Chelsea avoid humiliation and scrape through despite losing to Servette
Servette 2-1 Chelsea (aggregate 2-3)(Guillemenot 32, Crivelli 72; Nkunku 14pen)
In the end there were fireworks being let off from the stand behind Filip Jörgensen’s goal and a few too many sirens sounding in Chelsea’s area. It was extraordinary to see Servette still plugging away deep into added time and, while Thomas Häberli’s side fell short of beating the £1bn project to a spot in the Europa Conference League, an unlikely upset would have been within reach if Timothé Cognat’s bending shot had found the net during the dying moments.
As it was the midfielder’s effort swerved just wide, sparing Chelsea the humiliation of being dragged to extra time by the side sitting seventh in the Swiss Super League. Even so, there was something deeply alarming about the manner of the implosion from Enzo Maresca’s second string after Christopher Nkunku’s early penalty put them 3-0 up on aggregate. Contriving to lose 2-1 on the night required a performance of bewildering lethargy and, although Chelsea could increase their many attacking options by signing Jadon Sancho and Victor Osimhen on deadline day, their development is likely to remain bumpy until they sharpen up without the ball.
