Enzo Maresca's side recovered from a woeful first half to crush the Spanish side after the break in Wroclaw
Chelsea pulled off an incredible second-half comeback to demolish Real Betis 4-1 in the Conference League final on Wednesday. The Blues fell behind early on and looked shaky all over the field before becoming a dominant force in the second half, with Cole Palmer setting up two quickfire goals before Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo wrapped up the win.
After a bright start to the match, Chelsea were behind just nine minutes in when Malo Gusto gave the ball away in the middle of his own half. An ingenious pass from Isco to Abde Ezzalzouli found the winger in space and he smashed it beyond Filip Jorgensen. Shortly afterwards, Marc Bartra tried his luck from distance with Jorgensen off his line, but the goalkeeper did well to push it out for a corner.
Chelsea were second-best for the majority of the first half as Isco caused problems with his passes in the final third, but they sparked into life at the start of the second half. They had a penalty shout denied 10 minutes after the break when Nicolas Jackson was clattered by the goalkeeper, and the Senegal striker had a tame shot saved moments later.
Enzo Maresca's side looked more than capable of pulling level, however, and the moment finally came in the 66th minute as Palmer burst deep into Betis' half and sent a diagonal cross into the box, where Enzo Fernandez rose to divert it past Adrian.
Less than five minutes later, Palmer carved out another goal, beating his man on the right wing and smacking it in via Jackson's chest. The Senegal striker then had the chance to make it 3-1 as he drove forward on the counte- attack, but let the ball get too far ahead of him to let Adrian stop the threat.
The fun wasn't over, though as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, fresh off the bench, charged towards goal before unleashing fellow substitute Sancho, who sent it curling into the net. And just before full-time, Caicedo completed the rout when he blasted in following a pass from Fernandez.
GOAL rates Chelsea's players from Wroclaw Stadium…
Getty Images SportGoalkeeper & Defence
Filip Jorgensen (5/10):
Made two saves, but had little to do in the second half.
Malo Gusto (3/10):
Gave the ball away for the opening goal due to playing a bizarre inverted role and was brutalised on the right of the defence. Understandably hooked at half-time.
Trevoh Chalobah (5/10):
Not the best partner for Badiashile and his passing was questionable.
Benoit Badiashile (4/10):
Was torn apart by Betis fairly easily and was taken off shortly after a yellow card early in the second half.
Marc Cucurella (6/10):
Had a tough time against Antony, but did well to keep him quiet at times.
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Enzo Fernandez (7/10):
Headed in the equaliser from close range with a great run towards the back post.
Moises Caicedo (6/10):
Humiliated in the first half as Betis squandered a chance, but recovered with a better display in the second half, culminating in scoring the fourth goal.
Cole Palmer (8/10):
Picked out Enzo with a sublime ball to tie it up after driving into space and then created the second moments later.
Getty Images SportAttack
Noni Madueke (5/10):
Tried to create something with his crosses after finally growing into the game, but had little impact.
Nicolas Jackson (7/10):
Struggled to get into the game in the first half and got clattered 10 minutes into the second, but was well placed to nudge in the second goal.
Pedro Neto (5/10):
Had a rather quiet game overall.
AFPSubs & Manager
Reece James (6/10):
Provided an immediate boost in Gusto's place.
Levi Colwill (6/10):
Helped settle the defence as Chelsea became dominant.
Jadon Sancho (7/10):
Got into good positions but couldn't do much with it until he pulled out a gorgeous goal to kill the game off.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (6/10):
On for the last 10 minutes and went on a great run to set up Sancho.
Marc Guiu (N/A):
Only on for the last few minutes.
Enzo Maresca (8/10):
His team were woeful in the first half, but the turnaround in the second was tremendous as they managed to bring Palmer and Jackson into the game.
