Chelsea Gift Under Fire Sarri Valentines' Win At Malmo, Valencia Hit Celtic
15th February 2019
Relief for Blues manager after his side escape with 2-1 away victory in Sweden, La Liga side hand Scottish champions rare home defeat in 2-0 success in the first leg round of 16 Europa League action
- Victory eases the pressure slightly on manager Maurizio Sarri who said his "job was at risk" after Chelsea were thrashed 6-0 by Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday
- Brendan Rodgers's men now have a mountain to climb when the sides meet for the second leg of the last 32 tie in Spain on February 21 given the gulf in class on show between the Scottish champions and the side that finish fourth in La Liga last season
- The introduction of Odsonne Edouard and PSG loanee Timothy Weah lifted Celtic on the hour mark, but Weah blasted over the hosts' best chance to get a foothold in the tie
MALMO, Sweden- Chelsea claimed a narrow 2-1 victory over Malmo in the UEFA Europa League after they were greeted with a rousing atmosphere in Sweden for the first leg of their last 32 tie on Thursday night.
Ross Barkley poked in a curling cross from Pedro to score in the first half.
Olivier Giroud flicked in the second after Willian cut the ball back having beaten his opponent in the box.
Malmo ensured it was a nervy ending for Chelsea as Anders Christiansen slotted home in the 80th minute.
Victory eases the pressure slightly on manager Maurizio Sarri who said his "job was at risk" after Chelsea were thrashed 6-0 by Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
Chelsea remain unbeaten in the Europa League this season before the second leg at Stamford Bridge on 21 February.
Elsewhere, Valencia closed in on the last 16 of the Europa League by inflicting just Celtic's second home defeat of the season with a 2-0 win in Glasgow.
Twice the Celtic offside trap was broken with ease either side of half-time as Ruben Sobrino's pass was tapped home by Denis Cheryshev before the Russian turned provider for Sobrino to net on his Valencia debut after a January move from Alaves.
Brendan Rodgers's men now have a mountain to climb when the sides meet for the second leg of the last 32 tie in Spain on February 21 given the gulf in class on show between the Scottish champions and the side that finish fourth in La Liga last season.
Only Salzburg in the group stages of the Europa League had emerged victorious from a visit to Celtic Park previously this campaign and buoyed by a run of seven straight wins since the winter break in Scotland, the home side started positively.
Callum McGregor forced Valencia goalkeeper Neto to scramble low to his left to turn the ball to safety and James Forrest saw speculative claims for a penalty waived away.
However, Valencia quickly took control with captain Dani Parejo pulling the strings in midfield and only a super save from Scott Bain denied Daniel Wass from opening the scoring with a powerful header.
Celtic often created their own problems by gifting away possession inside their own half and were eventually punished three minutes before the break when Parejo picked out Sobrino's well-timed run despite the home side's pleas for an offside flag and he unselfishly squared for Cheryshev to roll into an empty net.
The same two players combined four minutes into the second half as Cheryshev's teasing cross split Bain and the Celtic defenders for Sobrino to volley home.
The introduction of Odsonne Edouard and PSG loanee Timothy Weah lifted Celtic on the hour mark, but Weah blasted over the hosts' best chance to get a foothold in the tie.