Chelsea had to work harder for Thursday night’s Conference League win over Heidenheim than they had in previous rounds of the competition.
It was a fairly even game overall, with Enzo Maresca’s side going ahead early in the second half thanks to Christopher Nkunku and doubling that lead towards the end of the game courtesy of Mykhailo Mudryk.
But a raw Heidenheim never got out of the game and a more polished performance from them could have made this result quite different in the end.
How the game developed
The visiting Blues, dressed in white, dominated possession, but both teams created many chances from the early stages of the game. Heidenheim, the last underdog after spending most of their history in Germany’s lower leagues, were certainly not overwhelmed by the occasion.
Mikkel Kaufmann had a good sight of goal when he failed to connect with Leo Scienza’s free-kick. Marc Guiu and Kaufmann exchanged chances, with the Chelsea youngster denied twice by Heidenheim striker Kevin Muller, either side of Filip Jorgensen, saving from teammate Dane Kaufmann at the other end.
Both keepers were soon back in action, Muller parrying Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jorgensen keeping a strong wrist to turn Paul Wanner’s powerful shot wide. Chelsea then wanted a penalty when Mudryk went down under pressure from two defenders. The referee didn’t budge, even after a VAR review suggested he take another look at the pitch-side monitor.
Nkunku was the next Chelsea player to test Muller late in the first half, but he was unable to stop the prolific Frenchman once play resumed after the break. Heidenheim will not be happy with how it went, losing possession to Axel Diasi and the ball entering the box through Dewsbury-Hall and Jadon Sancho. Nkunku still had work to do, holding off the attentions of Lennard Maloney before slotting past Muller.
Instead of starting to break the deadlock, Chelsea found themselves under pressure. Maloney and Scienza had chances as Heidenheim looked for an equaliser. These did not test Jorgensen, but the young goalkeeper soon showed his ability with a double save from Wanner.
Into the final 20 minutes and Nkunku should have extended Chelsea’s lead when substitute Joao Felix put him through with a full half to run. But Muller won the battle, as he later did against Dewsbury-Hall when the midfielder also only had the goalkeeper to beat.
Heidenheim had the ball in the net when substitute Maximilian Breunig headed past Jorgensen, only for a flag to rule it out – he was clearly offside. The killer blow for the hosts finally arrived in the closing stages when Dewsbury-Hall and Sancho combined on the counter, with the latter cutting it to the edge of the box for Mudryk to tap home the first-time strike.
Remarkably, Breunig again put the ball in the net, but was again flagged for offside.
Check out Heidenheim vs Chelsea player ratings here.
On paper this was Chelsea’s toughest game in the Conference League so far and that proved to be the case in reality. Heidenheim were not afraid to go at their illustrious visitors from the first whistle to the last, and a slightly more refined performance could have made it even closer.
Filip Jorgensen made 11 saves over the course of 97 minutes, four more than opponent Kevin Muller. The Denmark Under-21 international made a particularly important double save when Chelsea had just gone 1-0 up, and the result ultimately hinged on that moment.
Jorgensen has been Robert Sanchez’s back-up in the Premier League since joining from Villarreal in the summer, but his displays in Europe, and especially this one, have strengthened his case for consideration as a starter full time moving forward.
As much as Chelsea were under pressure from Heidenheim, there were also plenty of chances to keep out of sight. Christopher Nkunku was guilty of missing one of them, a one-on-one that he failed to convert.
But the Frenchman broke the deadlock with a calm and composed finish, his seventh Conference League goal in six games, including the knockout stages, so far this season. He is not a starter in the Premier League, mainly because of Cole Palmer, but Chelsea can rely on him in Europe.
Unfortunately, the injury looked to end Nkunku’s night with about 15 minutes to play. He didn’t quite look in full flight when he played in the aforementioned one-on-one and was promptly substituted after a short period of treatment on the pitch.
The Conference League has been an important stage for the teenage talent Marc Guiu to have opportunities. The former Barcelona youth player was brilliant from the start here and saw a number of scoring chances presented in the first half which he failed to capitalize on.
It is promising that Guiu is putting himself in the right positions and he does not lose hope if these opportunities go begging. But he’ll be disappointed even if he couldn’t grab at least one.
