Chelsea were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by Qarabag in Baku as their hopes of achieving direct passage to the European Champions League (UCL) round of 16 received a blow.
Things looked desperate for the away side when Marko Jankovic’s penalty saw them fall behind in the first half following a brilliant strike from Leandro Andrade that had levelled the match.
ESPN reports that an early goal by Estêvão appeared to have Chelsea en route to a routine win following their 2,500-mile journey to the eastern edge of Europe.
It then took a goal early in the second half from substitute Alejandro Garnacho to spare Chelsea’s blushes, and it was hard to argue they deserved more.
With one defeat already in the competition, there is little margin for error for Enzo Maresca’s side between now and January if they expect to finish in the top eight and avoid February’s play-off round.
What they did not need was dropped points against a team which, according to UEFA’s seeding, are one of the weakest to have reached this stage, but an ambitious Qarabag looked anything but as they sought to keep their own strong start going.
