- Chelsea score early before Lukaku wins a penalty from a challenge that forces him off injured
- Werner also limps off before half-time with a hamstring injury
- Havertz scores third before Jorginho converts his second penalty of the night
Chelsea got their Champions League campaign back on track, but the victory came at a cost as strikers Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner were both forced off with first-half injuries.
Goals from Andreas Christensen, Jorginho, twice from the penalty spot, and substitute Kai Havertz made sure Chelsea emphatically bounced back from Group H defeat to Juventus by thrashing Malmo.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel, though, was left sweating over how long he will be missing Chelsea’s record £97.5million signing Lukaku, who suffered an ankle injury, and Werner who went off holding his hamstring.
“We have a twist of the ankle for Romelu and a hamstring for Timo, so they will be some games out I guess,” said Tuchel. “We need time to do some examinations, but they will be out for some matches.
“We have a lot of games, a lot of competitions, so now we have to deal and find solutions, no excuses. Now we need to find solutions and guys who waited for their chance need to step up and score. The race is on, the guys who start against Norwich have our trust and we will try to find new solutions. We don't want these problems too often, but it happens during a season.”
The injuries did not cause Chelsea any problem against Malmo on Wednesday night, with Lukaku’s replacement Havertz getting on the scoresheet. And with fixtures to come against Norwich City, Southampton in the Carabao Cup and Newcastle United, the Premier League leaders may not miss Lukaku and Werner too much if they have to spend some time on the sidelines.
But the Malmo game, together with the forthcoming run of fixtures, had offered an opportunity for Lukaku and Werner to hit top form and rediscover some confidence.
Tuchel had spoken like a man who had toyed with the idea of resting Lukaku ahead of this game, claiming he had played too much for Belgium and that he was mentally, as well as physically, fatigued.
He might have wished he had given him the night off, when Lukaku had to be substituted in the 23rd minute with Chelsea already two goals up but Tuchel insisted he had no regrets over his selection.
“We spoke about the fact he carries a bit of mental fatigue, but he is our number nine and the best thing for him would be to score a goal,” said Tuchel. “I had a strong belief he could turn things around in terms of scoring and things like this can happen. I don’t regret it.”
It was the challenge from which Lukaku won the penalty, scored by Jorginho, that ended the Belgian’s evening. He had twisted and turned his way into the area before being taken out by Lasse Nielsen.
Following treatment on his right ankle, Lukaku attempted to continue but, as Jorginho celebrated scoring from the spot, the striker signalled to the bench that he needed to be replaced and Havertz was sent on.
Lukaku had clearly sensed that this had been an opportunity for him to break his goal drought that had stretched over six Chelsea games before the visit of Malmo.
It only took five minutes for Lukaku to put the ball on a plate for Werner at the front post, but the German side-footed wide from a couple of yards. The flag went up for offside, but replays suggested the goal would have stood had Werner hit the target.
Malmo goalkeeper Johan Dhalin was then called into action to tip a shot from Lukaku wide that had taken a heavy deflection and it seemed like a matter of time before the Inter Milan man would find the back of the net.
The first Chelsea goal came in the ninth minute, courtesy of the most unlikely source as Christensen netted his first-ever Chelsea goal. The provider was just as surprising, as it was Thiago Silva who sent in the cross from which the Dane found the back of the net.
Jorginho felt he should have been awarded a spot kick after going down under a challenge from Nielsen, before the foul on Lukaku that left French referee Francois Letexier in no doubt.
Having seen his penalty saved in the final of the European Championships against England for Italy, Jorginho made no mistake this time to score his first goal of the season.
Havertz, who scored Chelsea’s winning goal in last season’s final of the Champions League, should have netted a third for Chelsea after being sent through by N’Golo Kante.
Werner had made his way into the six-yard box when Havertz’s shot was saved, but in doing so the forward pulled up in the goalmouth and had to hobble off holding his hamstring.
Callum Hudson-Odoi immediately replaced Werner and all of a sudden Chelsea, who had started with two forwards on the pitch, did not have an out-and-out striker in their team - not that it mattered too much against Malmo.
Tuchel was heartened by the fact that his replacements for Lukaku and Werner combined to extend Chelsea’s lead just three minutes after the restart.
Hudson-Odoi slipped a well-timed pass through for Havertz, who beat Malmo’s substitute goalkeeper Ismael Diawara by chipping the ball over him.
And Diawara was helpless to stop Jorginho scoring his second penalty of the night after Antonio Rudiger had been fouled by Eric Larsson, who pushed the defender in the back as he lined up a shot.