Some fans react on Twitter as Chelsea draw 3-3 against Zenit St Petersburg
It was a thrilling night in Russia as Chelsea drew 3-3 against Zenit and lost the chance to top their UEFA Champions League group.
The Blues were coming into the game in stuttering form. The defeat to West Ham on the weekend was tough to take, but they did not help their morale by drawing against the Russian champions tonight.
Thomas Tuchel made several changes to his side, with a few positional ones too. Reece James was playing in midfield while Saul Niguez was deputizing in the left-wing back role. It seemed quite unorthodox but it did not take long for them to get on the scoresheet.
A beautiful corner by Ross Barkley saw Timo Werner tap in from a yard out in the 1st minute of the game. It felt like the story of the game was written then and there, but Zenit responded with some wonderful football.
Claudinho was running the show in the centre of the pitch with his tricks and flicks. Eventually, he was the man to equalize 8 minutes from half-time as he found a pocket of space in our box and headed the ball home against a helpless Kepa Arrizabalaga. However, the home side were not done for the half as they penetrated our backline again.
Worst defensive performance of the season?
Malcolm played through a deft pass to put Serder Azmoun through on goal. He rounded off Kepa to put Zenit in the lead. Tuchel got into his men at half-time, and they came out far more focused. 15 minutes into the second half saw Werner and Barkley combine on the edge of the box before the German unselfishly set up Romelu Lukaku to score into an empty net.
The Blues still needed the win, and they pushed on in the final minutes. They found a way through in the final 10 minutes of the game as Christian Pulisic found Werner into some space, and the 25-year-old turned away and scored what most supporters thought would have been the winner.
The referee awarded six minutes worth of added time, and Chelsea were looking shaky and kept losing possession constantly. Zenit thoroughly punished us for it as Magomed Ozdoyev slammed the equalizer from the edge of the box to put all the good work Kepa put in on the night to waste. The draw meant that we shall now play against the winner of another group as Juventus won their game against Malmo and assumed the top spot.
Let us now see how some fans reacted on Twitter to our side failing to defeat Zenit on the last matchday of the group stages of the competition.
Not great but we take the positives and hope we get lucky in the draw https://t.co/OsN3RAsQTL
— Pys (@CFCPys) December 8, 2021
Timo Werner vs Zenit
— Lefty (@CFCLefty) December 8, 2021
5 attempted 2 goals 1 assist.
Put some respect on his name 🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/aUCJqvsRac
FT Zenit 3-3 Chelsea
— Nicholas Benedict (@N1cBenedict) December 8, 2021
Despite shambolic 1st half, we somehow did enough to claw back. Lucky 3rd goal tbh
Timo ✅✅
Lukaku ✅
Saul experiment needs to be binned 🥵🤧
Impact subs Hakim and Pulisic
Kepa kept us in the game
Reece only midfield tonight 😢
Draw is fair
Shambolic defending. Couldn't even hold on vs Zenit. If we get Bayern I cba
— CfcSheikh (@CfcSheikh) December 8, 2021
Werner having to do it all today. 2 goal, 1 assist. Brilliant today. pic.twitter.com/0YVbHC2SPl
— Avinash ⭐⭐ (@CFC_Avinash) December 8, 2021
League done, UCL done. Back to default settings, put all our effort into winning the carabo and FA cup. Bring in John Terry as caretaker for the season. Brexit football, tarkowski in December, back to basics play off Alonso forhead and we build from there. Get it done @ChelseaFC
— ARMY (@CFCARMY12) December 8, 2021
To be honest tuchel has been getting it wrong lately. Bad performance. Now we get a tough ahead. How do u win juventus 4 nil and concede 3 against Zenith. #ZenChe
— SammyIfeanyi (@Samuelohalete1) December 8, 2021
More Chelsea News
- Thomas Tuchel remains optimistic about Chelsea fringe star Saul Niguez ahead of Zenit clash
- Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel names five injury concerns for Zenit clash and confirms Mateo Kovacic has tested positive for Covid-19
- Transfer News: Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele stance amid Chelsea interest
We're gonna have to spend big again in January if we want to have a chance of winning a trophy, happy for Timo though, hope he keeps it up pic.twitter.com/S8xEqQUNAg
— grande (@grandeisdead) December 8, 2021
