Chelsea all but squandered any chance they had of making the Champions League next season as they were held to a dismal 1-1 draw with lowly Huddersfield, who secured their safety at Stamford Bridge.
Having previously won four on the bounce, Chelsea approached Wednesday night’s fixture with high hopes of drawing level on points with Liverpool heading into this weekend’s final round of fixtures.
However, a much-changed starting line-up never really got going in the first-half and despite dominating for large periods, Chelsea unable to make the breakthrough. Alvaro Morata spurned yet another glorious chance to prove his critics wrong, whilst Antonio Rudiger missed a gilt-edged opportunity from all of three yards out after a Cesar Azpilicueta knockdown had landed at pace towards the onrushing German defender.
Against all odds, Huddersfield took the lead through Laurent Depoitre, who has now scored home and away against the Blues, as he knocked the ball past an overcommitted Willy Caballero before calmly side-footing the ball into an empty net under pressure from Rudiger.
It didn’t, however, take long for Chelsea to draw level, as Marcos Alonso unwittingly headed home as the ball cannoned in off his face from a deflected cross. Despite a barrage of Chelsea attacks, Huddersfield held out to secure their place in the Premier League next season.
Following Tottenham’s win over Newcastle, Chelsea’s only hope of securing a top-four place lies in beating the aforementioned Magpies away from home, as well as seeing Brighton pull off a shock victory over Liverpool.
Here are our player ratings following the frustrating draw.
