Chelsea started their Champions League title defence on a winning note as Romelu Lukaku finally cracked Zenit St Petersburg’s defence to secure a win at Stamford Bridge.
The Belgian who got resigned by the Blues for £97.5m from Inter Milan, took his goal tally to three in the English Premier League after scoring a brace at the weekend against Aston Villa and was on the target again with his first goal for Chelsea in the competition they won for the second time against Manchester City in June.
The Russian visitors forced their host to work hard as they dug in but manager Thomas Tuchel’s side stepped up the pace after the interval, Lukaku breaking the deadlock after he headed in a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta in the 69th minute.
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Zenit missed their chance to get an equalizer after substitute Artem Dzyuba slid wide from six yards as he tried to turn in Sardar Azmoun’s cross late on.
