Chelsea FC Thrash Maccabi Tel-Aviv: 4 Key Takeaways
3. One Goal Lethargy
This problem is becoming too frequent to be ignored! The Blues have become prone to toning down the intensity of their play after going one goal up, which has become a worrying trend. The problem is that by doing this, they invite unwanted pressure on themselves, which has been responsible for the defeats to Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton in the Premier League.
Again on Tuesday, Maccabi looked more likely to score in the early stages of the second half despite having to play one man down. The Blues had Begovic to thank after the Bosnian made two exceptional saves from Eli Dasa and Zahavi after both players were afforded shooting chances on the break, although Maccabi’s penchant for poor finishing did not help their cause either.
It took another exceptional Willian free-kick (more on that later) to finally kill the Israeli side’s efforts to fight back as the Blues then went on to hit a further two goals to seal the tie. But the lethargic performance of the club every time that they manage to score first is a problem that needs to be addressed. Chelsea have lost eight points from winning positions in the league (which is currently the highest at the moment) as a result of this problem.
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