Match Summary
- The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
- The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
- The Belgian attacker grabs a last-gasp winner for the home side.
- The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
- The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.
The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium.
The two teams entered this fixture with identical records in the league phase of this year's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.
For much of the game there was very little to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished the captain's cross.
But The Serie A side remained a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker creating problems for the defence.
Reece James shot wide in the second half but the home team increased the intensity and deservedly drew level when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.
Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winning goal in the closing stages when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a driven strike.
The visitors attempted to rescue a point in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.
The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase games left to play.
Atalanta, meanwhile, leap up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.
Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Continues
This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to secure the top-eight finish they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.
But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents took full advantage.
The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.
But the wider issue is that this extends Chelsea's troubling sequence of results in all competitions.
Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.
Too Many Changes Proving Costly?
Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the starting 11.
The changes here came after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.
Maresca will view rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the core group of players stays the unchanged for important fixtures.
"I think tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.
"If you see the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.
"The players who played tonight are the ones who feature in almost all the games."
Up Next for These Clubs?
The Blues' next European game sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).
Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.
