‘Do NOT let this man go away!’: Wantaway Giroud comes off bench to go Chelsea into Champions League knockout phases

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Chelsea followers have implored Frank Lampard to make sure Olivier Giroud stays on the membership after he headed Chelsea to victory towards Rennes to ebook the Blues a spot within the Champions League knockout phases with two video games to spare.

The large Frenchman rose highest to energy in a header in harm time, after Rennes’ Serhou Guirassy had cancelled out Callum Hudson-Odoi’s first-half opener for the London membership. 

The end result moved Chelsea on to 10 factors from their 4 Champions League Group E video games – sufficient for them to ebook their spot within the final 16 of this season’s competitors. 

Within the different Group E sport, Sevilla additionally secured their place within the knockout phases by snatching a equally late 2-1 win towards Krasnodar in Russia. 

In France, the plaudits had been reserved for 34-year-old Giroud, who’s reportedly plotting a approach out of Stamford Bridge in January on account of a scarcity of enjoying time, which the massive ahead fears might damage his probabilities of that includes for his nation at subsequent summer time’s European Championships. 

Followers had been insistent that supervisor Lampard shouldn’t let the favored frontman go away after he proved his price but once more. 

Earlier than Tuesday evening in France, Giroud had performed lower than 200 minutes of soccer for Chelsea this season, however Lampard had insisted  that he would do all the things in his energy to maintain the Frenchman on the membership – a resolve which is able to doubtless solely have been strengthened after the World Cup winner’s heroics when coming off the bench to exchange Tammy Abraham within the 69th minute.  

Guirassy thought he had rescued some extent for the hosts with a thumping header of his personal within the 85th minute, which cancelled out an opener mid-way by way of the primary half from Hudson-Odoi, who latched onto an outstanding through-ball from midfielder Mason Mount. 

Earlier than that, German ahead Timo Werner had been responsible of one of many misses of the season when he blazed over the bar from simply yards out and with the aim at his mercy. 

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Timo Werner reacts after his shocking miss. © Reuters / Twitter @goal
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Reserving early passage to the knockout phases might be a welcome reduction for Lampard, who has described the membership’s congested fixture listing in December as “brutal.”

The Blues boss will doubtless take the prospect to relaxation some large names for the remaining group video games away in Sevilla and at house to Krasnodar.