Match ends, Chelsea 1, MOL Vidi 0.
Chelsea 1-0 Vidi: Alvaro Morata strike proves decisive for Blues
- From the section European Football
Alvaro Morata's goal proved decisive as Chelsea scraped past Hungarian champions Vidi to maintain their 100% start in Group L of the Europa League.
Despite dominating both territory and possession it took the second-half arrival of substitute Eden Hazard to add spark to a Chelsea team frustrated for long periods.
And Morata, who had earlier missed a glorious chance, capitalised on some extra space by sweeping in Willian's flick from a Cesc Fabregas pass.
It ended a miserable run for the 25-year-old, who had managed just one goal from nine previous outings this season.
The hosts were unable to add to their lead and had goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to thank for preserving the three points when he turned away Istvan Kovacas' drive late on.
The result ensured the 2013 Europa League winners top the group with six points, having beaten PAOK Salonika in Greece in their opening fixture last month.
Morata's misery subsides
If one player epitomised Chelsea's early frustration in attack it was Morata, whose performance, particularly in the first half, continued in the same vein as against PAOK.
The Spaniard had seven shots in the Blues' first group game without any finding the target and he managed another five against the Hungarians before finally getting on the scoresheet.
And his close-range miss early on, when he horribly miscued a chip over Vidi goalkeeper Tomas Tujvel, smacked of a player shorn of confidence.
Morata has already featured in three Champions League finals, winning two with Real Madrid and scoring in the other when he was on the losing side with Juventus, but goals have dried up for him since his impressive start at Stamford Bridge last term, when he scored seven goals in his first seven games.
And a return of five goals from 32 appearances since the start of 2018 has done little to justify the £60m spent to prise him away from Real Madrid.
More to follow.
Line-ups
Chelsea
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 21Zappacosta
- 24Cahill
- 27Christensen
- 33Emerson
- 12Loftus-CheekSubstituted forBarkleyat 66'minutes
- 4Fàbregas
- 17Kovacic
- 11PedroSubstituted forE Hazardat 54'minutes
- 29MorataBooked at 66mins
- 22WillianSubstituted forMosesat 74'minutes
Substitutes
- 3Alonso
- 7Kanté
- 8Barkley
- 10E Hazard
- 13Caballero
- 15Moses
- 44Ampadu
MOL Vidi
- 12Tujvel
- 5Fiola
- 23Juhász
- 3Souza dos Santos
- 22dos Santos Tavares
- 11NegoBooked at 14mins
- 8HadzicSubstituted forPátkaiat 83'minutes
- 19Nikolov
- 9HusztiBooked at 44minsSubstituted forKovácsat 77'minutes
- 77MilanovBooked at 56minsSubstituted forHodzicat 83'minutes
- 44Scepovic
Substitutes
- 10Kovács
- 13Berecz
- 15Hodzic
- 17Pátkai
- 25Tamas
- 65Hangya
- 74Kovacsik
- Referee:
- Miroslav Zelinka
Match Stats
Home TeamChelseaAway TeamMOL Vidi
- Possession
- Home76%
- Away24%
- Shots
- Home27
- Away7
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away3
- Corners
- Home18
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away15
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Chelsea 1, MOL Vidi 0.
Foul by Davide Zappacosta (Chelsea).
Marko Scepovic (MOL Vidi) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Stopira.
Attempt blocked. Ross Barkley (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Eden Hazard.
Foul by Gary Cahill (Chelsea).
Armin Hodzic (MOL Vidi) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt missed. Álvaro Morata (Chelsea) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left misses to the right. Assisted by Eden Hazard.
Attempt missed. Loic Nego (MOL Vidi) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Máté Pátkai.
Attempt missed. Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Cesc Fàbregas.
Emerson (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by István Kovács (MOL Vidi).
Offside, MOL Vidi. István Kovács tries a through ball, but Marko Scepovic is caught offside.
Attempt saved. István Kovács (MOL Vidi) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Marko Scepovic.
Substitution
Substitution, MOL Vidi. Máté Pátkai replaces Anel Hadzic.
Substitution
Substitution, MOL Vidi. Armin Hodzic replaces Georgi Milanov.
Foul by Victor Moses (Chelsea).
Stopira (MOL Vidi) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Eden Hazard (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by István Kovács (MOL Vidi).
Substitution
Substitution, MOL Vidi. István Kovács replaces Szabolcs Huszti.
Ross Barkley (Chelsea) hits the bar with a header from the left side of the six yard box. Assisted by Eden Hazard with a cross following a set piece situation.
Emerson (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Attila Fiola (MOL Vidi).
Offside, MOL Vidi. Tomas Tujvel tries a through ball, but Boban Nikolov is caught offside.
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea. Victor Moses replaces Willian.
Foul by Emerson (Chelsea).
Georgi Milanov (MOL Vidi) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Stopira.
Attempt blocked. Davide Zappacosta (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Paulo Vinicius.
Attempt blocked. Ross Barkley (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Eden Hazard.
Goal!
Goal! Chelsea 1, MOL Vidi 0. Álvaro Morata (Chelsea) right footed shot from very close range to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Willian with a headed pass.
Offside, Chelsea. Cesc Fàbregas tries a through ball, but Willian is caught offside.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Tomas Tujvel.
Attempt saved. Álvaro Morata (Chelsea) header from very close range is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Willian with a cross.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Paulo Vinicius.
Attempt saved. Ross Barkley (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Cesc Fàbregas.
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea. Ross Barkley replaces Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
