Chelsea suffered a shock defeat to Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb on the opening night of their Champions League campaign as Mislav Orsic’s first-half strike was enough to earn a 1-0 victory.
Thomas Tuchel’s side were caught napping in 13th minute as Orsic ran from his own half, latching onto a ball from strike partner Bruno Petkovic, to outpace ?70m signing Wesley Fofana before dinking the ball over Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The hosts soaked up huge Chelsea pressure before stealing the lead, but held onto their advantage resolutely, staving off a late onslaught as chances for Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech went begging.
Chelsea went closest via new signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, on his Blues debut, who had the ball in the back of the net just minutes after half-time, only for the effort to be disallowed.
Ben Chilwell had edged marginally offside from Mateo Kovacic’s diagonal pass, leaving his low ball across for Aubameyang’s tap-in to count for nothing.
More to follow…
Chelsea’s remaining Champions League fixtures
September 14: Red Bull Salzburg (H) – kick-off 8pm
October 5: AC Milan (H) – kick-off 8pm
October 11: AC Milan (A) – kick-off 8pm
October 25: Red Bull Salzburg (A) – kick-off 5.45pm
November 2: Dinamo Zagreb (H) – kick-off 8pm
What’s next?
Chelsea are back in Premier League action next as they face west London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday in a 12.30pm kick-off.