Chelsea put four past Gent in Conference League

A Chelsea side showing 11 changes earned a comfortable win over Gent in their opening Europa Conference League match.

Defender Renato Veiga headed in a 12th-minute opener from Mykhailo Mudryk’s cross.

Winger Pedro Neto smashed in a near-post finish just 49 seconds after half-time after latching on to a long ball down the middle by Axel Disasi.

For a moment, Gent may have felt they were back in the game after a 50th minute header by defender Tsuyoshi Watanabe survived a video assistant referee check for offside to stand.

But that joy was short lived for the travelling Belgians.

Thirteen minutes later, versatile forward Christopher Nkunku latched on to a loose ball to score his seventh goal of the season with a low shot that went through goalkeeper Davy Roef.

Midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who had missed a great chance in the first half, then turned in a finish after Watanabe failed to clear.

Omri Gandelman added a consolation goal after some poor defending down Chelsea’s left.

It was a performance that showed the imposing depth in Chelsea’s squad – with a completely different starting line-up to the one that beat Brighton 4-2 in the Premier League last Saturday – but it also demonstrated the gap in resources between some of the clubs competing in Europe’s third tier competition.

The Conference League has a new 36-team league phase this season – with Chelsea bidding to qualify automatically for the knockout rounds by finishing in the top eight.

Their ultimate target in the competition, though, is to become the first team to add a Conference League title to previous successes in the Europa League and Champions League successes.

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