Chelsea 3-0 Malmo: Callum Hudson-Odoi on target as Blues reach Europa League last 16

Chelsea progressed in the Europa League with a win over Malmo.

Goals from Olivier Giroud, Ross Barkley – both of whom scored in the first leg – and Callum Hudson-Odoi saw the Blues complete a 5-1 aggregate success in the last-32 tie, earning a place in Friday’s draw for the last 16.

Malmo finished the game with 10 men as Rasmus Bengtsson was sent off for two bookable offences 17 minutes from time, and two of the Blues’ goals followed the defender’s dismissal.

Whether Maurizio Sarri is in position for the next round could be determined by results and performances in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final with Manchester City and next Wednesday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham.

CHELSEA 3-0 MALMO | GIROUD (55), BARKLEY (74), HUDSON-ODOI (84)

Chelsea XI: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Christensen, Emerson, Kante, Kovacic, Barkley, Willian, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi

Malmo XI: Dahlin, Vindheim, Nielsen, Bengtsson, Safari, Traustason, Christiansen, Bachirou, Rieks, Antonsson, Rosenberg

• Olivier Giroud opens the scoring – 6 UEL goal in 7

• Bengtsson sent off for second yellow card

• Ross Barkley converts excellent free-kick

• Callum Hudson-Odoi adds third with clinical finish

CHELSEA 3-0 MALMO

FT: Done and dusted. Chelsea were labouring in the opening 45 minutes but a clinical and efficient second-half display has seen them blow Malmo away.

Maurizio Sarri lives to fight another day as his side book their place in tomorrow’s Europa League last-16 draw.

92: Ruben Loftus-Cheek near puts the icing on the cake having collected Hudson-Odoi’s pass, turned his marker and saw a snapshot saved.

90: Three minutes added time. No idea why we’re bothering.

89: Just seeing a replay of Willian’s free-kick. Now it looks like Olivier Giroud has been pushed but swings an elbow to Oscar Lewicki’s face. I wonder if the Chelsea striker could face retrospective action?

87: Malmo appear to have lost the plot and concede a free-kick in an extremely dangerous position just outside the penalty area.

No Ross Barkley on the pitch, so this one belongs to Willian… awful. Tamely struck low into the wall.

CHELSEA 3-0 MALMO | HUDSON-ODOI

84: And the most popular goal of the night goes to… Callum Hudson-Odoi!

The talented winger adds Chelsea’s third with a clinical finish. Willian spots the teenager on the opposite flank and lofts an inch-perfect cross his way.

Hudson-Odoi brings it down before driving inside and blasting it across Malmo goalkeeper Dahlin.

82:  “Ethan Ampadu replaces Cesar Azpilicueta at right-back. So that’s central defence, central midfield and at full-back the 18-year-old can play. Is there anything he can’t do?” says journalist Vaishali Bhardwaj on Twitter.

80: And the changes keep coming for Maurizio Sarri. His last substitution sees 18-year-old Wales international Ethan Ampadu replace Cesar Azpilicueta.

78: A few boos for Jorginho as he replaces Ross Barkley. Not a very popular figure around these parts – mainly due to his love of sideways passing.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek also comes on for N’Golo Kante.

CHELSEA 2-0 MALMO | BARKLEY

75: Rasmus Bengtsson can’t have any complaints I’m afraid. The Malmo centre-back is shown a second yellow card for blatantly fouling Emerson.

But what can Ross Barkley do with the free-kick?

He scores it! The England International curls a free-kick straight into the top corner. A wonderful goal from the midfielder who scores in both legs.

73: Interesting. Very interesting. Willian bursts beyond Nielsen, who resorts to a last-ditch dive from behind. The referee takes a look and waves play on. The replay shows that he didn’t get much (if anything) on the ball.

Not sure it would have been a penalty because the Brazilian did his best to dive into the box from outside.

70: Olivier Giroud has scored in each of his last five appearances in this season’s Europa League, netting six goals in total.

68: It’s in the back of the net… But disallowed. N’Golo Kante drives forward AGAIN, it falls for Barkley who gets the finish away, but he was in an offside position initially. No goal.

65: N’Golo Kante’s involvement in Chelsea’s opener will legitimately allow Maurizio Sarri to say “I told you so.” Were he in a deeper position there’s no way he would have burst forward to spearhead that move.

63: I forgot to mention that moments before Olivier Giroud’s opener – we had ourselves a pitch invader. Not a great effort from the lad, who gave himself up rather meekly.

60: Malmo have to score three now. Forget the pencil, I’m writing Chelsea down in permanent marker for tomorrow’s last-16 draw.

Arsenal, Villarreal, Zenit, Valencia, Frankfurt, Napoli, Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb are also through. And from tonight’s latest scores, I expect Inter Milan, Slavia Prague and Rennes to join them.

58: We have a lengthy pause in play with Rosenberg down injured. Looks to have twisted his knee.

CHELSEA 1-0 MALMO | GIROUD

55: Finally! Chelsea have booked their place in the last 16 of the Europa League, and it is only fitting that Olivier Giroud got the goal.

The Frenchman has now scored SIX times in this competition.

N’Golo Kante breaks free in midfield before slipping the ball through to Willian. He spots the run of Giroud, who cooly converts from point-blank range.

53: “Pretty sure those Malmo fans who just lit all the flares then spent five minutes or so hiding underneath one of their own banners changing their tops and swapping positions where the police couldn’t see them,” writes our reporter Paul Brown.

Sounds very Inspector Clouseau, Paul.

51: Booked! Bengtsson flies into Barkley and is shown a yellow card. That means he will be suspended for the last-16, should Malmo make it.

50: Malmo’s Christiansen is booked for clipping Emerson’s heels. Chelsea take the free-kick short and Azpilicueta hoofs it straight out of play when trying to find Barkley.

48: Could Callum Hudson-Odoi be playing his way into a starting place for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City? He’s certainly been one of Chelsea’s best players tonight. Good audition from the talented youngster.

47: Those pesky Malmo supporters decided to light some flares at Stamford Bridge. The smoke is still clearing away as Ross Barkley looks to make something happen.

CHELSEA 0-0 MALMO

45: I suppose we’d better get started. We’re underway in the second half at Stamford Bridge. No changes for either side.

Twitter round-up

Akinmuseun: Just a goal for Malmo in the first half and this game takes a mammoth twist for Chelsea.

Femi: This is just awful to watch! Chelsea desperately need to replace Sarri.

Underworld: I tell you what, whoever came up with last year’s league table was spot on, with both Arsenal and ChelseaFC into the Europa League – both look just about cut out for ties against BATE and Malmo.

CHELSEA 0-0 MALMO

HT: Dull as dishwater. I’m off for a brew…

43: Ross Barkley, fresh from scoring his first ever European goal in the first leg, tries his luck again from distance. Dahlin makes a relatively comfortable save.

40: Remember, Malmo need to unanswered goals to win this in 90 minutes. They’ve played well but netting twice looks a tall order at this stage.

39: Chelsea’s standout performer Hudson-Odoi wins the hosts another corner. Willian curves it in but there’s Bengtsson to head it clear.

The momentum has shifted in Chelsea’s favour. Still no BIG chances to speak of though. None, actually.

36: Nice to see some signs of life from Chelsea. Only taken 36 minutes…

35: Save! Chelsea nearly make the breakthrough from their first corner of the evening.

Willian plays a neat one-two with Hudson-Odoi before drilling a low cross into the penalty area, that bounces off Azpilicueta’s thigh. Goalkeeper Dahlin makes the save.

33: Chelsea’s biggest cheer of the night comes as Callum Hudson-Odoi produces a piece of outrageous skill to take two Malmo players out of the game.

The winger then embarks on a solo run forward but Safari cynically brings him down. Blatant booking.

30:  “Good luck to whoever is doing the sound for TV from the Bridge. The F word getting an absolute hammering from both sets of supporters, but mainly Malmo’s,” says journalist Henry Winter on Twitter.

He’s not wrong. Similar to Ralph Fiennes’ character in In Bruges…

28: Ear plugs required. These Malmo supporters can probably be heard from Sweden with their chanting. And they are being encouraged by this terrible Chelsea display. Could there be a massive upset on the cards?

26: Willian plays a sublime crossfield pass to Callum Hudson-Odoi. The talented winger looks to nip past his marker but Safari makes a well-timed tackle.

24: Well… If Maurizio Sarri needed a terrific, commanding performance to prove he’s not lost the dressing room – he’s failing. Malmo look better in every department. Chelsea look disinterested and lethargic.

21: Ross Barkley ditches the Sarri-ball philosophy and decides to just whack it at goal. Dahlin makes the save. Comfortably.

20: Booked! Ross Barkley’s first contribution is to clip the heels of Malmo’s Christiansen. Yellow card all day long.

Malmo play it short but Emerson reads it well and stops Vindheim in his tracks.

17: Maurizio Sarri just screamed at Willian, standing about ten yards away, to press the ball. Willian completely ignored him.

16: Massive chance… for Malmo! Callum Hudson-Odoi makes a mistake just outside his own penalty area when gifting the ball straight to former West Brom striker Markus Rosenberg.

Rosenberg makes Antonio Rudiger look silly with a Cruyff Turn before drilling wide.

15: Mateo Kovacic dices with death when dribbling the ball through his own penalty area under pressure. He finally decides to send it upfield. A wise decision, Mateo…

13: I’ve been quite impressed with Malmo tonight. They are pressing high and causing Chelsea plenty of problems going forward. We haven’t really seen anything from the hosts in an attacking sense – and that’s got supporters very irritated indeed.

10: Close! N’Golo Kante crosses for Olivier Giroud, who heads wide from six-yards away. Good chance that.

8: Nerves? Mateo Kovacic gifts the ball away in midfield with a last pass to Antonsson but there’s N’Golo Kante to mop up the danger.

5: Chelsea fans aren’t particularly loud thus far. Having spent a train journey with them after Monday night’s defeat to Manchester United – I can fully appreciate why.

All eyes on Maurizio Sarri getting a response from his team with the managerial axe looming.

3: The BT Sport team are struggling to make a case for Malmo tonight. He’s just brought up the fact manager Uwe Rosler once got a draw with Chelsea during his Brentford days…

Malmo have started in confident fashion. They’ve seen virtually all of the ball with defender Bengtsson heading a decent cross over the bar.

CHELSEA 0-0 MALMO

1: And we’re underway at a lively Stamford Bridge. Probably not fair to compare the atmosphere with that of Arsenal, who kicked off at 5.55pm, but this is on another level.

The travelling Malmo fans just jeered & heckled Stamford & Bridget the lions. Now chanting ‘F*** you Chelsea, f*** you’ to the rhythm of the Liquidator. They’re in time…

Who’s in the draw?

19:55: Eight sides have just qualified for the last-16 of the Champions League.

Arsenal, Villarreal, Zenit, Valencia, Frankfurt, Napoli, Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb are through.

Team news

19:53: Head coach Maurizio Sarri makes seven changes.

Sarri was jeered by Chelsea supporters in Monday’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester United as he clings to his job.

The Blues hold a 2-1 advantage from last week’s first leg and Sarri retained Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic in his starting line-up, while Callum Hudson-Odoi was among those to come in.

Willy Caballero deputised in goal for the injured Kepa Arrizabalaga, who could also be absent for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final with Manchester City.

Evening

19:50: Hello everyone, I trust you’ve all hopped over from my LIVE updates of Arsenal vs BATE Borisov.

And if you didn’t, where the hell were you?!

The Gunners cruised to victory over the Belarusian champions with a 3-1 aggregate victory that cements their place in tomorrow’s last-16 draw.

Will Chelsea join them?

Under-pressure manager Maurizio Sarri’s side have a slender 2-1 aggregate lead over Malmo and will hope to finish the job at Stamford Bridge.

The good news is that Callum Hudson-Odoi starts, the bad news is that N’Golo Kante is playing in front of Ross Barkley, who will play the Jorginho role.

Zinedine Zidane?!

19:45: Never afraid to give a bold opinion is Dimitar Berbatov.

The Betfair Ambassador has weighed in on Maurizio Sarri’s recent troubles as Roman Abramovich’s axe looms large after a series of disappoint results.

But would Zinedine Zidane do any better with this crop of players? Berbatov thinks so.

“Zinedine Zidane has been heavily linked with the Chelsea job this week and while I don’t know how true the rumours are, he would be a fantastic addition to the Premier League,” Berbatov told Betfair.

“The Chelsea dressing room is a powerful one, but when you have someone like Zidane – one of the greatest players ever, not to mention a three-time Champions League winner as a manager – then you have a head-start, automatically getting the respect of players.

“If Zidane tells you to jump, you say ‘how fu**ing high boss?’

“If the Chelsea job did become available, there would be plenty of top managers interested, but Zidane most definitely has the credentials and he would bring some star quality to the Premier League.”

Evening…

18:45: Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Europa League.

I’m currently occupied with Arsenal’s clash against the mighty BATE Borisov and will begin coverage from Stamford Bridge after the final whistle.

In the meantime, here are the line-ups for tonight’s clash. Headlines news is that Callum Hudson-Odoi starts and Eden Hazard sits on the bench.

Chelsea XI: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Christensen, Emerson, Kante, Kovacic, Barkley, Willian, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi.

Subs: Cumming, Luiz, Ampadu, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Hazard, Higuain.

Malmo XI: Dahlin, Vindheim, Nielsen, Bengtsson, Safari, Traustason, Christiansen, Bachirou, Rieks, Antonsson, Rosenberg.

Subs: Melicharek, Larsson, Binaku, Lewicki, Strandberg, Ahmedhodzic, Gall.

CHELSEA vs MALMO

Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is a doubt with a hamstring injury for Thursday’s Europa League last-32 second leg with Malmo.

Full-back Davide Zappacosta and winger Pedro (both illness) are doubts, with Chelsea holding a 2-1 first-leg advantage.

Willy Caballero is set to start in goal, with under-pressure Maurizio Sarri likely to make changes as he balances progression in Europe with preparations for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final with Manchester City.

Chelsea provisional squad: Caballero, Rudiger, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Barkley, Higuain, Hazard, Pedro, Kovacic, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud, Zappacosta, Willian, Cahill, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Emerson Palmieri, Ampadu, Hudson-Odoi, Cumming.