Football

Teenager Marc Guiu Scores First-Half Hat-trick As Chelsea Thump Shamrock Rovers In Conference League

Disclosure
We publish independently audited content meeting strict editorial standards. Ads on our site are served by Google AdSense and are not controlled or influenced by our editorial team.

Watch Chelsea Vs Shamrock Rovers highlights as teenager Marc Guiu’s first-half hat-trick sent the Blues on their way to a 5-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Already qualified for the last-16, Enzo Maresca’s men made it six from six to finish top of the league phase of this year’s Europa Conference League.

Despite dominating from the first whistle, it took Chelsea 22 minutes to break the deadlock.

Eighteen-year-old striker Guiu made the most of a mistake between Rovers’ keeper Loen Pohls and Darragh Burns to give the hosts the lead.

Rovers equalised within minutes, though. Having twice gone close through Johnny Kenny, they restored parity thanks to Markus Poom’s deflected effort.

His strike found its way in via Chelsea’s Cesare Casadei, sending the 3,000 travelling Shamrock fans wild.

But the hosts quickly silenced the visiting . Daniel Cleary’s poor back gifted Guiu another opportunity, with the youngster converting from a narrow angle.

A third Chelsea goal came from Keirnan Dewsbury-Hall, who reacted quicker to a loose ball in the Shamrock Rovers box.

Guiu then completed his first-half hat-trick in stoppage time before the break, heading home from close range to make it 4-1 at the break.

The hosts completed the scoring when defender Marc Cucurella’s low effort squeezed in off the post to beat Pohls and round off the victory.

Watch: Chelsea Vs Shamrock Rovers Highlights

Another thumping win for Chelsea reminded everyone why they are the overwhelming favourites for this year’s competition.

They are the only side to win all six league phase games, and ed a goal difference of +21.

For Shamrock Rovers, they must now navigate their way through the playoff round if they are to make the last 16.

They finished the league phase in tenth, level on points with Cercle Brugge but missing out on the top eight through goal difference.

Author photo
James Chittick
Sports Editor

James is an experienced writer covering a wide range of sports, including Premier League and European football, Rugby Union, WWE and the NFL. Having studied English & Creative Writing at Plymouth University, James completed a master's degree in Digital & Social Media Marketing before pursuing a career in Journalism. He then graduated from News Associates in Manchester after finishing their NCTJ Postgraduate Diploma in Multimedia Sports Journalism. Since then, James spent time writing for GameRant before ing Reach PLC, where he featured regularly in publications such as the Daily Mirror, Football.LDN, Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, as well as dozens of local titles. Now at SportsCasting, James provides expert analysis and detailed research features, as well as covering breaking news stories.

Get to know James Chittick better
Author photo
James Chittick Sports Editor

James is an experienced writer covering a wide range of sports, including Premier League and European football, Rugby Union, WWE and the NFL. Having studied English & Creative Writing at Plymouth University, James completed a master's degree in Digital & Social Media Marketing before pursuing a career in Journalism. He then graduated from News Associates in Manchester after finishing their NCTJ Postgraduate Diploma in Multimedia Sports Journalism. Since then, James spent time writing for GameRant before ing Reach PLC, where he featured regularly in publications such as the Daily Mirror, Football.LDN, Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, as well as dozens of local titles. Now at SportsCasting, James provides expert analysis and detailed research features, as well as covering breaking news stories.

All posts by James Chittick