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In the last 135 minutes of football against Chelsea, AS Roma have scored SIX goals! The Italian side have gotten hold of Chelsea's weakness and are exploiting it.
Stephan El Shaarawy struck twice in the first half and Diego Perotti scored a screamer from outside the box to seal the game for the Serie A side. Here are the talking points from the game:
#5 Antonio Conte has to take the blame
From the line-ups to the substitutions, Antonio Conte got it all wrong last night. He made the mistake of starting Fabregas & Bakayoko together, played Azpilicueta as a wing-back again and if that wasn't enough, he played Gary Cahill as a right centre back and not on the left side – his usual place.
The debatable thing here is what's worse? Playing Gary Cahill or playing him out of position. The defender has lost it and should never be starting a single game for Chelsea ever again. He just can't man-mark a player even if his life was dependent on it.
Conte still could have done saved the game but his substitutions made things worse. Cahill was finally taken off, but instead of bringing in Zappacosta or Christensen, he opted for Willian and that forced Pedro to play as a right wing-back!
There is no way Conte can justify what he did last night and would be praying that he remains at the club. If the club board members were ruthless as they were in 2011, Conte would be marching out this week.
#4 AS Roma's front three were unstoppable
El Shaarawy opened the scoring after just 39 seconds as the Chelsea defence were still just getting into the mindset that the game has begun. The Italian made things worse for Chelsea after he capitalized on Rudiger's lazy mistake of letting the ball go into the box despite getting a clear chance of clearing it away.
Edin Dzeko did not get on the scoresheet this time but was causing trouble in other ways this time. He was brilliant in holding the ball up and was bringing the defenders to one side and freeing up space for his teammates on the other.
The existence of Perotti made things look bad for Gary Cahill and the former Genoa man made most of it. He did notscore when the Englishman was on the pitch but was tormenting him throughout the game.
#3 Chelsea NEED N'Golo Kante back
If there were any doubts about how important Kate is to the Chelsea team, they are all cleared up now. The Frenchman's absence has left the midfield open and the defence vulnerable.
His never-ending runs up and down the pitch made things easy for the attackers and defenders but in his absence, no one has been able to replicate it. Cesc Fabregas just can't keep hold of the ball like Kante nor can he contribute 10% of the Frenchman's defensive works.
Bakayoko and Drinkwater playing together would also be a disaster for Chelsea as the two would struggle to provide any sort of contribution to the attack. They are not quick like Kante nor creatively sound like Fabregas.
Chelsea face Manchester United next and are set to welcome him back into the team. He's been training but the manager opted to rest him for one more game as he does not want him to get injured again.
#2 AS Roma all but seal spot in next round
With 8 points from 4 games, AS Roma have one foot in the next round already. The Italians were tipped to finish 3rd in the group but they have surprised all and are now the leaders.
Chelsea are 2nd but have only themselves to blame for it. They let go of a 2-0 at home to Roma and then got thrashed 3-0 last night to the same opponents.
However, both the sides are safe thanks to Atletico Madrid's failure to grind out results. The Spanish side have drawn both their games vs Qarabag – a side that was beaten 6-0 by Chelsea on the first matchday!
AS Roma and Chelsea will be through to the next round if they get a draw vs Atletico Madrid and if that's not managed, they just need to beat Qarabag – something which both the clubs have already done this season.
#5 Chelsea shake-up is a must!
Antonio Conte must get back on the drawing board and get a solution for this as soon as possible. The manager cannot operate with the same tactics anymore and needs to make a swift change to it.
The initial change can be the starting XI. Christensen must be given a chance once again ahead of Cahill as he's impressed in all his appearances so far. He made a mistake or two against Roma at Stamford Bridge but overall, he's been brilliant.
Another change has to come in the midfield. Cesc Fabregas has to be benched for N'Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater to start together. The duo are capable of magic and know each other well.
Apart from that, Rudiger also needs to be warming the benches for some time. Zappacosta ca be the replacement for the time being with Azpilicueta moving back to the right centre back position. Marcos Alonso has no competition and Chelsea would be hoping to get Baba Rahman back to full fitness soon.
