Chelsea’s season-long inconsistencies were on display again as they squandered early dominance to fall behind against Legia Warsaw in the Conference League.
After creating two clear chances in the opening ten minutes, Chelsea failed to capitalize.
Most notably, they failed to score a stoopingl header, taking it wide, following a misjudged decision by Jadon Sancho to square the ball instead of taking a shot from a promising position.
Their wastefulness was punished moments later. Warsaw’s first real venture into the Chelsea penalty area ended in disaster for the hosts, as goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen brought down Tomas Pekhart, leading to a penalty.
The Legia forward, formerly of Southampton, made no mistake from the spot, blasting the ball home to give the visitors a surprise lead and expose the Blues’ recurring issues with lapses in concentration and missed opportunities.
Marc Cucurella equalised deep into the half, but the Blues trailed again at the restart with a goal from Steve Kapuadi.
However, a 3-0 win in the first-leg proved decisive for Enzo Maresca’s men, who are now in the Conference League semi-finals on 4-2 aggregate.