Sancho and Nkunku shine on "God save the King" night in Heidenheim
In the end, however, it was the English guests that would emerge winners. Former BVB star Jadon Sancho registered two assists in a 2-0 win.
| FCH fans celebrated head-coach Frank Schmidt in a pre-match choreo. | Alexander Hassenstein, Getty Images |
A match highly anticipated by football fans everywhere ever since the schedule was set finally took place in Baden-Württemberg's Voith Arena on Thursday night. Frank Schmidt's 1. FC Heidenheim welcomed English giants Chelsea FC to the Voith Arena. Something few might have been expecting back before this year's Conference League kicked off pertained to fact that both teams would enter the fixture on maximum points through three rounds of the competition. One way or another, an impressive start from one team was set to end.
As it turned out, it would be the German sensations who lost for the first time. A packed house was nonetheless treated to an incredibly entertaining football match that featured a brave and enthusiastic performance from the home side. Over 90 plus minutes of football, neither team so much as threatened to relent. Respective keepers Filip Jörgensen and Kevin Müller put on a show. In the end, however, former Bundesliga stars Jadon Sancho and Christopher Nkunku stamped their names on the scoresheet and ensured secured a 2-0 Chelsea win.
Schmidt lined up his starting XI in a very aggressive 4-1-4-1 formation. As a result, the German underdogs made a courageously unfazed start to the match. New starter Mikkel Kaufamnn recorded the match's first shot on target in the 2nd and forced an excellent parry out of Jörgensen in the 15th. At the other end, the Blues might have opened the scoring twice were it not for a spectacular double save from Müller on Marc Guiu in the 11th. Müller stood his ground again against Guiu in the 17th.
The furious opening phase thankfully did not prove an aberration. German-Austrian phenom Paul Wanner sadly couldn't finish off a magnificent individual dribble in the 26th thanks to Jørgensen's fantastic reflex save. Former Leipzig man Nkunku missed an open net with an ill-advised chip-ball in the 29th. It appeared that the Londoners would get a chance from the penalty spot in the 33rd, but a Mykhailo Mudryk fall prior to contact was taken back after VAR review.
The chances effectively belonged to Chelsea after the half-hour mark, with Nkunku (38th) and Tosin Adarabioyo (45+1) missing out on their chances to open the scoring. Schmidt's men played matters a bit more cautiously after the restart. Two former Bundesliga stars eventually combined to break down the block. A turnover from Mathias Honsak enabled Axel Disasi to play in Sancho. Nkunku then touched down Sancho's cross deftly and slotted home the 51st minute 1-0.
Schmidt's men admirably took more risks in pursuit of the equalizer. Leonardo Scienza couldn't find his way past Jörgensen with a distance effort in the 58th. Five minutes later, Scienza narrowly missed on a dream goal with a flick just wide in the 63rd. Heidenheim continued to supply some real quality football. Substitute Adrian Beck played Wanner in with a magnificent through ball in the 69th.
Despite having only the keeper to beat from just seven meters out, Wanner too found himself denied by the world-class Jörgensen. Eventually, the consistent pressure applied by the hosts led to Chelsea breaking through on counters. Only keeper Müller prevented Nkuknu from doubling the advantage in the 74th. Müller was even sharper keeping out a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall effort in the 80th.
A match that truly had it all came to an absurdly entertaining conclusion. FCH sub Maximilian Breunig saw two goals disallowed for offside. Former BVB prodigy Sancho recorded his second assist on Mudryk's 2-0 in the 86th. Chelsea's Cesare Casadei was even sent off on double yellows on the last play of the match at 90+6.
