To continue their stellar Conference League season, the Blues go to Germany tonight to play a team that is quite different in stature. While Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has only been in control for six months, Heidenheim manager Frank Schmidt has been in command since 2007, an amazing 17 years.
Chelsea advanced one step closer to the knockout round after overcoming Heidenheim in Germany to maintain their undefeated start to the Europa Conference League. Christopher Nkunku scored the squad's fifth goal in the group stage, and Enzo Maresca's team continued to lead the 36-team table with their fourth win in four games.
With one touch, the France forward, who once played for RB Leipzig in Germany, controlled Jadon Sancho's pass into the box, and with his second, he put the ball in the net. In both group phase games, Nkunku has scored, and the 52 million euro acquisition has now scored 11 goals for Chelsea this season in all competitions.
Chelsea had easily won their first three group phase matches
When Mudryk fell following a tackle with Patrick Mainka in the first half, Chelsea believed they had gained a penalty. Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk, who at one point appeared to be ready to book the Ukraine forward for a dive, reviewed it again on the pitchside monitor after the video assistant referee (VAR) conducted a thorough examination and determined there was insufficient contact.