Olivier Giroud
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“Better today”, “Improved”: Some Chelsea fans impressed by star midfielder’s display in 2-1 win against Malmo + Match report

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Malmo 1-2 Chelsea: Blues get a crucial away win to take first-leg advantage

Chelsea travel back to London with two crucial away goals to their name as they beat Swedish side Malmo 2-1 in the first leg of their round of 32 clash in the Europa League.

In the opening minutes of this important fixture for Chelsea, Malmo began with great aplomb as they earned an early corner and seemed to trouble Chelsea. But a few minutes in and Chelsea’s dominance was starting to become clear.

They began to dominate possession but were unable to create anything in front of goal. While Willian was using Giroud to keep the ball moving, Pedro on the other side was really struggling to get into the game.

Eventually, they began to put crosses into the box aimed mostly at Giroud. Although there were a couple of chances, there was nothing decisive from the Blues.

It was finally in the 30th minute that Chelsea made the breakthrough. They worked the ball well down the left side and when Pedro’s cross found Barkley in the box, the Englishman had the composure to bring it under control and poke it past the rushing Dahlin.

In the final 15 minutes of what was an intriguing first half, Malmo began to really pull the strings and were putting Chelsea under some pressure. They got multiple corners and were threatening the goal consistently.

Malmo’s aggression was really getting to Chelsea and the Swedes were conceding a lot of fouls. The game went into half-time with the score-line at 1-0 to the away side.

As the second half began, Chelsea were certainly in the driving seat and Ross Barkley was really starting to come into the game. With Malmo under pressure, the second Chelsea goal didn’t take long at all.

In the 58th minute, a Chelsea counter erupted and Barkley was away. He played it wide to Willian who got to the by-line and put in a powerful grounded cross. Giroud was on the spot to flick it in with great finesse.

As it was beginning to look like Chelsea were going to take control of the match, Malmo made two substitutions, which really changed the complexion. Despite the introduction of Eden Hazard, Malmo were slowly starting to bite again.

And when a stray pass in the midfield was latched upon by a Malmo man, Chelsea were still in a position of relative safety. Andreas Christensen was beaten and an inch-perfect pass reached Anders Christiansen who tucked it into the bottom corner to make it 2-1 and give the home side some hope.

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With Chelsea in cruise control, they saw the rest of the game out with ease and will go back to Stamford Bridge with two away goals to their name, which means that the home leg will be as comfortable as it can get for Maurizio Sarri.