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Liam Rosenior’s reign as Chelsea boss started with a bang, as the Blues beat a feisty Charlton 5-1 at The Valley. Jorrel Hato opened the scoring with a beautiful volley just before the break. Tosin Adarabioyo doubled the lead, with Miles Leaburn providing a brief reply, before Marc Guiu, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez completed the Blues’ scoring spree.
The Valley roared from the first whistle, with the Charlton fans eager to topple their London neighbours. Before the match actually got under way, a long break due to a medical emergency in the crowd managed to ease the hot temperature in the stadium a little.
That may have helped the visitors, who quickly found their shape, kept possession and locked in The Addicks in their own defense area. The Blues had six shots on target from 77 percent possession in the opening 45 minutes, but for most of the time, Will Mannion was alert in the Charlton goal.
The stalemate was finally broken in time injury time first half. Jorrel Hato met the bouncing ball on the edge of the Charlton penalty box, connecting with a sweet volley to score the opening goal.
Chelsea added to the hosts’ misery shortly after the break. Facundo Buonanotte’s wide free kick sailed towards the near post with power, allowing Adarabioyo to head the ball in for the second goal. The Blues.
However, the host refused to just give up. Charlton’s corner kick flew into the penalty box The Bluesallowing Lloyd Jones to direct a header towards goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen. The substitute goalkeeper was able to parry the shot, but Miles Leaburn grabbed the ball, shooting under the reach of the Danish goalkeeper who had fallen. Although the goal had the Charlton faithful dreaming of a great comeback, their hopes were dashed just five minutes later, when Guiu pounced on the ball rebound from Alejandro Garnacho’s shot to beat Mannion for the Premier League side’s third goal.
The goal seemed to break the spirits of the hosts, because Chelsea looked more likely to add another goal. Estevao’s introduction on the right resulted in several threats to Mannion’s goal. The back-up goalkeeper was able to parry shots from the young Brazilian player and Enzo Fernandez, while Liam Delap failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity. As fog began to descend over The Valley in the final moments, Neto added the fourth goal with a feint (chop) smartly evaded Jones’ tackle before shooting low into the near corner. Enzo then added a fifth goal from the penalty spot after Mannion was deemed to have brought down Estevao.
GOAL rating Chelsea players from The Valley…
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