Cesar Azpilicueta (R) heads the ball during the UEFA Champions
League group E football match between Sevilla FC and Chelsea FC at
the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville on December 2, 2020. /
AFP
Olivier Giroud scored four goals as Chelsea romped to an
impressive 4-0 victory at Sevilla on Wednesday to secure top spot
in Champions League Group E.
The 34-year-old striker is the oldest player to score a
hat-trick in the competition since Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas in
1965 for Real Madrid against Feyenoord.
He is also the first player to net four times in a Champions
League match since Cristiano Ronaldo against Malmo five years
ago.
“Amazing solo performance from Olivier. Delighted with him,
delighted with the team. This is a difficult place to come,”
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard, the last Chelsea player to score
four goals in a game against Aston Villa in 2010, told BT
Sport.
Both teams were already qualified for the last 16 before
kick-off, but Giroud made the most of a rare start, scoring with
his left foot, his right foot, and his head to see Chelsea through
as group winners, also slotting in a penalty.
“I didn’t know until two years ago that you called it a perfect
hat-trick when I scored (a treble) against (Dynamo) Kiev in (the)
Europa League, I said ‘What do you mean?’ It was good, I had good
assists though,” Giroud said.
“I will try to carry on like that — to finish the good job of
the team and it’s always nice to be in the club history and we play
football to mark our history, so I’m pleased to help the team to
win and to score the four goals.”
The France international sent out a message to Lampard, with
Timo Werner and Tammy Abraham seemingly above him in the pecking
order, by making the absolute most of only his second start of the
season.
“Let me enjoy the night and that great win and after that we
will rest and we will see what the gaffer’s plan is,” Giroud said
when asked if he was now expecting to start against Leeds United in
the Premier League on Saturday.
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Lampard will now be able to rest players for the final group
game against Krasnodar at Stamford Bridge, with his side looking to
improve on last season’s run to the last 16, where they were well
beaten by eventual winners Bayern Munich.
Fine finish
Giroud wasted little time in putting Chelsea ahead, collecting
Kai Havertz’s clever pass before cutting inside and bending a fine
finish into the far corner in the eighth minute.
Sevilla were left frustrated as they saw two penalty appeals for
handball turned down.
In the 20th minute, claims that Christian Pulisic handled were
waved away by referee Artur Soares Dias after he checked the
pitchside monitor.
The hosts had another penalty shout turned down following a
lengthy VAR delay after an Ivan Rakitic free-kick struck the
Chelsea wall.
Aside from those nervy moments, Lampard’s Blues were the more
threatening, with Antonio Rudiger seeing a header cleared off the
line before Alfonso Pastor kept out Pulisic’s low drive.
The home side started the second half brightly, as Jesus Navas
picked out Nemanja Gudelj with a clever pass, but the Serbian
international fired narrowly over.
Chelsea doubled their advantage in the 54th minute, though, as
Giroud boosted his case for more game time further by latching onto
Mateo Kovacic’s pass and clipping the ball over the Sevilla
goalkeeper.
But he was not finished there, completing his first Champions
League hat-trick since a treble against Olympiakos for Arsenal in
2015 with a looping header from N’Golo Kante’s cross.
Giroud rounded off a virtuoso display from the spot with seven
minutes to play, scoring a spot-kick he had won himself.
AFP