Pedro, Willian and sub Hudson-Odoi put Chelsea in driving seat with 3-0 Europa League win over Dynamo Kiev
Maurizio Sarri's men were in control of the game and avoided conceding a tricky goal at home
CALLUM HUDSON-ODOI provided the finish as Chelsea shrugged off fatigue with a touch of youth.
The teenage winger came off the bench as his team-mates flagged and then smashed in the 90th minute goal which should see Chelsea into the last eight of the Europa League.
The fans had been singing his name long before boss Maurizio Sarri finally gave in and rolled out the club’s best young player with 13 minutes to go as he looked for the killer goal.
The supporters were still singing it long after the final whistle as the golden boy who wants out of the club sent a reminder of the skills in his locker.
Hudson-Odoi, 18, slapped in a transfer request in January which was turned down by the club and Sarri insists he wants him to stay put.
But the clamour is growing for the precocious young star to be given more game time - not least from the terraces with Chelsea fans desperate to see a home grown talent finally make it to the big time from their academy.
It was already 2-0 when the rookie came on for Willian, who had taken Chelsea back in time with a copybook stunner to punish his old rivals once again.
The Brazilian winger’s clinical free kick in the 65th minute was identical to his goal scored at Stamford Bridge against the same opposition in the Champions League in November 2015.
The ruthless 25-yard cannonball lob was payback time for the former Shakhtar Donetsk player who endured jeers and whistles from the travelling fans at Stamford Bridge.
It also proved the Ukrainians have learnt nothing in the three years since he last embarrassed them and they are certainly no better now than they were then.
There were 58 minutes on the clock before they mustered even the lamest of shots on target and with a two goal cushion for the away leg Chelsea are on course for the last eight of the Europa League.
But whilst they have the advantage over the tie it would be a foregone conclusion had they not wasted a string of chances to dish out a spanking.
Pedro scored the other goal but also missed three other opportunities as did sub Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marcos Alonso.
The frustrations on the pitch forced boss Sarri to make three hasty substitutions with whipping boy Jorginho replaced by fans’ favourite N’Golo Kante to ironic cheers.
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It was important for Sarri to maintain the momentum after back-to-back Premier League wins restored some of the feelgood factor which has been missing from Chelsea lately.
There was zip from the start from Chelsea looking for their third win in a row and Pedro gave them an early goal after which it was one way traffic.
Having picked his way into the box, the Spaniard laid off a short pass to Olivier Giroud who had his back to goal.
Giroud produced a back-heeled nutmeg of his marker to tee up his team-mate with an impressive return ball.
Pedro collected it without breaking stride, locked and loaded then hit the shot with crashed over the line off the keeper’s left heel from six yards and at full pelt.
Chelsea’s devilish winger wasn’t so on the money a minute later though when he should have made it 2-0 and put the game to bed well within the first half.
A low centre in from Davide Zappacosta was served on a plate for the advancing Pedro, who failed to react in time and tamely side-footed straight at the keeper when an ounce of power would have meant goal.
It was the story of his night until Sarri brought on Loftus-Cheek who won the free kick from which Willian made it two.
Loftus-Cheek then provided the killer pass for Hudson-Odoi to score with a minute to go and make next week’s return leg in Kiev a dead rubber.