Season: 2018–19

Notes

A season of argument, adjustment and some bruising defeats ended with Chelsea lifting a European trophy. Maurizio Sarri was appointed on 14 July 2018 on a three-year contract and led the team throughout 2018–19. Jorginho arrived to set the rhythm of his 4–3–3, Kepa replaced Courtois in goal and Kovacic added another midfield option. The football did not always convince, and the winter was especially difficult, but third place restored Champions League qualification and a brilliant second half in Baku delivered the club’s second Europa League title. It was also Eden Hazard’s final season in blue, finished in a way worthy of his talent. Chelsea took 72 league points from 21 wins, nine draws and eight defeats, goals 63–39 and a +24 difference. The home record was 12–6–1, goals 39–12; away it was 9–3–7, goals 24–27. Hazard led the scoring with 16 league goals and 21 overall: 16 in the Premier League, three in the League Cup and two in the Europa League final. He also topped the Premier League assist chart with 15. Giroud and Pedro scored 13 overall each, Loftus-Cheek ten and Willian eight. Home league crowds averaged 40,441; the high was 40,721 against Manchester United and the low 38,593 against Brighton. The league began with five straight wins and an unbeaten opening 12 matches, including a Hazard hat-trick against Cardiff. Tottenham ended that start on 24 November. A 2–0 home win over Manchester City through Kanté and David Luiz offered a statement of what the side could do, but heavy away defeats at Bournemouth (4–0) and City (6–0) exposed how far there was still to go. Hazard kept supplying the magic, not least his solo opener in the 2–0 win over West Ham on 8 April. Chelsea won 3–0 against Watford in the final home league game and drew 0–0 at Leicester on 12 May to finish third, behind City and Liverpool. There had been little comfort at times, but the top-four objective was achieved. The Europa League campaign was unbeaten across all 15 matches. Chelsea topped Group L with 16 points, ahead of BATE Borisov, MOL Vidi and PAOK; Loftus-Cheek scored a hat-trick in the 3–1 home win over BATE. Malmö were beaten 5–1 on aggregate in the last 32, then Dynamo Kyiv 8–0, with Giroud scoring a hat-trick in the 5–0 away win. Alonso’s late header earned a 1–0 quarter-final win at Slavia Prague, followed by a breathless 4–3 home victory for 5–3 overall. Frankfurt were a tougher barrier. Pedro scored in the 1–1 away draw on 2 May; Loftus-Cheek’s opener at the Bridge on 9 May was cancelled by Jović, and extra time could not separate the sides. After the 2–2 aggregate draw, Kepa saved from Hinteregger and Paciência in the shoot-out and Hazard scored the decisive kick: 4–3 on penalties, and a place in Baku. On 29 May, Arsenal and a familiar goalkeeper in Petr Čech awaited at the Baku Olympic Stadium. A goalless first half gave way to a blue surge. Giroud met Emerson’s cross with a diving header in the 49th minute, Pedro swept in Hazard’s low delivery on the hour and Hazard converted a penalty after Giroud was fouled. Iwobi’s long-range reply briefly cut the gap, but Giroud then set up Hazard to make it 4–1 in the 72nd minute. Chelsea were irresistible when it mattered most. Giroud finished as the competition’s outright leading scorer with 11, Hazard was the final’s man of the match and Sarri had his first major trophy as a coach. For Hazard, two goals in his last Chelsea appearance were the perfect final flourish. The League Cup came close to another triumph. Hazard’s wonderful late winner at Liverpool began the run with a 2–1 victory on 26 September. Derby were beaten 3–2, Bournemouth 1–0, and a 1–0 first-leg semi-final defeat by Tottenham was overturned by a 2–1 home win on 24 January. With the aggregate score 2–2, Chelsea won the shoot-out 4–2. The final against Manchester City on 24 February was a much tighter contest than the recent league meeting. It remained 0–0 after extra time, but a late attempt to replace Kepa with Caballero ended with the goalkeeper staying on amid a heated touchline dispute. Kepa saved Sané’s penalty; Jorginho’s kick was saved and David Luiz hit the post. City won the shoot-out 4–3, Sterling scoring the decisive kick. The FA Cup defence stopped in the fifth round. Morata scored twice against Nottingham Forest in a 2–0 home win on 5 January, then Willian twice and Hudson-Odoi once in the 3–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday. Manchester United won 2–0 at the Bridge on 18 February to end the run. The Community Shield had also gone to City, Agüero scoring both goals in a 2–0 win at Wembley on 5 August. There were painful afternoons and an unsettled atmosphere along the way, but the lasting picture was a trophy held high in Baku: Hazard smiling, Giroud rewarded for his European goals, and Chelsea closing another complicated year with silverware.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chelsea_F.C._seasons
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%80%9319_Chelsea_F.C._season
• https://www.fchd.info/CHELSEA.HTM
• https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Summaries/2018.htm
• https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Results/2018.htm
• https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng2019.htm
• https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/785507
• https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/47268861
• https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44995783
• https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/every-penalty-shoot-out-involving-chelsea
• https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0251-0e9ce2d466b4-6403225af104-1000--chelsea-win-the-2019-uefa-europa-league/
• https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/from-the-museum-eden-hazards-last-league-shirt