Panathinaikos vs Chelsea. UEFA Conference League.
Athens Olympic StadiumAttendance59,742.
Report from the UEFA Conference League league phase match between Panathinaikos and Chelsea at Athens Olympic Stadium on Thursday night; two goals from Joao Felix and one each from Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku make it two wins in two in Europe for Enzo Maresca's Blues
Thursday 24 October 2024 22:41, UK
Chelsea made it two wins from two in the UEFA Conference League as they beat Greek Super League side Panathinaikos 4-1.
Enzo Maresca's Blues shot to the top of the league phase table as a result, and they have now scored four goals or more in five games in all competitions so far this season.
There was a highly emotional atmosphere inside the Athens Olympic Stadium; 18 days earlier, George Baldock had played in the hosts' 0-0 draw against sworn enemies Olympiacos - on Thursday, tributes were paid to the former Sheffield United defender, who died on October 9 aged just 31.
Placards with Baldock's squad number 32 printed on them were raised aloft in the stands, while a version of David Bowie's hit 'Starman' was played over the PA system, in a nod to the nickname given to him by Blades fans.
Chelsea had to navigate the opening stages carefully; they allowed Gent to test them early on in their opener three weeks earlier and did the same in Greece. Blues goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen made a good save to tip Tin Jedvaj's downward header away, before Azzedine Ounahi hit a dipping shot wide from 20 yards.
Midway through the first half, Chelsea took the lead. Joao Felix glanced a header on to Mykhailo Mudryk and prodded home the neat return ball from the Ukrainian winger. It's rare to call a 1-0 lead comfortable, but that's exactly what it was by the time the interval arrived.
Mudryk doubled the lead inside two minutes of the restart when he headed in Pedro Neto's inviting ball from the right, and Felix added his second to make it 3-0 with a shot that took a wicked deflection off the boot of Nemanja Maksimovic before beating Panathinaikos goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski.
The win was all but secured just before the hour when Christopher Nkunku tucked home a penalty - despite lasers being shone in his face - after Daniel Mancini was adjudged to have handled in the box.
Ex-Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri tapped in a cross from Georgios Vagiannidis to reduce the deficit, but it was nothing more than a consolation for the Greek Super League side.
Panathinaikos manager Diego Alonso:
"We played a good game for 22 minutes, then we made an error and it led to the first goal.
"In the second half we lost our concentration for 15 minutes and this was enough to let in three goals.
"This happens when you play against a top team of the Premier League. When you commit an error, you pay hard."
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca:
"We're working with him [Mudryk] and all the wingers. They need to arrive inside the box in the position where Misha [Mudryk] scored. He's struggled to arrive there, now he's started to. That's where we're going to score goals.
"We want the best for Misha, since day one we've tried to help him. Probably he's one of the guys that the learning process is more slow compared to the rest.
"But he's improving. I'm sure that slowly, slowly we're going to arrive where he will score more goals and to be more important for us."
On making 11 changes again in Europe: "The most important thing is no matter how many players we change, you can see the identity of the team. The identity is quite clear.
"What we want is exactly what they're doing; taking the chance when we give it to them. Tonight once again they showed that."
