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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta fought back to triumph in Bergamo.

Each club entered this match with identical points tallies in the league phase of this season's tournament, having won, tied one, and lost to have accrued ten points.

For extended periods there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team upped the pressure and justly levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they got the winner late on when the Chelsea defenders retreated from the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low shot.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a point in stoppage time but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage matches remaining.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, jump up to third, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Run Continues

This was a hugely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top eight finish they require to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this extends Chelsea's troubling streak of form in all competitions.

Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four outings.

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this game as he persisted with his run of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The changes here came after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will see rotation as necessary as he tries to handle players' fitness and compete both at home and abroad, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for important fixtures.

"I think in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he said.

"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to Bournemouth it is different but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the ones playing almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.