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Chelsea and Krasnodar finished 1:1 in the last round in Group E of the Champions League. The visitors opened in the middle of the first half through Remy Cabella, who took advantage of a pass from Victor Claeson, but a little later Jorgenino equalized from a penalty. The match today was irrelevant for Chelsea, because Frank Lampard`s team not only had a guaranteed place in the quarterfinals, but also secured the first position in the group with a resounding victory over Sevilla (4:0). Krasnodar also fulfilled its goal a week ago. The Bulls won the direct match with Rennes and thus became the only Russian team to play in the European tournaments in the spring.
As expected, Chelsea came out without most of their starters, who received a break before the important visit of Everton. Kepa Arisabalaga stood in the doorway. The Spaniard has the status of Edward Mendy`s reserve and this was one of his rare chances to play during the season. Cesar Aspilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen started in defense, with Giorgino in front of them. The attack was led by Tammy Abraham and the young Faustino Anorin, and the four midfielders were Emerson, Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz and Billy Gilmore. Unlike Lampard, Krasnodar`s coach Murad Musaev bet on an optimal team. Wanderson, Marcus Berg and Victor Claesson formed the trio in front, with Remy Cabella behind them. Tony Villena and Christopher Olson were the two midfielders, and the defense against Matvey Safonov included Igor Smolnikov, Alexander Martinovich, Cayo Pantaleao and Christian Ramirez. The Krasnodar players were much more motivated, at least to take revenge for the heavy loss with 0:4 at home, when in a long period of the match they played equally, but in the last quarter of an hour they collapsed and scored three goals. Tonight, the `bulls` were relieved of all tension and showed that they are not to be underestimated. They created the first goal situation, but the Swedish national Claeson shot past the door. In the 24th minute Claeson cunningly deviated to the uncovered Cable and the Frenchman opened the score. Chelsea`s response was not long in coming. Just three minutes later, Abraham was knocked down in the penalty area by Cayo Pantaleao and referee Pavel Kralovets awarded a penalty, which Jorgenho easily executed. The Blues could have made a complete turnaround in the 30th minute, but Tammy Abraham shot out from a comfortable position. At the very end of the half, Kai Havertz made a mistake. After the break the match analyzed by soccer tips and predictions was equal. In the 64th minute Wanderson made Arisabalaga make an important save. Abraham made another mistake, but Evgeny Gorodov`s intervention was worth it. Olivier Giroud and Timo Werner came in as reserves for Chelsea, and the German had the opportunity to bring victory to his team, but shot inaccurately. After this draw Chelsea ended the group stage with 14 points and only two conceded goals. Sevilla took second place with 13 points and Krasnodar is third with 5. At the bottom was Rennes with only 1 point.
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