Chelsea progressed to the Conference League quarter-finals but Enzo Maresca's woes continued to mount as Legia Warsaw won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in the return leg, further fuelling discontent among fans towards the manager.
The Italian side will be favourites to reach the final in Wroclaw on May 28, but there was little to inspire fear as the hosts had to rely on their victory in Poland a week ago to progress with a 4-2 aggregate score over the two legs.
A penalty awarded to Czech striker Tomas Pekart gave Legia the lead before Marc Cucurella levelled, but Chelsea were soon to taste defeat again when Steve Kapuadi scored early in the second half and the Shed End was lit an ominous red by pyrotechnics set off by the away fans.
The manner in which Chelsea suffered a home defeat to a team currently fifth in the Polish Ekstraklasa does not bode well for their chances of qualifying for the Champions League and could significantly damage fans' confidence in Maresca, who have been severely tested in recent months.
Cole Palmer was a surprise choice in the starting line-up, with Maresca perhaps sensing his No. 10 finally had a chance to break a three-month scoring drought.
Legia did everything they could to please their opponents in the first five minutes, showing extreme carelessness with the ball and allowing first Palmer, who moved wide when the ball was clear, and then Christopher Nkunku, whose shot was saved.
The former Tottenham man calmed west London after nine minutes. Pekaert had never played for the Spurs first team but made his mark on the game by flicking a pass to Filip Jorgensen, who dived recklessly and committed a foul.
The reserve goalkeeper made a clumsy attempt to send Pekart's weak penalty into the corner.
Then Ryoya Morishita burst forward and finished inches wide of the post as Chelsea faltered at the back and their seemingly unbeatable path to the semi-finals suddenly looked less so.
Order was only restored after half an hour when Cucurella scored from a cross by Jadon Sancho.
The left-back, who has been used to bailing out his under-performing team this season, has now scored four times since Palmer's last goal on January 14. The Spain international scored again before half-time but his goal was ruled out by VAR for offside.
Chelsea were in more serious trouble when Legia took the lead again early in the second half, with Claude Gonçalves left free on the edge of the area to take a corner and Kapaudi, unmarked in front of Jorgensen, headed the ball home.
There was a welcome burst of activity from Chelsea, with Noni Madueke's volley cleared off the line by goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic, who rose deftly to block Tyrique George's rebound.
George then completed a pass to Madueke, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
