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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to win in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this match with identical records in the league phase of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the pressure and justly drew level when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the winning goal late on when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low finish.

The visitors tried to rescue a point in stoppage time but a brilliant save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

Atalanta, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Persists

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top-eight position they need to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the lead.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's concerning sequence of results in all tournaments.

Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will see squad rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' fitness and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the same for key games.

"I believe tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.

"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to the previous game it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The ones who played tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.