Chelsea kicked off their Europa League campaign with a 1-0 victory over PAOK on Thursday, Willian's goal the difference in Group L.
2018/2019 UEFA Europa League
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Match Events
7' GOAL! PAOK 0-1 Chelsea (Willian)
Goal! Barkley surges forward from midfield and releases Willian, who manages to slot the ball under the goalkeeper. A bit lucky but the Brazilian won't care. Assisted by Ross Barkley with a through ball.
9' CHANCE! Morata's header wide out
That should have been 2-0 to Chelsea. Morata glances a header off target after fine work from Zappacosta wide on the right.
19' CHANCE! Morata's shot wide out
Rudiger hits a perfect pass over the top of PAOK's defence from the center circle. Morata controls well enough, but his left-footed effort is cut across goal just too much and out for a goal-kick.
38' CHANCE! Pedro's shot saved
Pedro should have scored! Alonso is once again Chelsea's go-to counter-attacking threat. He sees fellow Spaniard Pedro free on the right and plays him in perfectly, but the former Barcelona man hits straight at the keeper.
61' CHANCE! Alonso's shot blocked
Alonso hasn't had much success when crossing the ball, so he decides to shoot this time. The Spain international cuts inside on his right foot and Khacheridi puts his body on the line to block the shot.
68' DISALLOWED GOAL! Morata's shot offside
Morata dinks the ball over Paschalakis and into the net only for the flag to go up.
72' CHANCE! Pedro's shot saved
Pedro goes close, checking inside from the left and smashing a shot towards the top-right corner. This time, Paschalakis makes a good save.
Match Report
Willian's early goal gave Chelsea a winning start to their Europa League campaign in a 1-0 triumph over PAOK that made it six victories in a row for Maurizio Sarri's men.
The Brazil international's fourth strike in his last five European matches followed a surging run from Ross Barkley, who impressed in Thessaloniki.
Chelsea's winning margin should have been far wider, but they were wasteful in front of goal, with Alvaro Morata the main culprit.
But it mattered little as the Blues secured three points in what could be the toughest of their away trips in Group L.
Sarri's side quickly set about quietening the vociferous home support and within seven minutes Willian succeeded, his low shot somehow squirming under Alexandros Paschalakis' body.
Morata should have doubled Chelsea's lead soon after, but his problems in front of goal continued as he inexplicably headed wide from six yards.
The Spaniard wasted another five chances before the break as Chelsea failed to turn their domination into a healthy lead, Pedro also guilty of spurning a gilt-edged opportunity.
Line-ups
PAOK XI: Pontus Wernbloom, Vieirinha, Fernando Lopes dos Santos Varela, Omar El Kaddouri, Maurício, Alexandros Paschalakis, Evgen Shakhov, Yevhen Khacheridi, Tosca, Dimitrios Pelkas, Leo Jabá
Subs: Diego Biseswar, José Crespo, A. Prijović, José Cañas, Rodrigo Rey, Dimitris Limnios, Amr Warda
Chelsea XI: Willian, Pedro, Morata, M.Alonso, Barkley, Jorginho, A. Rüdiger, Kepa, Zappacosta, A. Christensen, N. Kanté
Subs: Fàbregas, G. Cahill, Azpilicueta, V. Moses, W. Caballero, O. Giroud, R. Loftus-Cheek