Jadon Sancho scores to haunt Antony as Chelsea clinch Europa Conference League glory over Real Betis | OneFootball

Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho scored Chelsea’s third of the match as they came from behind to beat Real Betis 4-1 in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.

The meeting saw Sancho come up against former United teammate Antony, who has been in fine form for Betis since joining them in January.

Chelsea fell behind just nine minutes in as Isco found Abde Ezzalzouli with a brilliant pass, before the winger smashed it past Filip Jorgensen. The Blues were shaky for large spells of the first half and were lucky not to go 2-0 down as Jorgensen denied Marc Bartra, who fired from distance.

Enzo Maresca’s men sparked into life at the second half, with Cole Palmer at the heart of everything. The England international delivered a sublime diagonal ball into the box, inviting Enzo Fernandez to connect with it and divert it into the back of the net.

Moments after, Palmer carved out another goal, getting the better of his man on the right and sending a sumptuous cross into the path of Nicolas Jackson. The Chelsea striker sent it in using his chest. Sancho came on from the bench to make it 3-1, with a top-class curled effort that Adrian simply had no chance of keeping out.

Moises Caicedo made it 4-1 in added time to put the game to bed.

In his 29 minutes on the pitch, Sancho recorded a single shot on target – and made it count. He failed to complete any of the two dribbles he embarked on but successfully found his teammates with all 17 passes he attempted.

Sancho lost both ground duels he contested.

Antony didn’t have a good game and was kept quiet by the Chelsea defenders, who had his number all game, even when Betis were doing well in the opening 45 minutes.

The Brazilian was named in Manuel Pellegrini’s starting XI and completed 17 of the 21 passes he attempted (81% pass accuracy). He couldn’t connect with any of the three crosses he aimed.

Antony fired three shots, but none really troubled Jorgensen in the Chelsea net. The 25-year-old completed the one dribble he embarked on.

He was good defensively, coming out on top in three of the four ground duels he delved into and winning the one aerial challenge he vied for. He made two tackles and three interceptions.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

United will now await decisions from Chelsea and Real Betis regarding the futures of Sancho and Antony, respectively.

Chelsea have an obligation to sign Sancho but it was revealed they can opt out of this by paying United a £5m penalty. Meanwhile, Betis want to make Antony’s stay a permanent one but it remains to be seen whether they’re willing to meet the Red Devils’ price tag.

Featured image Richard Heathcote via Getty Images

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