Atalanta came from 1-0 down to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the Champions League, earning only their second win in eight matches against English clubs. The result also means Chelsea are now five away games without a win in the competition.
Atalanta almost scored their first first-half goal of the tournament early on, when Ademola Lookman cut through Chelsea’s defence and forced Robert Sánchez into a save. Charles De Ketelaere then missed the rebound. A few minutes later Lookman had another big chance, but Josh Acheampong made an excellent block to keep the score level.
Chelsea then took the lead after 25 minutes. Reece James sent in a low cross from the left and João Pedro finished it off. The flag initially went up for offside, but VAR confirmed the goal. From then until half-time, Chelsea controlled the game and Atalanta created very little.
However, Atalanta came out strongly after the break, as they often do. Lookman put the ball in the net eight minutes into the second half, but this time the offside decision was correct. Just two minutes later, though, De Ketelaere produced a brilliant cross for Gianluca Scamacca to head in, bringing Atalanta level, and punishing Chelsea for James missing a good chance moments earlier at the other end.
Scamacca nearly scored again around the hour mark, but Sánchez reacted well to keep him out. Chelsea had a half-chance through Alejandro Garnacho, but it was straight at goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.
The winning goal came when De Ketelaere ran into the box, and his shot took deflections off Marc Cucurella and Sánchez before going in. Carnesecchi then made good saves to deny Garnacho and James late on, helping Atalanta secure only their third home win in eight Champions League games. Chelsea, meanwhile, suffered their first defeat in the competition since Matchday 1.
