The Ukrainian winger was a constant threat for Sergiy
Rebrov's Ukrainian title holders, challenging Blues left-back Cesar
Azpilicueta with powerful running and neat touches
SCOUT REPORT By Eliot Rothwell After a week in which Jose Mourinho was said to be conducting scouting reports in Ukraine, many eyes were on Dynamo Kyiv winger Andriy Yarmolenko as Chelsea travelled to the Olimpiyskiy Stadium for Tuesday's Champions League clash.
Yarmolenko, a key fixture of the title-winning Dynamo side, is now 25, edging into the peak of his career with consistently mature performances last season as the Kiev club wrestled the Ukrainian title from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Mourinho pinpointed the Ukrainian international as a key figure in his pre-match interview with BT Sport, indicating that he had shuffled his defensive pack, putting Kurt Zouma at right-back and returning Cesar Azpilicueta to left-back in order to keep the winger's precocious talent at bay.
And as Dynamo managed a 0-0 draw with Chelsea, Sportmasta took a look at Yarmolenko's performance...
As is customary, Yarmolenko was fielded in his favoured position on the right wing, with Vitali Buyalsky and Derlis Gonzalez taking up the other positions in the line of three behind central striker Artem Kravets.
But for the 25-year-old winger the position on the right is only a springboard. Yarmolenko, like Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben, is often found hugging the right touchline as attacking moves develop before bursting into towards the centre of the attack with his neat dribbling skills and explosive left-foot shot.
Though he had license to drift, settling on the right for spells when taking corners, the winger predominantly positioned himself on the left.
Manager Sergiy Rebrov regularly looks to Yarmolenko to provide Dynamo's attacking spark and as Chelsea cam to Kiev, the plan was no different.
Up against a robust opponent in Chelsea left-back Azpilicueta, the Ukrainian winger was met with two ferocious challenges in the opening stages, with the Spaniard keen to impress his presence on the Dynamo forward. But following the initial blows, Yarmolenko, like Dynamo, grew into the game, continually offering an outlet for counter-attacks on the right side.
After negotiating a tight, condensed game in the first-half, the 25-year-old began to forcefully impress himself on the game after the break. With Azpilicueta tiring from Yarmolenko's constantly threatening presence and the game opening up, the Ukrainian illustrated his delightful technique and powerful running with two sublime passages of play.
First, in what was perhaps Dynamo's most concrete goalscoring opportunity, Yarmolenko led the counter-attack, charging from the half-way line with the ball at his feet and bursting away from the usually pacey Ramires before releasing Gonzalez with an audacious no-look pass.
From then on, Yarmolenko displayed his growing confidence with a number of neat touches, best illustrated with a delightful Cruyff turn, bamboozling the tiring Azpilicueta and leaving the Chelsea defender in his wake.
While Yarmolenko failed to make a substantive impact on the scoreboard, with the match ending 0-0, his energy, pace and technical ability provided Dynamo's spearhead, maintaining a threat on the counter-attack and engendering a number of threatening moments for the Chelsea defence.
Chelsea's regular wide-men, Eden Hazard and Willian, also put in impressive performances throughout the match, with the Brazilian attacker especially going close to scoring a decisive goal as his free-kick crashed agains the crossbar, getting the better of Yarmolenko in that respect, as the Ukrainian failed to have a shot on goal.
But, with Mourinho leaving Hazard out for the Blues 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, citing tactical discipline as an issue, Yarmolenko outdid the Belgian with some disciplined tracking back, winning the ball back from Chelsea's attackers and recycling possession. The Dynamo winger also has the added advantage of height, providing an outlet for corners at either end of the pitch, something that Hazard and Willian are not able to offer.
If Mourinho used Tuesday's match as another opportunity to scout Yarmolenko, the Ukrainian's performance can only have added to the Chelsea manager's interest.
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