Chelsea were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by Qarabag in Baku as their hopes of achieving direct passage to the last-16 of the Champions League received a blow.
Things looked desperate for the away side when Marko Jankovic's penalty saw them fall behind in the first half following a brilliant strike from Leandro Andrade that had levelled the match.
An early goal by Estevao appeared to have Chelsea en route to a routine win following their 2,500-mile journey to the eastern edge of Europe against a side that beat Shelbourne 4-0 in the qualifying rounds.
It then took a goal early in the second half from substitute Alejandro Garnacho to spare Chelsea’s blushes, and it was hard to argue they deserved more.
With one defeat already in the competition, there is little margin for error for Enzo Maresca’s side between now and January if they expect to finish in the top eight and avoid February’s play-off round.
What they did not need was dropped points against a team which, according to UEFA’s seeding, are one of the weakest to have reached this stage, but an ambitious Qarabag looked anything but as they sought to keep their own strong start going.
The champions of Azerbaijan posed a far greater challenge than when losing 4-0 on Chelsea’s last visit here eight years ago, and against the tournament’s surprise package so far the Blues made a far from ideal start.
Four minutes in, Romeo Lavia pulled up with what looked like a muscle injury and had to be replaced. The midfielder walked off the pitch unaided but visibly frustrated, with yet another disruption to his Chelsea career looking likely.
Moises Caicedo came on and lashed an early chance just over, then Tyrique George – preferred at number nine to Liam Delap – set up Andrey Santos for an awful miss from three yards.
The Brazilian made amends moments later, picking out his international teammate Estevao who cut in from the right and slipped the ball left-footed inside the near post.
Jorrel Hato was caught out to let in Qarabag to equalise. He was outmuscled by winger Camilo Duran who charged into the box and shot against the post. Marc Cucurella was slow reacting to the rebound and in front of him nipped Andrade who volleyed in.
The teenage defender was at fault again minutes later, a handball to concede the penalty from which Jankovic made it 2-1.
Garnacho came off the bench for the second half and levelled in the 52nd minute. His initial cross towards Estevao was poor and easily cut out, but as the ball broke back to him he opted to do it all himself, zipping the ball past Mateusz Kochalski to ease Maresca’s concerns.
Delap, another half-time introduction, looked to make up for lost time during his nearly two-month spell out injured, getting ahead of his defender and sending a low shot a yard wide.
Garnacho ought to have won it in stoppage time but was denied by a wonderful save at close range by Kochalski.
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