Chelsea FC failed to finish top in their group after facing a draw against Zenit in the last group stage game of the season. The dramatic game finished with a scoreline of 3-3. Thomas Tuchel’s side wasn’t good enough as it seemed they are going to lose this game as they were trailing behind for more than 25 minutes. Italian giants Juventus finished 1st in Group H with 15 points from 6 games after they managed to beat Malmo 1-0 in their last group phase game.
The first-half show started in just 90 seconds when Chelsea won a corner. Centre-back Andreas Christensen missed the header on the near post and the ball went straight to Timo Werner who was at the back-post, finds an empty net, and opened the scoring from a very sweet and unmissable spot. Thomas Tuchel’s side was off to a great start in their last group stage game. But their lead was ruined when Zenit found the equalizer in the 38th minute. Midfielder Claudinho’s header made the scoreline 1-1 and Zenit was right back at this game just after scoring this goal. It was not over for the home side as they found their second goal in the 41st minute and keep the Blues’ defenders on the back foot. The host went back to the tunnel for the half-time leading over the Premier League’s side by 2-1.
As soon as the second-half started, Chelsea FC was on the front foot. They had most of the possession and also they keep creating countable chances as they were looking for an equalizer. Finally, they found one after a great tiki-taka play from Timo Werner and Ross Barkley at the edge of the box which sets up Romelu Lukaku free in the penalty box and he made no mistake in putting the ball into an empty net. Later in the 75th minute, the Belgian goalscorer was substituted with the German forward named Kai Havertz who is in pretty good form since the arrival of Tuchel.
Into the last ten, keep pushing Blues! đź‘Ź
🔵 2-2 ⚫️ [81] #ZenChe pic.twitter.com/fjxqoNhbDD
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 8, 2021
Later in the 85th minute, Chelsea’s forward Timo Werner scored his second for Chelsea. The German received the ball from Pulisic and cuts inside before taking a right-footed shot which gets past Zenit’s goalkeeper giving him no chance to save that. But, 6 minutes of regulation time was enough for Zenit as they again equalized in this game after scoring in the 90+4 minutes. Magomed Ozdoyev, Zenit’s midfielder scored an amazing goal from outside the box which gave one point to the host, though they didn’t go through to the knockout stages.
Spoils shared tonight. ⏱#ZenChe | #UCL pic.twitter.com/aIEP6tiMoh
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 8, 2021
