CONFERENCE LGE: Noah swept away by Chelsea’s eight-goal flood
LONDON: Chelsea recorded the biggest Europa Conference League victory as they crushed Armenian side FC Noah.
The Blues, playing a completely different team to their last Premier League game, led 6-0 at the break – and added two more in the second half. Even their second-string team are far too good for the Conference League with 16 goals scored in their first three wins, twice as many as anyone else.
They took the lead when Tosin Adarabioyo headed in Enzo Fernandez’s corner.
Noah lost the ball almost immediately following their kick-off and Marc Guiu won the ball and scored.
Axel Disasi headed in another Fernandez corner, then Fernandez fed Joao Felix who ran through and clipped the ball over the goalkeeper.
Mykhailo Mudryk scored the goal of the game when he curled a fine shot into the top corner, before Felix netted his second via a deflection.
Christopher Nkunku, who also hit the bar, hooked in a seventh from an angle after his initial shot was saved. The Frenchman then converted a penalty.
This was the joint-second biggest victory in Chelsea’s history, only behind a 13-0 Cup Winners’ Cup victory over Jeunesse Hautcharage in 1971.
FC Noah, who were only formed seven years ago, started well – and Goncalo Gregorio forced a save from Filip Jorgensen after just three minutes.
But after Chelsea opened the scoring they never looked back – and their goals came two by two against a side named after the biblical figure with the ark.
Nkunku is the club’s top scorer this season with 10 goals – despite only starting one league game – which shows how distinct their cup team is.
Several of their goals on Thursday were thanks to poor defending by Noah, who were playing their 11th Conference League game of the season, but were unlucky not to score at least once themselves.
The previous record score in a Conference League game was joint between Nordsjaelland’s 7-1 win over Ludogorets, Fiorentina beating Cukaricki 6-0 and Eintracht Frankfurt defeating HJK Helsinki by the same scoreline – with all three games in October 2023.
#####
