Atalanta v Chelsea: Joao Pedro ends goalscoring drought to give Blues lead
The Brazilian is back in the goals.
Joao Pedro ended his run of four games without a goal for Chelsea as they took a 1-0 lead in Tuesday’s Champions League tie with Atalanta.
Pedro had drawn a blank in Premier League games with Burnley, Arsenal, Leeds United and Bournemouth, but broke the deadlock in the 25th minute in Bergamo.
Atalanta had made much of the early running, with Gianluca Scamacca and Marten de Roon going close for the hosts in the 19th minute.
But six minutes later Pedro rediscovered his goalscoring touch when he latched onto Reece James’ low ball into the near post to turn home.
The goal was initially ruled out for offside against James in the build-up, but a VAR check overturned the linesman’s decision, with Pedro’s effort putting Chelsea in a strong position to move on to 13 points and all but secure their place in the knockout rounds.