November 26, (THEWILL) — Chelsea cruised to a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, with Estevao and Liam Delap finding the net after the interval. The London side had three efforts ruled out whilst their opponents finished with 10 men following Ronald Araujo’s dismissal before the break.
Enzo Fernandez thought he had opened the scoring inside four minutes after connecting with Wesley Fofana’s delivery, only for the referee to spot a handball in the build-up. The midfielder was denied a second time when his header from Estevao’s set piece was cancelled due to Trevoh Chalobah’s offside interference. Jules Kounde’s own goal eventually broke the deadlock in the 27th minute, forcing the ball home after Pedro Neto had directed Marc Cucurella’s cross into the danger area.
The visitors’ task became significantly harder when Araujo received his second yellow card moments before half-time. The defender had already been cautioned for dissent and was shown a second booking for a late challenge on Cucurella, leaving his side a man short for the entire second period.
Chelsea extended their advantage 10 minutes after the restart when Estevao weaved past two defenders on the right side of the penalty area before firing his effort high into the goal. Andrey Santos had seen another strike disallowed for offside shortly before the Brazilian’s clinical finish gave the hosts a two-goal cushion.
Delap completed the scoring after being released by Fernandez, keeping his composure to slot home despite initially being flagged offside. A VAR review confirmed the striker was onside, allowing the goal to stand and round off a commanding performance from the home side against their depleted Spanish opponents.
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.
