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Chelsea responded to their 1-0 defeat versus Juventus in their last UEFA Champions League outing by cruising to a 4-0 victory at home against Malmö, continuing their all-time unbeaten record against Swedish opposition.
As the competition’s reigning champions, Chelsea came into the match as heavy favourites. Their superior quality was on full display after just nine minutes when Thiago Silva played a ball into fellow centre-back Andreas Christensen, whose bouncing shot found its way past Malmö goalkeeper Johan Dahlin to give the hosts an early lead.
It quickly went from bad to worse for the visitors when Romelu Lukaku was taken down in the area, forcing the referee to award the ‘Blues’ a penalty.
The subsequent spot-kick was coolly slotted home by Jorginho to double Chelsea’s advantage just over twenty minutes in.
Unfortunately, game-ending injuries in the first half to both Lukaku and Timo Werner will have left a sour taste in Thomas Tuchel’s mouth despite his team dominating proceedings.
Even without two of their main goal threats, though, Chelsea put the game to bed. This happened only two minutes into the second half. Kai Havertz delicately chipped Ismael Diawara, who replaced Dahlin between the Malmö sticks during the interval, after being played in by Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Not long after, Antonio Rüdiger was shoved from behind while attempting a shot, giving the home side another penalty. Jorginho struck home emphatically for his second, and his side’s fourth, of the night.
The remainder of the fixture was a procession, with Chelsea happy to rotate possession while Malmö limited the damage.
The impressive win consolidates Chelsea’s fantastic run in UCL group-stage games, with them losing only two of their last 49.
More importantly, Tuchel’s men now leapfrog Zenit into second place in Group H as they look to defend their European crown.
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