Napoli 2-3 Chelsea: Joao Pedro fires Blues into Champions League last-16 | OneFootball

Joao Pedro put in a Man of the Match performance for Chelsea as the Blues qualified for the Champions League last-16 through the top eight with victory over Napoli.

Both teams went into the game knowing that three points were a must, with Napoli facing elimination from the competition. Chelsea, on the other hand, were playing for a place in the last-16, with only eight places up for grabs for automatic qualification.

The Blues got off to the perfect start, being awarded an early penalty which Fernandez converted. However, a quickfire double before half-time saw Napoli take the lead into the break.

Pedro turned on the style in the second half, netting two goals before the game was up - the first a brilliant weak-footed strike.

With under 10 minutes to go, it looked like Chelsea would have to settle for a place in the Champions League play-offs before substitute Cole Palmer combined well with Pedro, who fired in a second.

The win sees Chelsea finish sixth in the league phase of the competition, with Liam Rosenior's men taking all three points from Italy.

Enzo Fernandez broke the deadlock with a goal from the penalty spot. | IMAGO / ABACAPRESS

The visitors started in fine form, controlling the game as Rosenior opted to match Antonio Conte's 3-4-3 formation.

An early Reece James free-kick appeared to strike a Napoli arm in the box, with the referee pointing to the penalty spot after just 19 minutes.

Fernandez, stepping up for the penalty with Palmer on the bench, slotted away to give his side an early lead.

However, just 12 minutes later and the scores were level through Antonio Vergara, netting his first Napoli goal.

The Italian forward picked up the ball on in Chelsea's half before driving at the Blues' defence and pulling off a brilliant piece of skill to turn past Wesley Fofana and poke into the corner of Robert Sanchez's goal.

On the verge of half-time, it was Napoli who took the lead through former Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund, beating Fofana to the ball at the near post to fire in.

Rosenior introduced Palmer at half-time, with Chelsea's number 10 replacing Pedro Neto after a fairly underwhelming half for the Portugal international.

With his introduction, the Blues looked much improved and following a double change on the 59th minute which saw Jamie Gittens and Trevoh Chalobah introduced, Chelsea were level.

It was a brilliant strike from Pedro, who picked the ball up off Palmer before unleashing a powerful left-footed strike past Alex Meret in the Napoi goal.

The Brazilian added his second, firing Chelsea into the last-16, after a fantastic combination with Palmer yet again. His low strike saw the Blues take all three points, and book their place into the next round.

Romelu Lukaku was presented with a chance to break the heats of Chelsea fans once more, with the ball falling to him just inside of the Blues' box. However, his strike was denied by Sanchez as Rosenior's side sent Napoli crashing out of the tournament.