Chelsea FC 1-0 Zenit LIVE! Lukaku goal - Champions League result, match stream and latest updates today

Chelsea vs Zenit St Petersburg - LIVE!

The champions of Europe begin the defence of their crown as they welcome Russian side Zenit to Stamford Bridge tonight.

Little more than three months after Chelsea claimed their second Champions League crown thanks to Kai Havertz’s winner against Manchester City in Porto, the Blues are back in European action as they start their group stage campaign in front of a home crowd.

Thomas Tuchel’s side are among the favourites to lift the trophy come the end of the season, the German having transformed the club’s form after replacing Frank Lampard midway through last season, and then strengthened again this summer with the re-signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan.

With Italian giants Juventus lying in wait in Group H, Tuchel’s men will be desperate to get off to a winning start to set the early pace in the race to reach the last-16.

You can follow all the action LIVE with Standard Sport’s blog below...

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Key Points

• Kick-off: 8pm, Stamford Bridge

• TV channel: BT Sport 2

• Chelsea team news

• Zenit team news

• Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Zenit

James Robson is at Stamford Bridge

21:52 , Malik Ouzia

Far from a classic - but a very awkward match has been successfully navigated thanks to Lukaku’s 69th-minute header.

Once again he is the difference maker and with every game reminds everyone what Chelsea were missing without him.

FT: Chelsea 1-0 Zenit

21:52 , Malik Ouzia

Far from their best, but Chelsea’s Champions League defence is off to a winning start.

21:47 , Malik Ouzia

90 mins: We’re playing four minutes of added time and Chelsea have gone into keep-ball mode.

21:41 , Malik Ouzia

84 mins: Ben Chilwell is finally onto the pitch in a blue shirt this season to try and help see this out.

21:37 , Malik Ouzia

80 mins: What a chance!

Zenit should be level as Azmoun plays across the face of goal and Dzyuba stretches for it in the middle but can only toe wide. Mendy gets a whack off the big Russian, too, and needs treatment.

21:36 , Malik Ouzia

79 mins: Marcos Alonso goes twisting and turning across the box and eventually pulls the trigger on his left foot but drags the effort wide.

James Robson is at Stamford Bridge

21:31 , Malik Ouzia

That’s what he was bought for. A tight and frustrating game , but Lukaku rises to head home Azpilicueta’s cross. A moment of quality in a game that lacked it.

21:30 , Malik Ouzia

73 mins: Some of the Zenit players look out on their feet now, having worked so hard. Chelsea fancy a second.

GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Zenit | Romelu Lukaku 69’

21:27 , Malik Ouzia

Finally.

Cesar Azpilicueta curls in a superb early cross and Lukaku has just peeled off the back of his man to nod a delicate header into the corner. Lovely goal.

21:20 , Malik Ouzia

63 mins: Thomas Tuchel turns to his bench and Kai Havertz, the man whose goal won this competition three months ago, is on in place of Hakim Ziyech.

21:18 , Malik Ouzia

61 mins: Crucial block!

Sardar Azmoun darts into a gap vacated by Christensen’s surge into midfield to win the ball and gets the wrong side of the covering Azpilicueta but Rudiger is across sharply to toe the ball away just as the Zenit man prepares to slot past Mendy.

21:13 , Malik Ouzia

56 mins: The goal’s coming here. Lukaku rolls into the path of James this time and he can only side-foot into the side-netting with his weak foot, but the Blues are finding gaps at last.

21:08 , Malik Ouzia

51 mins: Much more like it from Chelsea at the start of this half as Alonso teases on the left and whips in to the front post where Lukaku almost gets across his man.

James Robson is at Stamford Bridge

21:07 , Malik Ouzia

That was the sort of moment this game and this crowd needed. Rudiger than the full length of the pitch before firing narrowly wide.

It would have been an absolute wonder goal. But even if it didn’t find the back of the net, it has woken up the Chelsea support, who are now in full voice.

21:07 , Malik Ouzia

50 mins: Would’ve been absolutely sensational. Rudiger charges forward from inside his own half, dances - or rather, drives - past three men and then fires just wide of the far corner.

21:04 , Malik Ouzia

47 mins: Chelsea’s first shot on target. Lukaku again holds it up and lays off to Mount, who sees the ball bobble away from him and sit up nicely for Ziyech but the winger rather snatches at the strike and it’s easy enough for the ‘keeper to get behind.

KICK-OFF!

21:02 , Malik Ouzia

No changes at the break and we are back underway...

This has been just about the highlight so far

20:59 , Malik Ouzia

James Robson is at Stamford Bridge

20:54 , Malik Ouzia

To be brutally honest, it was a relief the referee didn’t add on any stoppage time in that half. That was a poor, poor spectacle.

HT: Chelsea 0-0 Zenit

20:47 , Malik Ouzia

Not great, that.

20:45 , Malik Ouzia

44 mins: Reece James whips in a decent ball from the right and Lukaku meets it with his head but he’s well-marshalled and it’s always a big ask to keep it on target.

20:43 , Malik Ouzia

42 mins: Chelsea just trying to work it in those tight areas on the edge of the box, again with Lukaku holding off defenders, but there’s a toe away from Ziyech to put it behind for a corner, which comes to nothing.

James Robson is at Stamford Bridge

20:41 , Malik Ouzia

We’ve just had our first shot on target and it was from Rakitskyy. It sums up the entertainment on show here. This game will not live long in the memory. Low on quality and incident.

20:40 , Malik Ouzia

38 mins: A little sighter for Yaroslav Rakitskyi as an outswinging corner finds itself all the way to him on the corner of the box but his left-foot strike is straight at Mendy. That’s the first shot on target of the game...

20:35 , Malik Ouzia

34 mins: Chelsea are enjoying another little spell where they’re dominating the ball and the territory but they just do not look like finding a way through the white shirts.

20:32 , Malik Ouzia

30 mins: A bit of a hairy moment as one of the Zenit defenders pings a backpass towards Stanislav Kritsyuk that he isn’t particularly thankful for and he rather shins it out under pressure from Lukaku.

James Robson is at Stamford Bridge

20:26 , Malik Ouzia

Chelsea’s use of the ball has been poor so far. There are a lot of Zenit defenders to get through - but they have got to move it quicker and with more accuracy.

20:26 , Malik Ouzia

25 mins: Nice football from the hosts as Jorginho feeds it into Lukaku in that familiar position on the edge of the box with his back to goal. He cushions first time into the path of Ziyech, who needs no invitation to hit it on his left foot but his strike is charged down.

20:21 , Malik Ouzia

20 mins: A decent little chorus of the Steven Gerrard chant goes around Stamford Bridge, presumably in homage to Demba Ba, who announced his retirement from the game this weekend.

James Robson is at Stamford Bridge

20:20 , Malik Ouzia

That was a good opening wasted by Chelsea. Lukaku was desperate for Mount to play the ball quickly and had to check his run on more than one occasion as he waited to be released. In Mount’s defence, it was congested in front of him.

20:19 , Malik Ouzia

18 mins: More threatening from the Blues on the break as Mount travels through the centre of the park but it’s a bit of a messy picture in front of him and in the end he delays and tries to curl for the arriving James at the back post but puts too much on it.

20:18 , Malik Ouzia

17 mins: A few groans of frustration as Chelsea give the ball away cheaply playing out, but some excellent tracking and a robust challenge from Kovacic gets them out of trouble.

20:13 , Malik Ouzia

12 mins: Better from Zenit in the last few minutes with a couple of decent balls in behind that force Christensen and then James to get back and make last-ditch interventions.

James Robson is at Stamford Bridge

20:08 , Malik Ouzia

Mount has started on the left with Ziyech right - although the latter is coming inside a lot in these openings moments.

20:07 , Malik Ouzia

6 mins: After a little bit of early intent in the press from Zenit, Chelsea have very quickly started to dominate the ball and have the Russians pinned back inside their own half, struggling to get out.

James Robson is at Stamford Bridge

20:03 , Malik Ouzia

Tuchel insists Chelsea cannot look back on their achievements last year as they look to build on their Champions League success. But before kick off here they’ve received four awards for their exploits last season - goalkeeper of the year for Mendy, midfielder of the year for Kante, player of the year for Jorginho and coach of the year for Tuchel.

Now it’s time to focus on what’s ahead.

KICK-OFF!

20:02 , Malik Ouzia

We are underway at the Bridge...

19:56 , Malik Ouzia

The teams are on their way out in west London. Looks a cracking atmosphere under the lights.

Not long now...

19:47 , Malik Ouzia

Half-an-hour to go...

19:33 , Malik Ouzia

Time for a quick reminder of how Chelsea won last year’s competition? Oh, alright then.

Chilwell benched again

19:18 , Malik Ouzia

Still no run out for Ben Chilwell as Thomas Tuchel goes pretty much full strength tonight. What a peculiar few months the Englishman has had, with not playing at the Euros and now struggling to get on the pitch with his club.

Five changes for Tuchel

19:04 , Malik Ouzia

So the Blues boss makes five changes to the side that beat Aston Villa on Saturday evening, as Jorginho and Mason Mount both return in midfield, with Saul Niguez and Kai Havertz the men to drop out.

The other three changes all come in the back five as Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen are all recalled.

Zenit team news

18:55 , Malik Ouzia

Zenit XI: Kritsyuk, Sutormin, Chistyakov, Rakitskiy, Douglas Santos, Barrios, Malcom, Wendel, Kuzyaev, Claudinho, Azmoun.

Subs: Krugovoy, Mostovoy, Erokhin, Dzyuba, Kerzhakov, Kravtsov, Odoevskiy, Khotulev.

Chelsea team news

18:53 , Malik Ouzia

Chelsea XI: Mendy, Christensen, Rüdiger, Azpilicueta, James, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso, Ziyech, Lukaku, Mount.

Subs: Kepa, Bergstrom, Silva, Werner, Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Saul, Barkley, Hudson-Odoi, Chilwell, Havertz, Sarr

18:45 , Malik Ouzia

And we should have all the team news from Stamford Bridge very shortly...

James Robson is at the Bridge for Standard Sport

18:38 , Malik Ouzia

Standard Sport prediction

18:31 , Malik Ouzia

The Blues have looked imperious so far this season and will be out to stamp their authority on the competition they won so unexpectedly last season.

Chelsea 2-0 Zenit

Chelsea team news

18:21 , Malik Ouzia

Chelsea remain without American winger Christian Pulisic because of an ankle injury, while N’Golo Kante is also missing with the same injury although Thomas Tuchel says the midfielder is in line to return against Tottenham on Sunday.

Jorginho is expected to return in midfield having started on the bench against Aston Villa, with Saul Niguez perhaps most likely to lose his place after a difficult debut.

How to watch

18:12 , Malik Ouzia

TV channel: The match will be televised on BT Sport 2.

Live stream: BT Sport subscribers will be able to watch the match online via the website or BT Sport app.

Good evening!

18:04 , Malik Ouzia

Hello and welcome to Standard Sport’s coverage of tonight’s Champions League group stage clash between Chelsea and Zenit St Petersburg.

We’ll have all the team news and build-up ahead of an 8pm kick-off...