Goal
Moises Caicedo — 78th minute — Chelsea
Chelsea moved into eighth place in the Champions League table after edging past Pafos 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, with Moises Caicedo settling the contest in the 78th minute on a night of persistence rather than fluency.
The match marked Champions League debuts for both managers, with Liam Rosenior taking charge of Chelsea and Albert Celades overseeing Pafos for the first time in the competition. The Blues dominated possession throughout and recorded a remarkable 94.5% pass accuracy, the highest in the club’s Champions League history, yet found clear openings difficult to create against disciplined opposition.
Chelsea thought they had broken the deadlock on 18 minutes when Enzo Fernandez headed home, only for the goal to be ruled out for a push in the box. Soon after, the hosts were handed a warning when Jaja’s strike deflected off Reece James and clipped the post.
A key moment came before the interval when goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen was forced off injured and replaced by Robert Sanchez, slightly disrupting Chelsea’s rhythm despite their territorial control.
After the restart, Pafos briefly carried greater threat, but Jay Gorter continued to frustrate Chelsea with a series of excellent saves, denying efforts from Caicedo, Estevao and Fernandez as pressure mounted.
The breakthrough finally arrived from a corner in the 78th minute. A flick-on at the near post dropped invitingly, and Moises Caicedo reacted quickest to power a header beyond Gorter, prompting visible relief around Stamford Bridge.
“It’s a very important goal for the team. I’m so happy that we could win this game,” said Caicedo. “A lot of people tell me I’m a leader. I don’t talk too much, but I like to show leadership on the pitch and in training every day. Now we want to keep going because we have one more game.”
Late efforts from Vlad Dragomir and Landry Dimata failed to change the outcome as Chelsea secured a second consecutive clean sheet and left themselves in control of their Champions League fate ahead of the decisive trip to Napoli.
