December 10, (THEWILL) — Atalanta inflicted a damaging 2-1 defeat on Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League, with Charles De Ketelaere scoring the decisive goal seven minutes from time. The Belgium forward struck a deflected effort past Robert Sanchez after earlier setting up Gianluca Scamacca’s equaliser, lifting the Italian side to third in the 36-team table. Chelsea now sit 11th, three points adrift of the automatic qualification places with only two league-phase fixtures remaining.
Chelsea appeared to have taken control when Joao Pedro broke the deadlock in the 25th minute. The Brazilian finished neatly from a Reece James cross, with the goal initially disallowed for offside before VAR overturned the decision. James nearly doubled the advantage early in the second half but dragged his shot wide.
Atalanta drew level in the 55th minute through Scamacca, who met De Ketelaere’s cross with a powerful header at the back post. The hosts continued to press and Scamacca came close again seven minutes later, only for Sanchez to produce a fine save from his glancing header.
De Ketelaere settled the contest in the 83rd minute when his shot took a wicked deflection off Marc Cucurella and wrong-footed Sanchez. Chelsea pushed for a late equaliser but Marco Carnesecchi denied both Alejandro Garnacho and Joao Pedro to preserve the victory.
The result leaves Enzo Maresca’s side facing an uphill battle to finish in the top eight and avoid the knockout play-off round. Ademola Lookman had an early effort ruled out for offside after Sanchez spilled his initial shot, while De Ketelaere failed to convert the rebound from six yards.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
