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Christopher Nkunku and Mykhailo Mudryk lead Chelsea to easy win in UEFA Conference League

Football: Chelsea advanced one step closer to the knockout round after overcoming Heidenheim in Germany to maintain their undefeated start to the Europa Conference League.

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Varun Sarwate
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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. 

Before Mykhailo Mudryk made it 2-0 with four minutes remaining after reaching the top corner, Filip Jorgensen still had to make some huge stops to guarantee the Blues won the match against the Bundesliga team. Goalkeeper Jorgensen made a fantastic one-handed save to keep out 18-year-old Paul Wanner while the game was goalless. The 22-year-old then saved his team again following Nkunku's goal, keeping out Leo Scienza and Wanner once more.

Chelsea had easily won their first three group phase matches

However, after midfielder Cesare Casadei was sent in extra time for a second bookable offence, the visitors ended the match with ten men. Maresca's team had easily won their first three group phase matches, scoring 16 goals along the way. However, they faced their toughest test yet in the tournament against Heidenheim, who have had an incredible ascent through the German divisions. 

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.

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