Qarabag 2-2 Chelsea: Under par Blues held in Baku as hosts continue to impress on the continental scene

Chelsea had to settle for a point from their Champions League clash against Qarabag following a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.

Having won both of the previous two meetings between the teams, Chelsea were huge favourites to come away with all three points.

Enzo Maresca’s side were forced into an early change as Moises Caicedo came on for Romeo Lavia after he was forced off with an injury.

Caicedo had a quick sight of goal moments after coming on as he sent the ball well over the bar.

Having been handed an opportunity to impress, Andrey Santos had the game’s first big chance after 11 minutes when he had an effort deflected out for a corner.

Chelsea were starting to show their superiority and took the lead 15 minutes in courtesy of teenage sensation Willian Estevao.

After cutting in on his favoured left foot, the Brazilian produced a superb near-post finish for his second Champions League goal in as many matches.

Buoyed by their opening goal, Chelsea were seemingly on their way to a routine victory but were pegged back by Leandro Andrade just shy of the half-hour mark.

The attacking midfielder was on hand to fire home the rebound after Camilo Duran’s shot cannoned off the woodwork.

Qarabag’s evening went from good to even better six minutes before the interval when they took the lead from the penalty spot through Marko Jankovic after Jorrel Hato handled the ball.

Evidently rocked by the concession of two quickfire goals, Chelsea tried to level matters before the interval but were unable to create a clear-cut chance.

Maresca made three half-time substitutions and was rewarded by Alejandro Garnacho, who got Chelsea back on terms with a left-footed drive in the 53rd minute.

Chelsea nearly completed a quick turnaround of their own two minutes later when Enzo Fernandez took a crack at the Qarabag goal, but Mateusz Michalski was up to the task this time around.

Fernandez and Garnacho had late chances to seal all three points but fluffed their lines, although the biggest opportunity in the closing stages of the game fell to Oleksii Kashchuk.

The 25-year-old fired straight at Robert Sanchez from close range with the goal gaping on either side.

Chelsea will view the result as two points dropped ahead of a heavyweight clash against Barcelona later this month.