Although it may be short lived, with some teams still to play their final games on Wednesday, Chelsea left the pitch after our final league phase game sat at the top of the standings following another victory in an impressive Youth League campaign.

We had to wait for our early control to start bringing chances, but our lead was well deserved when Jesse Derry got his first goal of the game with a composed close-range finish. That was cancelled out when Francesco Gasparello headed in an equaliser for Atalanta, but we were soon back in front as Derry drilled his second into the bottom corner to complete a flurry of goals late in the first half.

We added a third to extend our advantage after the break, when Reggie Walsh fired in low from the edge of the box after being found well by Genesis Antwi, and from there our victory never really looked in doubt, despite the home team looking increasingly desperate for the result they needed to stay in the competition.

Patient start

Chelsea kicked off on a sunny afternoon in northern Italy, immediately enjoying a good spell of possession, moving the ball around at the back and taking control of proceedings.

The home team came into the game more after 15 or 20 minutes, with a couple of dangerous crosses from wing-back Giovanni Percassi – son of former Chelsea player and current Atalanta CEO Luca Percassi – causing concern in the Blues back line.

The Atalanta goalkeeper was called into action on the 20-minute mark, when a slick passing move started in the centre of defence and ended with Mattia Sonzogni punching a cross towards Reggie Walsh, but the midfielder’s low volley was too close to the keeper.

Derry was causing problems for Atalanta with his skill out on the Chelsea left, and was eyeing up a brilliant goal after twice flicking the ball over a defender’s head, but they were able to recover in time to block.

The tempo dropped after that, with the Blues happy to keep possession and control the game, already assured of our spot as a seeded team in the last 32. Charlie Holland went close, his shot bouncing just wide after bursting into the box. It was a warning Atalanta didn’t heed, and moments later the visitors took the lead.

Goals arrive

It was Derry, arguably our biggest threat in the first half, who got the opening goal, showing great composure. When the ball broke to him in the box, he didn’t rush, dummying a shot to take the keeper out of the game and then lifting his close-range finish beyond the reach of the defender on the line.

However, our lead didn’t last long. Knowing they needed a victory to have a chance of progressing to the next round, Atalanta sparked into life to equalise. They had passed up several chances to shoot, with the home fans voicing their frustration, but when Mattia Aliprandi crossed deep, Francesco Gasparello jumped highest to power a header into the net.

Thankfully, we struck back quickly to retake the lead and end a brief but worrying spell of Atalanta possession. Chizaram Ezenwata did brilliantly to shrug off his marker and drive into the penalty area, before looking for a team-mate in the centre. The ball reached Derry at the back post, and he drilled a first-time shot low into the bottom-left corner.

Ahead at half-time

Derry had his name on the score sheet twice and Chelsea went into the half-time break in front, although it took an excellent sliding clearance from Olutayo Subuloye, to cut out what looked to be a goalbound shot, to keep it that way.

The sun was setting over the Atalanta training ground as the second half began, and we had to weather a brief bit of pressure before we could regain control of possession and keep the game played in the opposition’s half.

We were never fully able to exert the same level of dominance that we had before the break, though, in what was a more evenly contested second half. Regardless, before long, we extended our lead.

Walsh had been denied a brilliant long-range goal by the keeper’s fingertips, but there was no stopping his next attempt. From the corner, Genesis Antwi did well to win the ball back and keep the chance alive. When he slid a pass into the feet of Walsh on the edge of the box, the midfielder opened up onto his left foot and arrowed a shot into the bottom corner.

Mature performance

That didn’t quite kill off Atalanta’s fight, but it gave us plenty of breathing room and allowed the Chelsea players to relax, with a two-goal advantage to see through to the end.

The Bergamo side still managed to push forward in search of a way back into the game on occasion, but we were mostly able to handle them comfortably. With the impetus on Atalanta to find a way to change the game, we were happy to keep the ball, deny them opportunities to counter and secure our fifth win from six matches in this season’s league stage.

It needed a good save from Freddy Bernal to ensure we finished with that same two-goal lead, making himself big to block at close range, but the Blues finished up deserving winners in Bergamo.

What it means

Chelsea Under-19s will continue our UEFA Youth League campaign after a successful group-stage performance, heading into the knockout stages of the competition as a seeded team after finishing the league phase unbeaten.

What is next

This was the last league stage fixture of our UEFA Youth League campaign, meaning our Under-19s will not be in action again until next year's last 32. There is only one fixture remaining across our Academy before the winter break, when our Under-18s' FA Youth Cup campaign begins away at Brentford, with kick-off at 7pm on Tuesday 16 December.

The teams

Chelsea (4-3-3): Freddy Bernal; Genesis Antwi, Dante Waite, Olutayo Subuloye (Calvin Diakite 65), Landon Emenalo; Charlie Holland, Ollie Harrison (c), Reggie Walsh; Ibrahim Rabbaj (Kobe Barbour 74), Chizaram Ezenwata (Sol Gordon 83), Jesse Derry (Mathis Eboue 83)
Unused subs: Toby Bell, Harrison Murray-Campbell, Riley Ebho, Ato Ampah, Frankie Runham
Scorers: Derry 28, 40, Walsh 56
Booked: Waite 16, Subuloye 58

Atalanta (3-5-2): Mattia Sonzogni; Alessandro Rinaldi, Max Bilac, Isaac Isoa; Giovanni Percassi, Filippo Mencaraglia (c), Gerard Ruiz (Manuel Belli 71), Francesco Gasparello, Mattia Aliprandi (Mattia Pedretti 71); Nicolo Artesani (Raul Cojocariu 71), Henry Camara (Andrea Michieletto 83)
Unused subs: Alessandro Anelli, Edoardo Corti, Nicolo Baldo, Giuseppe Mungari, Davide Bono
Scorer: Gasparello 34
Booked: Aliprandi 15