Chelsea maintained their perfect start under Maurizio Sarri with a comfortable 1-0 victory over PAOK in the first game of their Europa League campaign.
The Blues were comfortable all over the pitch, dominating every aspect of the game, but by half time had just the single goal to show for their efforts as Willian finished off a flowing move in the seventh minute. Alvaro Morata missed a hatful of opportunities with Ross Barkley, N’Golo Kante and Jorginho transitioning the ball from defence to attack seamlessly.
The second half was a continuation of what had occurred in the previous 45 and once again this meant that despite creating chance after chance Chelsea couldn’t put the game out of sight instead allowing PAOK to enjoy a brief glimmer of hope in their pursuit of what even they would suggest is an undeserved point towards the end of the game.
Having rested several key members of the squad for the trip to Greece Chelsea should be well prepared for a testing Sunday afternoon fixture against West Ham at the London Stadium, where traditionally the Blues have struggled.
Here are our player ratings from the game.
