BAKU, (Azerbaijan): Alejandro Garnacho ensured Chelsea returned from Azerbaijan with a point as he came off the bench to equalise in their 2-2 draw away to Qarabag in the Champions League yesterday.
The former Manchester United forward fired a sweetly struck left-foot effort into the net after 53 minutes of an enthralling contest which had slipped from Chelsea’s grasp.
Brazilian teenager Estevao put the visitors ahead with a neat finish in the 16th minute but after a slow start Qarabag came alive in the noisy Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium.
Leandro Andrade steered home a rebound in the 29th minute to cancel out Chelsea’s lead after Camilo Duran had shrugged off Jorrel Hato and cut in to send a shot against the upright.
Things went from bad to worse for the London side before halftime as Marko Jankovic converted a penalty awarded for a handball by the inexperienced Hato who endured a tough night.
Halfway through the 36-team group phase, Chelsea have seven points while Qarabag, who lost to Chelsea by an aggregate of 10-0 in the Champions League in 2017-18, also have seven.
‘They do great things’
“I said before, Qarabag play very well,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said. “They do great things and it was difficult to play against them. But we conceded silly goals, and we need to pay extra attention going forward.”
Garnacho opened his account for Chelsea last month in the defeat by Sunderland and was impressive again after being one of three halftime substitutions for a youthful visiting side in which Enzo Maresca rang the changes.
With Chelsea’s expensively assembled world champions in danger of a humiliation, Maresca sent on Garnacho, Liam Delap and Enzo Fernandez for the second half in place of young trio Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens and Tyrique George.
And it was Delap who began the move that ended with Garnacho burying a low shot past Qarabag keeper Mateusz Kochalski.
The Argentine almost won it at the death for Chelsea with an overhead volley but an intrepid Qarabag also came close to a first win against English opposition with Oleksii Kashchuk firing straight at keeper Robert Sanchez.
Qarabag coach Gurban Gurbanov described holding the two-times Champions League winners as a magnificent day.
“My team showed determination until the final minutes against the world champions,” he said.
“They were not afraid, demonstrated Azerbaijani character and earned their first point against an English team.”
Chelsea had been forced into an early substitution when midfielder Romeo Lavia pulled up with a muscle injury and was replaced by Moises Caicedo.
“It’s a great shame, especially for him. He’s not able to be fit for a long period,” Maresca said.
“Hopefully it’s not a big injury.” — REUTERS
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