The Chelsea vs Shamrock Rovers Europa Conference League tie was delayed after toilet roll was hurled at Christopher Nkunku. The game was just six minutes old at Stamford Bridge when the Blues won a corner on the left-hand side.
Nkunku readied himself to take the set piece in front of the away fans, only to then have a number of rolls thrown at him.
To the credit of the French forward he did see the funny side, smiling as he kicked the toilet paper away.
But referee Willy Delajod wasn’t happy to let play restart until everything had been cleared up. Nkunku was joined by team-mate Kieran Dwesbury-Hall as the pair did their best to sort out the corner area.
Nkunku’s cross then ironically forced another immediate corner. But second time around, he was able to make his delivery unscathed before the visitors cleared the danger.
Around 3,000 fans of the League of Ireland side travelled to London, and made themselves heard in the early stages at Stamford Bridge. But their noise was quelled on the 22-minute mark when Marc Guiu put the hosts ahead.
However, just four minutes later the travelling support was sent into ecstasy. Markus Poom’s first time volley deflected off Cesare Casadei and into the net for a famous equaliser.
The joy didn’t last long though, with Guiu again and then Dewsbury-Hall making it 3-1 before the breal. Chelsea kicked off the clash having won all five of their previous games in the competition under Enzo Maresca,and weren’t expected to be troubled in their bid to make it six.
But ahead of the game, the Italian manager inisted his side wouldn’t be taking the underdogs lightly. “We try to approach every game in the same way – to do our best and win the game,” he said.
“Today in Football it is difficult to find a team that has no strengths. All the teams have something good, and some things we can try to work on and win the game.
“I watched four or five Shamrock games and they are a good team. They try to defend as a block all together, and play face to face with the other team.”
Swiss
