Chelsea ease past Roma into Youth League final
Friday, April 10, 2015
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AS Roma 0-4 Chelsea FC
On top in the first half, Chelsea cut loose at the start of the second period with three goals in ten minutes, Dominic Solanke scoring two of them.
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• Chelsea will play FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the final after scoring four second-half goals.
• The Blues dominate the first period without making the breakthrough.
• Charlie Colkett's opener is quickly followed by two for Dominic Solanke.
• Competition top scorer Solanke now has 11 goals for the season.
• Substitute Tammy Abraham rounds off a polished Chelsea display late on.
Dominic Solanke was on target twice as Chelsea FC reached the final of the UEFA Youth League with a comfortable 4-0 victory against AS Roma.
Chelsea soon took the initiative, hard-working midfielders Isaiah Brown and Jeremie Boga seeking chinks in the Roma rearguard, which consisted not only of four defenders but also an entire midfield line for reinforcement. It was a tactic that kept the Londoners at bay, restricting them to long-range efforts from Charlie Colkett and Brown which Gabriele Marchegiani easily dealt with.
Despite their reticence, Roma were not without chances of their own, Toni Sanabria testing Bradley Collins with a header and Lorenzo Pellegrini shooting narrowly wide. Had it not been for a last-ditch tackle from Jake Clarke-Salter, following Ola Aina's mistake on the edge of the penalty box, Francesco Di Mariano would have had a clear sight of goal.
Then came ten game-changing minutes at the start of the second half. Brown's determination paved the way for Colkett to put Chelsea in front, his shot leaving Marchegiani with no chance thanks to a deflection off Andrea Paolelli. The Blues doubled their lead soon after when Solanke stole in ahead of Marchegiani, who misjudged a run out of his area to intercept Andreas Christensen's diagonal pass, to head the ball into space and stroke it into the unguarded net.
Worse was to come for the beleaguered Roma goalkeeper as his save from Colkett's header fell kindly for Solanke to make it three. And he could do nothing to prevent Tammy Abraham turning in Kasey Palmer's cut-back late on, improving Chelsea's goal difference to +29 over the course of their path to Monday's final against FC Shakhtar Donetsk.
