Chelsea remain perfect as Nkunku & Mudryk down Heidenheim

Chelsea continued their flawless start to the UEFA Europa Conference League campaign with a hard-earned 2-0 win away at Bundesliga side Heidenheim.

Enzo Maresca’s side were made to work hard for the win by a German outfit who had two goals disallowed and forced Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen into a string of excellent saves.

The visitors also failed to convert a number of decent chances, as Heidenheim goalkeeper Kevin Muller produced a number of exceptional saves himself.

But two moments of class proved the difference in the second half, as Christopher Nkunku and Mykhaylo Mudryk both produced top-drawer finishes from Jadon Sancho crosses to earn Chelsea a 2-0 win that sends them top of the Conference League standings.

An otherwise excellent night for Chelsea ended on a disappointing note, with young midfielder Cesare Casadei shown a second yellow with just seconds of added time remaining, ruling him out of featuring against Astana in a fortnight’s time.

Chelsea are rightly favourites to win this season’s Conference League, and they showed exactly why with a gutsy away win against one of just five other teams who had come into this round with a perfect record in the competition.

Heidenheim’s rise through the ranks of German football has been a fairytale story, and they made a much-changed Chelsea work extremely hard in arguably the highest-standard match of this tournament so far.

But three points here means Chelsea will feel they are now as-good-as assured one of the eight automatic qualification spots for the knockout stage.

Both goalkeepers were excellent on the night, but Chelsea’s stopper proved the difference in the end, keeping Heidenheim at bay with a number of top-class saves.

TNT Pundits Peter Crouch and Joe Cole responded to the Dane’s performance by calling for him to get a chance as the first-choice keeper in the Premier League, and on the evidence of this display he can’t be far away from usurping Robert Sanchez as the Blues’ No. 1.

Heidenheim: Muller 9, Theuerkauf 7, Siersleben 6, Mainka 6, Traore 5, Maloney 6, Dorsch 5, Honsak 5, Wanner, 6 Scienza 6, Kaufmann 7. Subs: Schoppner 6, Conteh 6, Breunig 5, Beck 6, Gimber 6

Chelsea: Jorgensen 9, Veiga 7, Badiashile 7, Adarabioyo 7, Disasi 7, Dewsbury-Hall 8, Casadei 6, Mudryk 8, Nkunku 8, Sancho 7, Guiu 7. Subs: Felix 7, Chukwuemeka 6, Rak-Sakyi 6, Chukwuemeka 6

51’ – GOAL! HEIDENHEIM 0-1 CHELSEA (NKUNKU)

It’s Chelsea who take the lead and it’s a classy finish from Nkunku, his seventh in Europe already this season. Jadon Sancho picks him out with a cutback, and he controls well before tucking his shot into the far corner with a clinical second touch. That’s class. 1-0.

78’ – GOAL DISALLOWED!

Heidenheim’s fans celebrate an equaliser… but the flag is up and replays show that Breunig did drift into an offside position before heading home.

86’ – GOAL! HEIDENHEIM 0-2 CHELSEA (MUDRYK)

It’s a crucial second for Chelsea and it comes from Mykhaylo Mudryk. Jadon Sancho provides the assist, darting into the box from the right and laying the ball back for the onrushing Mudryk, who finishes emphatically into the top corner. That’s a high-class goal and gives Chelsea the cushion that they wanted in this game.

Big Breunig has the ball in the back of the net for the second time this evening, tucking a low cross into the bottom corner. But he was offside when the cross was played in and the assistant’s flag brings an abrupt end to the celebrations.

It’s a sour finish to the game for Chelsea as Casadei receives a second booking for halting a Heidenheim counter in the final seconds of the game. He trudges from the field and will be suspended for the next match.