Chelsea's domestic struggles were not replicated on the European stage as they picked up a comfortable 3-0 win over Malmo to advance 5-1 on aggregate. Big defeats in the Premier League against the likes of Manchester City and Bournemouth along with an FA Cup elimination have put the pressure on coach Maurizio Sarri. However, they advanced to the last 16 of the Europa League in comfortable fashion after Olivier Giroud got the party started for the Stamford Bridge faithful with a 55th minute opener.
Rasmus Bengtsson picked up a second yellow card with just over 15 minutes remaining and that allowed the Blues to add two further goals in the closing stages. Ross Barkley struck first moments after the dismissal and star youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi rounded out the scoring to send the Blues through with minimal fuss.
Meanwhile, according to All Nigeria Soccer, France World Cup-winning striker Olivier Giroud has broken a record he jointly held with Victor Moses after finding the net in Chelsea's 3-0 win against Malmo at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night. After a goalless first half, the Blues number 18 broke the deadlock nine minutes after the restart when he turned in a cross from Brazilian winger Willian, before goals from Ross Barkley and Callum Hudson-Odoi secured a win for the Londoners.
Giroud has now scored in five successive matches in the Europa League, overtaking Moses's tally of four goals in four matches which he had set back in the 2012-13 season when Chelsea won the competition. The former Nigeria international found the net in the quarterfinal and semifinal matches against Rubin Kazan and FC Basel. Giroud's scoring run started against BATE Borisov on game week four before he struck against PAOK Salonika, Vidi and Malmo in the first leg to extend his scoring run to four matches.
Moses has scored a total of five goals for Chelsea in European competitions, including his goal against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on November 7, 2012.
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