AC Milan 0 Chelsea 2
Graham Potter’s understated revolution at Chelsea is starting to make some serious noise. There is no hint of Thomas Tuchel’s replacement struggling to cope with the big Champions League nights and, while it is not Potter’s style to blow his own trumpet, he could be forgiven for reflecting on how far he has come as he watched his new team cruise to victory at the San Siro.
These are moments to cherish for a man who once coached students at Hull University. Chelsea’s Champions League campaign is back on course, even if Milan will argue that this game was defined by Fikayo Tomori’s controversial early dismissal killing their momentum.
Tomori’s departure against his old side caused local fury. Chelsea pulled clear after the departure of one of their own. Goals from Jorginho and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took them top of Group E and a place in the last-16 will be theirs if they beat RB Salzburg in a fortnight.
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Chelsea had already given Stefano Pioli’s side a taste of how effective Potter’s football can be in full flow. It was brutally one-sided when these sides met at Stamford Bridge a week ago and, for a Milan team still finding their footing back among the European elite, there was pressure to produce an improved showing back on home turf.
This historic old ground had crackled with noise, and colour long before kick-off and everything had felt so positive until the balance of power tilted Chelsea’s way, the crowd incredulous when Tomori was shown the softest of red cards after conceding a penalty for fouling Mason Mount in the 18th minute.
In fairness it had been an impressive start from Chelsea. Potter had shuffled the pack once again, dropping Ruben Loftus-Cheek and going for the canny, technical duo of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in midfield.
Chelsea’s plan was clear, to silence the din by controlling the tempo, and it was effective. They saw space in behind Milan’s defence, where the absence of Simon Kjær and Davide Calabria felt crucial, and soon gave notice of their threat, snappy interplay between Reece James and Mount catching the eye and Raheem Sterling causing problems before the pivotal moment arrived.
Inevitably it was James who prised Milan apart from the right with a slide-rule pass to Mount. There was too much room for Chelsea’s irrepressible right wing back, who was not flustered by marking Rafael Leão, and questions had to be asked of Theo Hernández’s habit of drifting into midfield. The left back needed to be closer to James, who was menacing Milan for the second time in a week, and alarm spread when Mount darted through on goal.
Nonetheless there was outrage when Daniel Siebert pointed to the spot after Mount tumbled, judging that Tomori had deliberately denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity. The contact felt minimal as the former Chelsea academy team-mates battled, even if the Milan defender’s clumsy grappling prevented Mount from getting a clear shot away, but there was no hesitation from Siebert. The red card was instant and Tomori, whose second consecutive shocker against his old club could hurt his chances of making England’s World Cup squad, could not even rely on VAR for a reprieve.
It was galling for Milan. Their protests were long and loud, with Olivier Giroud booked, and one fan even tried to put Jorginho off by shining a laser pen in the midfielder’s eyes as he stepped up to take the penalty. No matter. Jorginho did not blink once, coolly sending Ciprian Tatarusanu the wrong way.
Milan were incandescent. They continued to gripe at the pernickety referee, who infuriated them by booking Matteo Gabbia and Rade Krunic, and almost used their sense of injustice to equalise. A cross from Brahim Díaz caught Chelsea napping, but Giroud headed wide when he should have punished his old side.
Chelsea needed that wake-up call. They pushed again, moving Milan around with a long passing sequence, Kovacic quickening the pace with a pass into Mount. A clever flick carved Milan open and Aubameyang, beating Sterling to the ball, drove home his third goal for Chelsea.
The game felt dead. Milan reinforced their defence, replacing Díaz with Sergiño Dest, but Chelsea wanted more. Mount saw a shot pushed away before Potter withdrew him at half-time, presumably because he was on a yellow card. Conor Gallagher came on and was soon offering a similar level of energy, almost adding a third following a cutting burst.
With Ben Chilwell driving down the left, there was a constant dynamic edge to Chelsea. Aubameyang went close, almost turning in a mis-hit shot from Kovacic. At the other end a wild shot from Dest was all Milan had to offer. Otherwise there was little to concern Trevoh Chalobah, Kalidou Koulibaly and Thiago Silva, who excelled on his return to the San Siro.
Weighed down by injuries, Milan were beaten. The only concern for Potter was losing James to injury. – Guardian
