Chelsea come from behind to beat Real Betis and win Conference League

North Wales Chronicle

2 days ago

Everything for Enzo Maresca's team hinged around a five-minute spell midway through the second half.
In that window Cole Palmer turned a match the LaLiga side had enjoyed by far the better of into a Chelsea procession, setting up headers first for Enzo Fernandez then for Nicolas Jackson just as the occasion looked to have overwhelmed this young Blues team.
Until that point and against a wall of noise from the Betis end, Chelsea were outplayed and pegged back by an early goal from Abde Ezzalzouli.
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Then came Palmer's intervention, and once they led it was a simple matter of adding goals from Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo, as Betis' energy failed them.
Chelsea had gifted them the lead after nine minutes.
Malo Gusto's careless pass through midfield was cut out, the ball breaking to captain Isco who reversed a sumptuous pass in-field to find Ezzalzouli who peeled away. The winger took a touch to make space with his right foot then with his left drilled in into Filip Jorgensen's bottom corner.
It would have been two moments later had Jorgensen not produced a fine reach to keep out Marc Bartra's curling long-range shot.
There was the unmistakable sense of Betis, whose fans dominated the stadium in noise and number, having begun their first European final with the greater desire.
Isco, a five-time Champions League winner but never as skipper, suggested before kick-off the game might mean more to his side than to Chelsea and in the first half there was no doubting Betis' extra energy.
Gusto, who has had a poor season, was at fault again with an ineffective challenge to be robbed by Ezzalzouli. The goalscorer then bamboozled Caicedo before squaring it for Johnny Cardoso who from a glorious position blazed over.
Pedro Neto then thumped the ball high and wide, a wild miss that summed up a poor Chelsea half in which they attacked at walking pace and Betis, superbly marshalled tactically by Manuel Pellegrini, coped with ease.
Reece James replaced Gusto at the break and slowly Chelsea began to squeeze Betis in their own half.
Finally 65 minutes into the final they produced their first clear opening, or rather Palmer did it alone.
It was he who spotted the forward dart of Argentina midfielder Fernandez, and his arcing cross from wide on the right that the World Cup-winner nodded down through the grasp of Adrian and in.
Chelsea were now awake and no one more so than Palmer, so when he picked up the ball on the far side of the penalty area five minutes later there was a ready feeling a second goal was imminent.
So it proved, Palmer's chipped ball to the near post finding Jackson who adjusted his body well and guided home with his shoulder.
The shock clearly affected Betis who were beginning to tire following a mammoth effort.
What was left of their spirit drained away when Sancho lifted a wonderful curling finish into the top corner with seven minutes left, before Caicedo drilled home a late fourth.