MOL Vidi 2-2 Chelsea: 5 Talking Points, Europa League 2018-19
Chelsea ended their Europa League group stage exploits with a 2-2 draw against Hungarian giants MOL Vidi in Budapest. Two stellar free kicks from Willian and Olivier Giroud helped the Blues salvage a point, after having gone 2-1 down.
The former won a foul and duly converted the spot kick in the 30th minute. However, just 109 seconds later, the home side restored parity through an Ethan Ampadu own goal. Not much the young defender could have done on that occasion.
Surprisingly, on the back of a few urgent and purposeful passages of play, Vidi took the lead in the 56th minute through a thunderous volley from Loic Nego. Olivier Giroud, who could have had a hat-trick to his name, deposited another dead ball to the back of the net to ensure Chelsea remained unbeaten in the Europa League.
With five wins and a draw, the Blues topped their group rather comfortably. They were joined by BATE Borisov, who finished on nine points from their six outings.
Let's take a look at the major talking points from Chelsea's 2-2 draw against Hungarian side MOL Vidi.
#1 Chelsea start positively on a cold, freezing night
As envisioned by learned supporters and pundits, Chelsea started proceedings on a strong note. They launched attack after attack, forced the opposition to back-pedal and created chances.
Till the 4th minute or so, the hosts didn't manage to have the ball. Ruben Loftus-Cheek went past challenges and looked lively. The Blues won a corner, which was cleared away by Juhasz.
Moments later, Emerson, who threatened all evening, was released down the left. He crossed it into Morata's path and Chelsea won another corner. Willian fizzed in a cross and Morata failed to find the right connection.
Soon, Vidi settled into the game, committed bodies back and defended their goal in numbers. On the contrary, Chelsea looked creative in midfield as they played in a few exquisite passes, but the activity in the final third let them down.