JOAO PEDRO inspired a brilliant Chelsea turnaround in Naples, qualifying for the round-of-16 in thrilling style.
The Italian side, managed by Antonio Conte, hadn’t been beaten in their own back yard since December 2024.
That was until Chelsea came to town.
A Rasmus Hojlund goal for the hosts had sent Liam Rosenior‘s side in at half-time 2-1 down and facing an unwanted play-off tie.
Rosenior hooked the disappointing Pedro Neto at half-time as he rung the changes – and it made all the difference.
Cole Palmer set up Joao Pedro to score a wondergoal he will struggle to better in the rest of his days.
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And the Brazilian then found the back of the net again with seven minutes still to play to send Chelsea into the top eight.
This is how SunSport Chelsea reporter Lloyd Canfield rated the players…
ROBERT SANCHEZ – 6
Saved Chelsea a few times when the Blues were 1-0 up, doing brilliantly to deny Giovanni Di Lorenzo early on.
It’s hard to really blame him for either goal, though some critics would say he should do better for Napoli’s equaliser.
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Palmed away a great chance for ex-Chelsea villain Romelu Lukaku in stoppage time.
MALO GUSTO – 2
Was pretty poor on the ball in the first half, and not much better off of it.
In fact, didn’t really do much good at all before being substituted for Trevoh Chalobah in the 58th minute, which was long overdue.
REECE JAMES – 8
Is there anything he can’t do?
Would’ve been Chelsea’s best centre-back, midfielder and right-back today.
Eyebrows were raised when the Chelsea captain started at the heart of defence alongside Wesley Fofana, but he was strong at the back, adding another position to his versatile defensive package.
It was his free-kick that struck the hand of Juan Jesus which resulted in a Chelsea penalty to open the scoring, he was a leader at the back, and made several big tackles and blocks.
Chelsea will wish they had their captain in every position.
WESLEY FOFANA – 2
Got spun in the box by Vergara as Napoli equalised after 34 minutes, which wasn’t a good look for the Frenchman, before Hojlund beat him to the ball and finished for the Italians’ second.
At fault for both goals, it’s tough to give him a better rating than what he’s got, though he did improve a little as the game progressed.
MARC CUCURELLA – 3
Hasn’t been his usual self in recent weeks for Chelsea.
He looks low on confidence and Rosenior hasn’t got the best out of him in the same way Maresca did, for whatever reason, perhaps due to his more defensive role under the new boss.
Did improve somewhat in the second half to his credit, and looked a bit more like his old self when Chalobah came on.
MOISES CAICEDO – 2
Got away with a suspect turn in his own area which lead to Scott McTominay having the ball blasted in his face and subsequently over the bar by Robert Sanchez.
Not his finest performance by any means, and was left wanting again as Nelson Olivera beat him at the front post for Napoli’s second, scored by Rasmus Hojlund.
ANDREY SANTOS – 2
Has been good under Liam Rosenior so far, but looked like a fish out of water tonight with a particularly poor moment for the first Napoli goal.
Couldn’t make anything happen in midfield and was heavily overrun by his Italian counterparts before being subbed off.
ESTEVAO – 4
Chelsea’s tricky Brazilian struggled to get into the game in the first half, playing more in the pockets like a number 10 rather than out wide.
Moved to the left-hand side in the second half when Palmer came on, and then back out to the right, but struggled to make an impact in any case before being subbed for Garnacho.
ENZO FERNANDEZ – 5
Opened the scoring with a well-taken pressure penalty into the bottom left corner, continuing his good scoring form of late.
Aside from that he was a bit quiet, and looked a little lost at times in the middle of the pitch.
PEDRO NETO – 2
Failed to make himself useful in the first half, with plenty of running and no end product from the left-hand side.
The story of most of his performances this season…
Hooked at half-time for Cole Palmer.
JOAO PEDRO – 9
Has been in excellent scoring form of late, with goals in the Premier League against Brentford and Crystal Palace.
He struggled to make it stick in the first half, and needed to be a better outlet for the Blues, but boy did he make up for it in the second.
Scored a left-footed screamer from range into the top corner to level the scoring for Chelsea, and was clinical again with a few minutes to go, finishing brilliantly to complete the Chelsea turnaround.
SUBS:
COLE PALMER (PEDRO NETO, HT) – 8
Came on and almost immediately recorded an assist for Joao Pedro’s belter of an equaliser.
The Chelsea attacker really showed his class after being introduced, despite the Napoli players being over him like a rash, with a beautiful bit of play to set Pedro up again for the winning goal.
JAMIE GITTENS (ANDREY SANTOS, 58) – 3
Had just over half an hour to try and help his side turn around a 2-1 deficit, but didn’t play much of a role in their brilliant turnaround.
Showed some flashes of good feet, but was then substituted as a substitute after playing half an hour for the defensive reinforcement of Benoit Badiashile.
TREVOH CHALOBAH (MALO GUSTO, 58) – 6
Chelsea definitely looked a better side when he was introduced and Reece James moved out to right back, but not by any means because James was bad.
He added some physicality to the Chelsea back line and made some important tackles and blocks.
ALEJANDRO GARNACHO (ESTEVAO, 73) – 3
Lacked end product after being introduced and struggled to make any real impact.
BENOIT BADIASHILE (JAMIE GITTENS, 89) – N/A
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