Vidi lose 1-0 against Chelsea but put in a proud performance – Europa League

The winning goal came on 70 minutes but Vidi put in a performance that was a real credit.

Chelsea FC 1-0 (0-0) Vidi FC

Goal: Morata 70′

Chelsea FC: Kepa — Emerson, Christensen, Cahill, Zappacosta — Loftus-Cheek (Barkley 66), Fábregas, Kovačić — Willian (Moses 73), Morata, Pedro (Hazard 54)
Vidi FC: Tujvel — Stopira, Vinícius, Juhász, Fiola — Hadzic (Pátkai 83), Nikolov, Nego — Milanov (Hodzic 83), Scsepovics — Huszti (Kovács 77)

Date: 4th October 2018 –  Venue: London, Stamford Bridge, Attendance: 39,925

Referees: Miroslav ZelinkaOndřej PelikánJan PatákJakub HrabovskyZbynek ProskeEmanuel Marek

Stamford Bridge was the setting for Vidi’s second Europa League group stage match. Vidi had arrived to the capital on Wednesday and held a training session in the evening following Marko Nikolic’ press conference. He had said throughout the summer that Vidi had the right to enjoy a dream that had seen them overcome Dudelange, Ludogorets and Malmo in the qualifying rounds. The play-off’s saw Greek side AEK Athens emerge winners, but only just after two legs. That also meant qualifying to the Europa League group stage. Vidi suffered a defeat in the first game at home to BATE but were eager to do better in London.

The two sides had never met before as manager Marko Nikolic named his team for this big game.

The travelling Vidi supporters numbered 1300 in the corner of the stadium but they sure made notice of their presence with constant backing of the team in the all white kit.

Chelsea named a strong and experienced line-up against a Vidi side that was capable of dealing with the threat of a team, Marko Nikolic had described as being in the top 10 in the World. Maurizio Sarri had promised on Wednesday at the press conference to name a strong team and he kept his word with Fabregas, Morata, Kovacic, Pedro and Willian all starting. Marko Nikolic left Istvan Kovács on the bench against a team that was valued 41 times more than Vidi. However, the game is about football and not numbers! There were over 41,000 inside a packed Chelsea stadium as the whistle blew for the start of the game.

It was the home side attacking the shed end that started the more active but the Vidi defence coped with the early attacks. In fact a corner at the other end, which was Vidi’s second saw Roland Juhász rise to head at goal, but the ball was headed over his own crossbar by Chelsea defender Emerson. It was a good chance from the first attack from the visiting side. The blues stepped up the pressure with first Kovacic and then Morata and even Emerson shooting at goal. Pedro had a poor effort that Tujvel saved as the action continued inside the Vidi half. Chelsea had a frustrating evening as they failed to find a way past the Vidi keeper whose defenders did really well in front of him. This would be confirmed over the following 90 minutes.