BONFIRE NIGHT CRACKER
Chelsea 4 Ajax 4: Blues score two own goals and two penalties in crazy thriller with 9-man visitors
FOR 55 minutes they were chasing shadows.
Chelsea, 4-1 down on their own patch, were being taught the mother of all Champions League lessons.
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What happened next is a reminder that these group games can still throw up the odd remarkable scoreline. This is one of them.
Chelsea recovered, summoning super human strength to level at 4-4 against the nine-men of Ajax.
You would fancy Ajax holding on for a famous win if they had kept Daley Blind and Joel Veltman on for the full 90.
It was 4-2 when they were dismissed, with Blind sent off for a second yellow card and Vletman following him for conceding a penalty for handball.
Jorginho scored his second of the night from the spot to make it 4-3 and substitute Reece James scored an amazing equaliser.
There was still time to win this astonishing game of football, but Cesar Azpilicueta’s effort was ruled out when VAR spotted Tammy Abraham’s handball. It is quite a story to tell.
For Chelsea to concede three times at home, inside the opening 35 minutes, is cringe in the Champions League.
They made petty mistakes, with Ajax ruthlessly punishing them with three goals in the first half.
It would have been more, if Dusan Tadic and the lively David Neres had hit the sweet spot from the edge of the area.
They were in front within two minutes, an expectant Stamford Bridge when Quincy Promes swung in a teasing free-kick from the left.
It invited trouble, luring Tammy Abraham into his web as the Chelsea striker tried to bail his team-mates out of trouble. Instead he got a touch on it to deflect the Ajax winger’s set-piece beyond Kepa.
Chelsea’s response was immediate as they won a penalty when weak link Veltman cleaned out Christian Pulisic inside the area.
Chelsea fans chanted for Jorginho to take it and he duly obliged by beating Andre Onana from the spot.
It is at this point when teams with Chelsea’s almighty resources canter home with a three or four goal win… Not here.
After Abraham’s 13th minute strike was swiftly ruled out within seconds by VAR, Ajax plotted a revenge mission.
They went in front 20 minutes in, when Hakim Ziyech sent in a lovely ball that was touched in by the head of Promes.
It sent Chelsea into a panic, in a bit of tizz when they conceded again 10 minutes before the break.
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Ziyech took a free-kick, with his lobbed effort cannoning off the post and into the net when it smacked off the face of Kepa.
Lampard shook it up at the break, making the decisive call to bring on young Reece James on for Marcos Alonso.
Cesar Azpilicueta, surviving a wretched first half, switched defensive positions to accommodate the arrival of James at right-back.
There was an instant reaction, with Kurt Zouma’s barnstorming run from one end of the field to the other.
He was roared on with every stride, encouraged to bamboozle his way through the Ajax team by Chelsea punters.
After a trademark Glenn Roeder-style double dummy on the edge of the area, he could have been a hero if he hit the top corner.
Instead he shovelled it over the bar.
Even Lampard was laughing, chuckling away after watching his centre-half take matters into his own hands.
It did not last for long.
Chelsea conceded a fourth after 55 minutes when the gifted Donny van de Beek got the goal his night deserved.
It was made all the better because of his ability to kill the ball when Ziyech whacked it into his feet.
One touch to trap, one movement to open up his body, then the low, drilled effort that pinged off his right foot beyond Kepa.
Very nice.
Lampard was forced into a change, with Callum Hudson-Odoi coming on for Mason Mount when he pulled up lame with half hour left.
Five minutes later they scored.
Willian’s cross was helped on by the outstretched legs of Pulisic and Abraham making a nuisance of themselves.
Azpi read it all, arriving at the far post to turn in Chelsea’s second.
Incredibly they were soon gifted the chance to make it three.
Blind was sent off in the build up to the penalty, either for his fouls on Pulisic or Abraham.
When Chelsea’s leading scorer got up to take a shot, Veltman handled inside the penalty area.
Italian ref Gianluca Rocchi blew his whistle, went back to Blind to send him off and then Veltman followed him.
It was chaos out there.
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Jorginho made sense of it all, making it 4-3 when he sent Onana the wrong way from the spot.
They had not finished.
Chelsea made it 4-4 after 73 minutes when Zouma’s header rebounded into the feet of James.
The Chelsea sub smacked it in, sending his effort through a congested penalty area.
They thought they had the winner after 78 minutes when Azpi drilled home, but Abraham handballed it somewhere along the line.
They were throwing men forward at will, attacking from every angle as they went in search of a winner.
Incredibly, it stayed at 4-4.
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