A Chelsea Side Showing 11 Changes Earned a Comfortable Win Over Gent in Their Opening Conference League Match.

Chelsea's depth and financial advantage were on full display as they comfortably defeated Gent in their UEFA Conference League opener. The Blues, who made 11 changes from their Premier League win over Brighton, cruised to a 4-2 victory thanks to a display of impressive firepower and tactical flexibility.

Early Dominance and a Dominant Performance

The match was a testament to Chelsea's ability to field a strong team even when rotating their squad heavily. From the outset, they dictated the pace and created numerous chances. Defender Renato Veiga opened the scoring in the 12th minute, heading in a cross from Mykhailo Mudryk with a towering header. Winger Pedro Neto then doubled the lead just 49 seconds after half-time with a powerful finish, demonstrating the effectiveness of Chelsea's counter-attacking strategy.

Chelsea's Dominance on Display

It was a performance that showed the imposing depth in Chelsea's squad - with a completely different starting line-up to the one that beat Brighton 4-2 in the Premier League last Saturday - but it also demonstrated the gap in resources between some of the clubs competing in Europe's third tier competition. The Conference League has a new 36-team league phase this season - with Chelsea bidding to qualify automatically for the knockout rounds by finishing in the top eight.

Their ultimate target in the competition, though, is to become the first team to add a Conference League title to previous successes in the Europa League and Champions League successes. As much as Chelsea and their head coach Enzo Maresca should be proud that their second XI looked like a well-oiled group of stars capable of playing in the Premier League, this match was broadly uncompetitive.

Mudryk, Neto, Dewsbury-Hall, Nkunku and Tosin Adarabioyo were among the stars rotated in from the depths of the sizeable 29-man squad that was pictured in this year's team photo a fortnight ago. Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana haven't been selected for this competition - being allowed to rest every Thursday - while Ben Chilwell is simply out of favour. Even still, Maresca opted not to pick either Nicolas Jackson or Jadon Sancho and gave them the night off.

A £400m Team Takes on Gent

It could have encouraged Gent, but they could only score two goals against the run of play through Watanabe and Gandelman, with Englishman Archie Brown and former Chelsea forward Eidur Gudjohnsen's son Andri having efforts on goal. But Chelsea's £400m team could have scored more against Gent, whose most expensive ever signing Momodou Sonko, who cost £6m, was sitting on the bench. In fact, a report from the Transferroom website suggested that Chelsea's squad, valued at £1.1bn, is worth as much as the Conference League's other 35 team combined.

They are, therefore, strong favourites to claim glory in Europe this season. That estimated squad value is nothing for the Blues to be ashamed of - but merely highlights how European football is changing with England's top flight dominant, especially when facing teams from outside the continent's big five leagues.

Chelsea's Dominance Continues

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, The score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. ​​What did you make of Chelsea’s display? Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browser Last Updated 3rd October 2024 at 21:58 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made.

Manager: Enzo Maresca Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Wouter Vrancken Formation: 3 - 4 - 3 Manager: Enzo Maresca Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Wouter Vrancken Formation: 3 - 4 - 3 UEFA Conference League All competitions Match ends, Chelsea 4, KAA Gent 2. Second Half ends, Chelsea 4, KAA Gent 2. Archie Brown (KAA Gent) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing. Foul by Archie Brown (KAA Gent). Attempt missed. Atsuki Ito (KAA Gent) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Tiago Araújo. Attempt missed. Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Renato Veiga. Fourth official has announced 4 minutes of added time. Goal! Chelsea 4, KAA Gent 2. Omri Gandelman (KAA Gent) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Max Dean. Substitution, KAA Gent. Matisse Samoise replaces Hugo Gambor. Foul by Tyrique George (Chelsea). Jordan Torunarigha (KAA Gent) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Marc Guiu (Chelsea). Hugo Gambor (KAA Gent) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt missed. Tiago Araújo (KAA Gent) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Archie Brown following a fast break. Attempt missed. Marc Guiu (Chelsea) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Renato Veiga. Attempt missed. Archie Brown (KAA Gent) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Tiago Araújo. Substitution, Chelsea. Tyrique George replaces Pedro Neto. Substitution, Chelsea. Marc Guiu replaces Christopher Nkunku. João Félix (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half. © 2024 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.

A Chelsea Side Showing 11 Changes Earned a Comfortable Win Over Gent in Their Opening Conference League Match.

First Chelsea goals for Renato Veiga and Keirnan Dewsbury-Hall were the highlight of a comprehensive fifth consecutive win as we began our Conference League campaign in style. Veiga got things up and running early on with a towering header from Mkyhailo Mudryk’s cross. Despite chances, we had to wait until a minute into the second half to double our lead, Pedro Neto smashing home in front of the Matthew Harding Stand. Gent threatened at points and our Belgian visitors halved the deficit shortly afterwards through Tsuyoshi Watanabe’s header, but any chance of a comeback was quickly quashed by Christopher Nkunku, who lashed in his seventh of the season. Dewsbury-Hall then got the goal his industrious performance in midfield deserved to make it 4-1 Chelsea with 20 minutes remaining. There was time for Gent to get one back before the end, but this was very much our night.

Enzo Maresca named an entirely fresh starting XI from the weekend win over Brighton. In fact, there was only one change to the side that began the Barrow game last midweek: Tosin Adarabioyo for Malo Gusto. Axel Disasi, at right-back, captained again. Academy midfielder Kiano Dyer, 17, was named on the bench for the first time. Another youngster, Tyrique George, would be brought on with 10 minutes remaining.

The Blues were at it from the off. By the time Veiga opened the scoring in the 12th minute, Joao Felix had seen a close-range effort blocked and Neto had come close with a low drive. It was a fine Chelsea move through the lines that prised Gent open. Dewsbury-Hall released Mudryk and he showed patience and then precision, waiting for Veiga to make a move at the far post before delivering a perfect cross that allowed the Portuguese to plant a header back across goal and in. It was just reward for a fine start to the game for Veiga.

Dewsbury-Hall came very close to doubling our lead before the midway point of the half. He allowed Neto to break at speed and then got into a position for the return ball, firing into the side-netting from 12 yards out. A smooth Gent move after the half-hour allowed Archie Brown a run at goal, but with the angle narrowing the England Under-20 international shot straight at Filip Jorgensen. The chance triggered a period of Gent pressure that included a dangerous shot not far over from Andri Gudjohnsen, the 22-year-old son of Chelsea legend Eidur.

It might have been a quieter finish to the first half for the Blues, but we started the second with a bang. Disasi lofted a ball into the inside right channel and the speed of Neto panicked the visitors’ defence. The winger capitalised on their hesitancy and lashed the ball high into the roof of Davy Roef’s net.

Our two-goal advantage was brief. A corner was cleared but not fully and the ball was worked wide to Gudjohnsen. His cross was into an area full of fluorescent shirts but not many blue ones, and Watanabe was the grateful beneficiary. The goals kept coming! We won a succession of consecutive corners and from the third, kept the ball alive inside the box. It looked like Veiga would be the player getting a shot away but Nkunku arrived in a hurry and fired his shot through the crowd and Roef. Out came the balloon, while the Stamford Bridge faithful lit up their phones in an amusing response to the travelling support doing likewise when Genk scored.

That was on 63 minutes and we made it 4-1 on 70. This time a tackle stopped Nkunku getting a shot away from Joao Felix’s through pass, but Dewsbury-Hall got the goal his performance merited after latching on to the loose ball. His celebration was matched by a joyous Maresca on the sidelines. Somehow, Badiashile and Disasi didn’t turn in a teasing Neto cross as we threatened to run riot, but it was Gent who had the final say, substitute Omri Gandelman converting Max Dean’s pass meaning it is back-to-back 4-2 home wins for the Blues.

Our final fixture before the October international break is again at the Bridge as we welcome Nottingham Forest to SW6 on Sunday. Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Disasi (c), Tosin, Badiashile, Veiga; Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall; Neto (George 80), Joao Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku (Guiu 80) Unused subs Sanchez, Bergstrom, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Dyer, Madueke Scorers Veiga 12, Neto 46, Nkunku 63, Dewsbury-Hall 70 Booked Disasi 72 Gent (4-3-3): Roef; Gambor (Samoise 89), Watanabe, Mitrovic (c), Torunarigha; Ito, Delorge (Gandelman 78), Brown; Fadiga (Araujo 64), Gudjohnsen (Dean 64), Surdez (Kums 78) Unused subs Schmidt, Vancsa, Gerkens, Sonko, Fortuna, De Vlieger, Varela Scorers Watanabe 50, Gandelman 90 Booked Brown 90+4 Referee Daniel Schlager Crowd 38,546

Chelsea's Financial Advantage on Display

With every result, Enzo Maresca is making Chelsea believe again. Even as his side coasted to victory – their fifth in succession in all competitions – against Gent, the Italian could be seen prowling the touchline issuing instructions. At a club where the thinking has become increasingly muddled, Maresca’s straightforward approach seems to be paying dividends. Second-half goals from Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall saw off the Belgian side after the impressive Renato Veiga had opened the scoring.

But without the services of Cole Palmer after Saturday’s four-goal hero was left out of their Conference League squad, Chelsea showed that they have plenty of other options and it will be difficult for anyone to stop them becoming the first side to complete the full set of European trophies if they decide to take this competition seriously. Even with 11 changes from their impressive win over Brighton here on Saturday, Maresca was able to name a forward line that cost Chelsea £200m to assemble. According to the website TransferRoom, their squad is worth roughly the same as the other 35 clubs who are taking part in this season’s Conference League and they began the group stages as heavy favourites to go all the way to the final in Wrocław.

Gent have played in every edition of this tournament since it was introduced by Uefa in 2021 and were beaten by West Ham in the last eight on their way to lifting the trophy a year ago. Wouter Vrancken’s side battled through three qualifying rounds to reach this stage after finishing seventh in the Belgian league and included two players with famous fathers in their starting lineup. Eidur Gudjohnsen was in the stands to watch his son, 22-year-old striker Andri, take on his former club, while Noah Fadiga – the son of former Bolton and Senegal winger Khalilou Fadiga – attempted to provide support for him in attack.

But with Neto and Mykhailo Mudryk in the mood to impress in the absence of Palmer and co, it wasn’t long before Chelsea went ahead. Neto had already set up Tosin Adarabioyo for a header with a delicate cross moments earlier when Mudryk popped up on the same flank to deliver an inch-perfect ball for Veiga to head home at the back post.

Dewsbury-Hall should have doubled the lead when Neto wiggled away from his marker and squared the ball into the midfielder’s path but he shot just wide. Gent’s first sight of goal came just after the half hour mark when Archie Brown, a product of Derby’s academy who plays for England’s Under-20 side, drew Filip Jørgensen into a save after a quick break.

But their vociferous travelling support could not believe it when Gudjohnsen fired inches over with a powerful drive that would have left the Chelsea goalkeeper with no chance. Maresca had some choice words for Mudryk on one occasion when he gave the ball away cheaply. But the Ukrainian showed his ability when he skipped past Hugo Gambor just before half-time and it needed a scrambled clearance to keep Chelsea at bay. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Barely 30 seconds had elapsed since the restart when Neto took advantage of a moment’s hesitation between Gambor and Watanabe to lash home Chelsea’s second goal after a long ball from captain Axel Disasi. But Gent hit back immediately when the Japan defender rose above Benoît Badiashile and headed in Gudjohnsen’s cross to the delight of the fans behind Jørgensen’s goal.

Chelsea were forced to go on the attack again and Nkunku made Gent pay for failing to clear a corner when he lashed home from inside the area and the goal was allowed to stand despite it appearing that Veiga was offside in the buildup. Fadiga and Gudjohnsen were withdrawn straight after the goal and it needed a block from Badiashile to prevent substitute Max Dean from scoring with his first touch. Dewsbury-Hall removed any lingering doubts about the result when he raced onto João Félix’s through ball to score Chelsea’s fourth.

To their credit, Gent continued to attack and a brilliant run from Brown saw the 22-year-old almost pull one back late on before substitute Omri Gandelman grabbed a late consolation that did little to dampen the home crowd’s enthusiasm.