UCL | Napoli 2-3 Chelsea – Joao Pedro sends Conte’s side out of Champions League

Napoli were eliminated from the Champions League this evening, with a 3-2 defeat at home to Chelsea sending the Italian champions crashing out of the competition.

The Partenopei knew they had a mountain to climb after two wins, two draws and three defeats, including a dismal 1-1 with 10-man Copenhagen.

The injury crisis kept getting worse, missing David Neres, Matteo Politano, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, Amir Rrahmani, Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa, Billy Gilmour and Kevin De Bruyne after Sunday’s 3-0 Serie A loss to Juventus.

The Blues were revitalised under new coach Liam Rosenior, who took over from Enzo Maresca in early January. They missed Romeo Lavia, Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo and Dario Essugo, but Cole Palmer was back in the squad and came on at half-time to replace Pedro Neto.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Chelsea were by far the better team in the opening fifteen to twenty minutes, with Rosenior’s side pressing intensely and Conte’s side unable to cope with the sheer physicality. Their efforts were rewarded after Juan Jesus was penalised for a handball off a Reece James free-kick, with Enzo Fernandez scoring the resulting penalty after referee Clement Turpin pointed to the spot without hesitation.

However, the momentum shifted with the goal as the visitors took their foot off the pedal a little. Napoli fashioned a few good chances before Antonio Vergara scored an incredible first goal for his boyhood club. A delicate spin sent Fofana packing and Vergara slotted the ball into the far corner.

Then, after good work from Olivera, Hojlund gave Napoli the lead before the break.

Despite efforts to dig in and hold on to the league, Chelsea equalised in the 61st minute after a fantastic strike from outside the box from Joao Pedro. The Brazilian then double his tally, and sent Napoli crashing out of the competition with another well worked goal with roughly ten minutes to play.