Chelsea’s defeat to Atalanta in their previous UCL encounter left them realistically needing two victories from their remaining two league phase matches to secure a top-eight spot.
Against Pafos, who themselves were still in with a chance of reaching the playoff round, the Blues dominated possession and territory in the opening 45 minutes.
It took them until the 11th minute to register their first shot, when Pedro Neto cut inside and fired over the crossbar, before Reece James curled an effort just wide of the post from the edge of the area around the quarter-hour mark.
The home side thought they had taken the lead shortly after when Enzo Fernandez headed home, but the goal was chalked off for a push on Derrick Luckassen.
The Cypriots had barely made a foray into the Chelsea half in the opening 30 minutes, but they then went closest to opening the scoring. They would have been fortunate to do so, though, as Jaja’s shot took a heavy deflection off James before hitting the post.
That close shave appeared to jolt Chelsea into life, and they threatened to break the deadlock several times prior to half-time.
First, Moises Caicedo was denied by Jay Gorter before Benoit Badiashile headed past the post from Alejandro Garnacho’s cross. Another fierce Caicedo drive was pushed away to safety by Gorter, and the Dutch goalkeeper was also required to keep out Jorrel Hato’s strike as Chelsea moved through the gears.
After the break, the game followed the same pattern. Chelsea had all of the ball, only this time, with the introduction of the exciting Estevao. The Brazilian teenager almost made a tangible impact inside 10 minutes, when another Gorter save kept out his fantastic volley.
Neto was next to be thwarted by the shot-stopper, followed by Caicedo. Pafos’ players, meanwhile, were leaving everything on the pitch, best illustrated when Luckassen produced a stunning last-gasp block to keep out Garnacho.
Finally, though, Pafos’ resistance was broken in the 78th minute - thirteen may be unlucky for some, but not Chelsea here. A baker’s dozen of corners before finally finding the back of the net may frustrate head coach Liam Rosenior, yet he was clearly delighted on the sidelines as Caicedo headed home.
In response, the Cypriot outfit finally opened up, but were unable to find an equaliser, leaving them on six points ahead of their last league phase match against Slavia Praha next week.
Meanwhile, Rosenior has now won three of his four games since taking the helm at Chelsea, but a triumph at Napoli to round off his side’s league phase campaign would be his most important yet.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jay Gorter (Pafos)
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