Chapter 211: Champions League Qualification
Chelsea's back line instantly tensed, but finally there was a thrill to break the opponent's ball, Jones received the ball from Cahill and began to organize the attack, but Roma after the first half of the game, the midfield was also guided by the manager, standing in their own position, Chelsea's attack again and again, during which both sides had several good chances, but the forwards on both sides did not grasp it.
A long pass from Cahill's backfield, Costa pulled sideways and suddenly stepped forward, and shot directly from a small angle in the penalty area, which was blocked by the opposing defender with his foot.
Dzeko then fired another shot from distance from the edge of the area, but it was confiscated by Courtois, and two minutes later, Cahill made a mistake and Perotti and Dzeko made a wall-to-wall combination before slotting into the box, and the shot was again blocked by the God-possessed Courtois.
Costa didn't take advantage of another good opportunity, it was Cesc Fabregas broke the ball in midfield, directly to the feet of Jones in the front, Jones split the ball to Costa on the right side, but unfortunately Costa was too anxious to hit the goal, did not adjust to send the ball away.
Both sides went back and forth for most of the game, but neither side scored, each focused on defense, preferring not to score themselves or let the other side score.
As the 74 minutes wore on, Kodic was ready to give it a go, signaling to press all the way if Chelsea won Roma, and the points would be able to qualify directly from the group stage, and he would be able to breathe a sigh of relief in the league and focus on the fierce league ahead.
But sometimes, the more anxious you are, the goal just doesn't come, Cahill was hit twice in a row in the penalty area, and finally couldn't get up, and was replaced by Rudiger, and then Kodic replaced the exhausted Costa with Perez, and hit the Roma defence with the impact of two fresh forces.
Eden Hazard, who had stepped forward at Jones' cue, was put on a catch, and Jones took a free-kick into the box, and Cesc Fabregas judged that the header hit the crossbar.
The best chance In the 87th minute, Jones and Hazard, who was in good form today, once again made a genius combination, the two in the middle and the left of the two consecutive changes of position again through the left side of Roma, Jones received Perez's return pass and then stuffed into the penalty area again, just to insert the ball to receive the ball Perez was tackled by the opposing defender in time.
The timing was well chosen, if it was a step later, Perez would have inserted into the penalty area to receive the ball, and then it would be a red card and a penalty, and the referee saw it clearly, so only a free kick was awarded, but a yellow card was still indispensable for the opposing defender.
The position of this free kick was very good, Jones wanted to take the penalty, but as soon as he was about to speak, Perez stood in front of the ball, obviously preparing to take the penalty himself, Jones thought that it was a free kick he made, so he was embarrassed to open his mouth again.
Jones stood in the middle of the wall, and if the ball was saved by the opposing goalkeeper, he was ready to make up for it in time, but the position of this free kick was too good, and Perez was also very good today, and he directly used his left foot to make an arc, bypassing the right hand of Roma goalkeeper Alisson's flying save and falling into the goal.
2-1, at the last moment, Perez seized the opportunity to overtake the score for Chelsea: "Perez came off the bench, Chelsea's frontcourt players are really good, the strength of the strikers on the bench should not be underestimated, Perez created a free kick, he personally took the free kick directly into the goal of Roma, today he is in a hot state, scored a goal in a few minutes on the field, such a good player can only play as a substitute, Chelsea is really a luxury." ”
The commentator at the scene looked like a Chelsea fan and said excitedly, and the other commentator naturally had to say it from a different angle, which was the rule.
"Although Perez performed very well today, but Jones is not bad, both goals were planned by him, the first goal was his two consecutive through balls to make Costa attract the attention of the opposing defenders, so that Fabregas easily singled out the goalkeeper, and the second goal was also his and Hazard's continuous exchange of positions to force the opposing defenders to foul, most of the credit for making this free kick should be attributed to his head, Chelsea did the right thing this year, is to drop Jones to the first team, Although Jones' Champions League scoring streak is gone, he is still the brightest player on the pitch. ”
Regardless of what the two commentators at the scene said, the Chelsea fans present were crazy with joy, and their hearts were greatly stimulated by the last-minute comeback, and they kept shouting to vent the excitement in their hearts, some shouting Perez and some chanting Jones's name.
Kodic also calmed down immediately after the surprise, allowing the players on the Chelsea field to immediately return to defense, and hold on to the last few minutes, Kodic still did not dare to be careless.
Roma were yet to react from a last-minute defeat and spent the final few minutes organising a couple of feeble attacks, all of which were blocked by the Chelsea backline with a long-range shot from outside the box.
When the referee blew the final whistle, the Chelsea players and fans in attendance were thrilled and knew they had already qualified from the group stage with the victory.
The Chelsea players who returned to London were greeted with a lot of praise from the media, with many media praising Kodic's coaching ability, as well as the performance of the players, and winning in football to hide all the problems, all of which praised Chelsea for being perfect now.
Chelsea have been on a winning streak of late, but every game has been a narrow-miss one-goal victory, with Bournemouth and Roma deciding in the last minute.
After Chelsea left Conte, Kodic took over, Jones was promoted from the reserve team to the first team, and he was in the limelight, even beating Manchester City's unbeaten record to sit in the leader position, the current Chelsea soldiers are strong, but there has been no fixed candidate for the position of the midfielder, Cesc Fabregas can play, Hazard can also play, Jones can also make occasional cameos.
Of course, the reason why Chelsea does not pay attention to the front midfield is that the Premier League teams generally do not pay attention to the team's offensive and defensive balance of the front midfield, although in the Premier League today, the tactics of long passing and rushing have entered the museum, but the Premier League team still advocates the side of the attack, which is also the reason why the front midfield players are generally difficult to survive in the Premier League.
At the Cobham training centre, Jones arrived early the next day, and today was the day the team qualified for the Champions League, so there were a lot of Blues fans gathered outside the training base, they each put up banners, and some people were taking pictures.
Many of the fans were shouting about their beloved fans, Eden Hazard, Costa, Cesc Fabregas, Jones, Perez, and Jones, still smiling, as they walked into the dressing room inside the training base and reported to captain Gary Cahill.