JAKARTA - Romelu Lukaku starred for Chelsea with his only goal to beat Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 to make the Blues start their Champions League title defense campaign with a win.
Lukaku never featured in the Champions League during his first spell at Stamford Bridge, but quickly made up for the lost time since rejoining Chelsea last month in the club's most expensive £97m purchase.
Four in four. Rom scores goals.🔵 1-0 ️ #UCL | #CHEZEN pic.twitter.com/dbV6kbl6vc
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 14, 2021
The Belgian striker has now scored four goals for Chelsea and his predatory instincts 21 minutes from the end managed to overcome a disappointing display by Thomas Tuchel's side.
Tuchel urged his players not to be complacent after a surprising European champion last season.
However, their win over Manchester City at Porto was hard to ignore as the German coaches Edouard Mendy and Jorginho were awarded on-field awards before kickoff as UEFA coach, goalkeeper and player of the year respectively.
Chelsea certainly have a squad depth that makes them a strong contender for all the trophies this season and Tuchel made five changes from the side that beat Aston Villa 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Captain Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Reece James, Jorginho and Mason Mount returned to the starting line-up, but Chelsea's attacking lineup was less intense.
As a result throughout the first half the home team could not even fire a shot on target.
Romelu Lukaku has now scored 4 goals in 4 games for Chelsea. Signing of the season? #UCL pic.twitter.com/1fdMo2fZTI
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 14, 2021
Center back Antonio Rudiger tried to push through alone by sprinting forward five minutes after the break but the Germany international's finish went wide of goal.
Lukaku showcased his blend of speed, power and precision in front of goal to score his first Stamford Bridge goal for Chelsea against Villa last weekend.
Zenit managed to tame the 28-year-old for nearly 70 minutes, but Lukaku needed just one cross from Azpilicueta to head home a Champions League goal for his new club past Stanislav Kritsyuk.
Zenit boss Sergei Semak tried to use tall striker Artem Dzyuba to chase down an equalizer and it almost paid off.
But even the 1.97-meter-tall Russia international couldn't make the most of Sardar Azmoun's mature cross 10 minutes from time.
Tuchel's side kept a fourth clean sheet in six games so far this season.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
