scores

Chelsea finished the Conference League’s league phase with a perfect record after defeating Shamrock Rovers of the League of Ireland 5-1 at Stamford Bridge thanks to a hat-trick from Marc Guiu in the first half.

Though he hasn’t started for head coach Enzo Maresca in the Premier League yet, the 18-year-old former Barcelona striker was chosen for the fourth time in Europe and showed a poacher’s instinct to bury the opposition twice, intercepting passes back to the custodian to score twice before glancing in a beautiful header for his third.

Chelsea reaffirmed what had long been clear: they have been much too powerful for the opponents they have encountered in the first phase of Europe’s third championship.

Marc Cucurella and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall also scored goals, the latter for the second time in as many games.

In addition to the remembrance of Markus Poom’s goal that momentarily tied the score at 1-1 in the first half and gave hope of a great shock, Shamrock’s loss was their first in Europe this season.

They left west London with the comfort of a spot in the play-off round in February.

Chelsea had over 80% of the ball throughout the opening twenty-five minutes, but they had to make a terrible defensive mistake to take the lead.

Tyrique George chased a looping ball that Renato Veiga hoofed ahead. Darragh Burns got there first, but Guiu was able to sneak in and put Chelsea ahead after his wildly miscalculated header back to his goalie.

The guests reacted with considerable bravery. As Shamrock broke, Chelsea goalie Filip Jorgensen swooped to his top corner to deflect a drive from Johnny Kenny.

The Premier League stars gave their fans a moment’s hope from the ensuing corner.

Estonian international Poom, whose father played here for Derby in the 1990s, was waiting to smash Dylan Watts’ cross back goalward as it moved out to the edge of the box.

His shot slid off Cesare Casadei’s heel and sped past Jorgensen.

The way Shamrock gave up the following goal was all the more bittersweet because it was a memorable moment in their European experience.

Guiu was presented with another gift by Daniel Cleary.

Guiu had the ideal trajectory to get there first and nip around Leon Pohls to make it 2-1, but his throw back to Pohls was under-hit and did not reach his custodian.

After forty minutes, the home team scored a third goal. Christopher Nkunku was pulled to the ground by defender Roberto Lopes after Cucurella threaded a ball through for him.

Dewsbury-Hall scored his second goal for Chelsea by driving the loose ball into the bottom corner before the referee could signal for a penalty.

With the final move of the first half, Guiu reached the top of the box to catch Noni Madueke’s cross into the corner, completing his hat-trick.

Just before the hour, Cucurella made it 5-1 by cutting inside his defender and then driving inside the near post.

For a taste of European football, Maresca brought in academy graduates Harvey Vale, Harrison Murray-Campbell, and Samuel Rak-Sakyi.

Then, 18-year-old winger George came close to opening his Chelsea account, but Rovers captain Lopes stopped him on the line.