Chelsea started their Europa League campaign with a 1-0 win away at Greece side, PAOK.
Chelsea dominated the game playing Sarri-ball, but unfortunately the scoreline didn’t reflect the game. Chelsea had many chances to have won the game with a massive scoreline, but wasteful finishing ensured the game ended just 1-0.
A major culprit in the wasted opportunities was striker Alvaro Morata. The Spaniard had a couple of decent chances but failed to convert any. The 25-year-old had seven shots in the game, but couldn’t get any on target.
Morata’s performance continued to drop in the second period, as he was a culprit of poor positioning which led to offsides, giving the ball away easily and was unable to hold up play.
Morata was eventually taken off for Olivier Giroud who seemed to have usurped him in the fight for the striking role, and the Spaniard didn’t take it lightly.
After being substituted with ten minutes left, Sarri tried to congratulate Morata, but Morata shrugged his manager off as he walked to the bench angrily.
Morata didn’t feature in Chelsea’s previous game against Cardiff, and after failing to impress against PAOK, it’s expected that he will again be named on the bench in this weekend’s fixture against West Ham.