Chelsea’s Caicedo scores late on to break stubborn Pafos FC defence
helsea boosted their chances of a Champions League top-eight finish on Wednesday when Moises Caicedo headed home from a corner in the 78th minute to break down a stubborn Pafos defence.The London side squeezed into eighth in the table on goal difference with one match to go – a tough away game at 25th-placed Napoli, managed by former boss Antonio Conte.
Chelsea, led by new coach Liam Rosenior in his first Champions League game, enjoyed more than 70% possession against the highly organised Pafos team.
They were backed up by Dutch goalkeeper Jay Gorter who pulled off a series of fine saves, including three earlier bullet attempts from Ecuadorean midfielder Caicedo.
Caicedo’s goal from a Pedro Neto corner finally broke the deadlock, earning Chelsea the chance to go straight through to the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
Rosenior told reporters Caicedo was simply an outstanding player.
“He’s a world-class midfield player and always a threat from set plays.”
Caicedo described the game as tough, meaning his goal was particularly important. “We got three points and now we’re going to enjoy and we’re going to keep going because we have one more game to go,” he said.
It was a largely frustrating night for Chelsea, who had to win to stand a chance of making the top eight and would have hoped for more goals against the Cypriot champions.
The Londoners, winners of the competition in 2012 and 2021, are one of eight teams on 13 points in the table so goal difference is crucial.
“Conte is a great coach,” Rosenior said of next Wednesday’s game at Napoli. “But I’m not daunted by the prospect. They have to win which changes the dynamic.” Pafos, who hit the post in the first half after a shot from Jaja bounced off Chelsea captain Reece James, drop to 30th in the table on six points.
Wednesday’s results
Galatasaray (1) 1 Atlético de Madrid (1) 1
Qarabağ (1) 3 Eintracht Frankfurt (1) 2
Atalanta (1) 2 Athletic Club (0) 3
Chelsea (0) 1 Pafos (0) 0
Bayern München (0) 2 Union Saint-Gilloise (0) 0
Juventus (0) 2 Benfica (0) 0
Newcastle United (2) 3 PSV (0) 0
Olympique Marseille (0) 0 Liverpool (1) 3
Slavia Praha (2) 2 Barcelona (2) 4
Standings after 7 (of 8) games:
1 Arsenal 21
2 Bayern München 18
3 Real Madrid 15
4 Liverpool 15
5 Spurs 14
6 Paris SG 13
7 Newcastle 13
8 Chelsea 13
Teams who finish in the top eight automatically qualify for the last 16
9 Barcelona 13
10 Sporting 13
11 Man City 13
12 Atlético 13
13 Atalanta 13
14 Inter 12
15 Juventus 12
16 Dortmund 11
17 Galatasaray 10
18 Qarabağ 10
19 Marseille 9
20 Leverkusen 9
21 Monaco 9
22 PSV 8
23 Athletic 8
24 Olympiakos 8
Teams who finish from 9th to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off to join the top 8
25 Napoli 8
26 København 8
27 Club Brugge 7
28 Bodø/Glimt 6
29 Benfica 6
30 Pafos FC 6
31 R. Union 6
32 Ajax 6
33 Frankfurt 4
34 Slavia 3
35 Villarreal 1
36 Kairat 1
Teams who finish 25th or lower are eliminated