consortium of Fofana and Benoît Badiashile.
Every time Chelsea tried to react, Mudryk had a weak shot in the 22nd minute, and Chukwuemeka missed another opportunity in the 39th minute. Celtic used this momentum to their advantage by scoring their second goal in the 32nd minute, again because of a blunder by Chelsea’s defense.
Second Half: Brief Resurgence and Final Blow
Coach Enzo Maresca made many changes at halftime and brought on new players, including Raheem Sterling, who started to influence the game right from the kickoff. All of a sudden, Chelsea revived and dominated the opening minutes of the second half with several chances, but now, with Madueke and others playing well, they couldn’t capitalize on those opportunities.
Again, Celtic’s pressure was rewarded in this case with a clinical third goal dispatched during the 76th minute thanks to yet another critical error from Badiashile. It went from bad to worse as Celtic bagged their fourth two minutes later, taking ruthless exposure of the Blues’ flimsy defense. The Blues got a penalty consolation in the 88th minute, converted by Nkunku following Sterling’s brilliant run.
Analysis and Future Outlook
Chelsea’s performance at the end raised quite a number of questions among fans and analysts on preparedness and strategy. Especially the Fofana-Badiashile defensive pairing, which was under heavy criticism and terribly in need of changes. The midfield, spearheaded by Lavia, was also very short of effectiveness to support both defense and attack altogether. Increased pressure now means Enzo Maresca has to do a rethink in terms of his team’s set-up and tactics. It became very evident tonight that Chelsea simply couldn’t compete at a high-level pace against Celtic, an overhaul in strategy long overdue. Traveling supporters seemed rather positive on social media afterwards; Maresca will ultimately sort things out quickly enough – most notably in terms of defense – to at least give the team a fighting chance.