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Olivier Giroud scored four goals and Chelsea managed an impressive 4-0 victory in Seville on Wednesday to secure first place in Group E of the Champions League. The 34-year-old forward is the oldest player to score a hat-trick in competition since the great Hungarian Ferenc Puskas in 1965 with Real Madrid against Feyenoord. He is also the first player to score four goals in a Champions League match since Cristiano Ronaldo against Malmö five years ago. “Amazing solo performance by Olivier. Delighted with him, delighted with the team. This is a tough place to come,” Chelsea manager Frank Lampard, the last Chelsea player to score four goals in a game, told BT Sport. against Aston Villa in 2010..
Both teams were already qualified for the round of 16 before kick-off, but Giroud made the most of an unusual start, scoring with his left foot, right foot and head to see Chelsea win the group, and also hit a penalty.
“I didn’t know until two years ago that you called it a perfect hat-trick, when I scored (a treble) against (Dynamo) Kiev in (the) Europa League, I said ‘What do you mean?’ It was good, although I had good assists, “Giroud said.
“I will try to continue like this, to finish the good work of the team and it is always good to be in the history of the club and we play football to mark our history, so I am pleased to help the team to win and to score all four goals.”
The French international sent Lampard a message, with Timo Werner and Tammy Abraham seemingly above him in the pecking order, making the most of his second season start.
“Let me enjoy the night and that great victory and then we will rest and see what the manager’s plan is,” Giroud said when asked if he now expected to start against Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Lampard will now be able to rest the players for the final group match against Krasnodar at Stamford Bridge, and his team will look to build on last season’s streak until the round of 16, where they were well beaten by eventual winners Bayern Munich.
– Good finish –
Giroud wasted little time putting Chelsea ahead, picking up Kai Havertz’s clever pass before slicing inside and doubling down to the far corner in the eighth minute.
Sevilla were frustrated to see two handball penalty appeals rejected.
In the 20th minute, the claims Christian Pulisic handled were rejected by referee Artur Soares Dias after he checked the pitch monitor.
The hosts were rejected another penalty call after a long delay from VAR after a free kick by Ivan Rakitic hit the Chelsea wall.
Those nervous moments aside, Lampard’s Blues were the most threatening, with Antonio Rudiger seeing a header cleared from the line before Alfonso Pastor kept Pulisic’s low out.
The home team started the second half brilliantly, as Jesús Navas caught Nemanja Gudelj with a clever pass, but the Serbian international narrowly shot.
However, Chelsea doubled their lead in the 54th minute as Giroud pushed his case for more playing time by holding on to Mateo Kovacic’s pass and cutting the ball over the Sevilla goalkeeper.
Promoted
But it didn’t end there, completing his first Champions League hat-trick since a hat-trick against Olympiakos for Arsenal in 2015 with a looped header from a cross by N’Golo Kante.
Giroud finished off a virtuous display from the penalty spot with seven minutes remaining, scoring a penalty that he himself had won.
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