CHELSEA defender Cesar Azpilicueta was disappointed that his side did not see off Malmo in Sweden after what should have been a routine return in next week's second leg resulting in straightforward passage to the last 16 will now be a nervy affair after Anders Christiansen's strike 10 minutes from time.
Ross Barkley netted after 30 minutes as Chelsea responded from their embarrassing 6-0 defeat at Manchester City, before Olivier Giroud netted his fifth goal in six Europa League appearances with a neat back-heel to make it 2-0.
READ MORE: Brendan Rodgers' side face Europa League exit
But at present nothing is straightforward at Chelsea, and Christiansen's late strike led to a jittery finish for Maurizio Sarri's stuttering side.
Azpilicueta said: "We had chances to have the result more comfortable but at the end they scored and there's still a lot to play for next Thursday.
"In the second half we had control of the game, it's frustrating to concede a goal and not to go with a better result to Stamford Bridge.
"There's still a lot to play for. Every game is like a final. We have a good result but we have to finish it.
"We know sometimes everything can change in football and we have to focus on that game."
Sarri, meanwhile, was pleased to see his side return to winning ways after their Premier League humbling by the champions.
READ MORE: How the Celtic players rated in the Europa League encounter
Sarri told BT Sport: "We were in control of the match, I think we deserved to win with more goals, but I am happy because we played with confidence and it wasn't very easy after the last match.
"We conceded a goal on a mistake, it can happen, but the level of attention was really very good. I am very happy but we know very well that we have to gain the qualification in the last match.
"I am always confident, but sometimes we had the wrong approach with matches, so we need to be careful in every match."
There was a raucous atmosphere for Malmo's first game since the mid-December victory over Besiktas which secured their place in the knockout stages, due to the domestic winter off-season.
Boos and a raft of pink flares met a Chelsea side showing five changes, with Eden Hazard, N'Golo Kante and Gonzalo Higuain kept in reserve.
Chelsea's attempts to stick to Sarri's possession-based method have caused them plenty of problems and they frequently struggled to string passes together here.
But the Blues took the lead in straightforward style as Malmo's defence erred when Pedro crossed.
The ball reached Barkley 10 yards out and the midfielder dug the ball out from under his feet and prodded in.
Malmo continued to cause Chelsea problems, particularly from set-pieces, but Kepa Arrizabalaga's first save saw Soren Rieks denied early in the second half.
Chelsea struck a second against the run of play. Willian darted down the left and crossed for Giroud to flick in at the near post after 58 minutes.
It was the France World Cup-winning striker's first goal since his strike at Vidi in Budapest in mid-December, albeit just two of his 10 appearances in the intervening period were starts.
Barkley was denied by Malmo goalkeeper Johan Dahlin and a Pedro effort deflected wide before Hazard was introduced, followed by Kante.
But it was Malmo who scored, as David Luiz and Azpilicueta were pulled out of position and Markus Rosenberg threaded a fine pass to Christiansen.
The midfielder held off Mateo Kovacic and finished expertly to add to Sarri's anxieties.
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