Guiu hat trick helps Chelsea rout Rovers 5-1 to extend Conference League dominance

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Chelsea’s Marc Guiu celebrates scoring his side’s 4th goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Chelsea’s Marc Guiu celebrates scoring his side’s opening goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Chelsea’s Marc Guiu, center, scores his side’s opening goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Chelsea’s Marc Guiu, right, is congratulated after scoring his side’s 2nd goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Chelsea’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, left, is congratulated after scoring his side’s 3rd goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Chelsea’s Marc Guiu, second from left, is congratulated after scoring his side’s 4th goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Shamrock Rovers’s Dylan Watts, bottom, forms another line of defense behind the defensive wall before a free-kick during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Vitoria’s Gustavo Silva celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Vitoria SC and Fiorentina at the D. Afonso Henriques stadium in Guimaraes, Portugal, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

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Fiorentina’s head coach Raffaele Palladino and Vitoria’s head coach Rui Borges, foreground right, react during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Vitoria SC and Fiorentina at the D. Afonso Henriques stadium in Guimaraes, Portugal, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

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Vitoria’s goalkeeper Bruno Varela saves a shot from Fiorentina’s Moise Kean, right, during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Vitoria SC and Fiorentina at the D. Afonso Henriques stadium in Guimaraes, Portugal, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

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Lugano’s Mattia Bottani, center right, celebrates scoring with teammates Mattia Zanotti, left, and Milton Valenzuela, right, during the Conference League opening phase soccer match between FC Lugano and Pafos FC at the Stockhorn Arena, in Thun, Switzerland, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)

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Lugano’s Hicham Mahou, left, in action with Pafos’s Derrick Luckassen and David Goldar, right, during the Conference League opening phase soccer match between FC Lugano and Pafos FC at the Stockhorn Arena, in Thun, Switzerland, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)

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Rapid Wien’s head coach Robert Klaus, center left, celebrates during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Austria Wien and FC Copenhagen in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna)

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Rapid Wien’s goalkeeper Niklas Hedl stands as smoke covers the pitch during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Austria Wien and FC Copenhagen in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna)

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Rapid Wien’s Isak Jansson, left, challenges FC Copenhagen’s Mohamed Elyounoussi during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Austria Wien and FC Copenhagen in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna)

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Smoke and Santa Claus tifo are displayed by Djurgården supporters during the UEFA Conference League soccer match between Djurgården and Legia Warszawa at Tele2 arena in Stockholm, Sweden, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (Pontus Lundahl/TT News Agency via AP)

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Legia Warszawa’s goalkeeper Gabriel Kobylak reacts after Djurgårdens Tokmac Nguen scored a goal during the UEFA Conference League soccer match between Djurgården and Legia Warszawa at Tele2 arena in Stockholm, Sweden, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (Pontus Lundahl/TT News Agency via AP)

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Heidenheim’s Norman Theuerkauf, left, scores during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between and FC Heidenheim and FC St. Gallen at Voith-Arena, Heidenheim, Germany, Thursday Dec. 19, 2024. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

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The fans from St. Gallen set off pyrotechnics duirng the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between and FC Heidenheim and FC St. Gallen at Voith-Arena, Heidenheim, Germany, Thursday Dec. 19, 2024. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

By KAREL JANICEK

Marc Guiu’s first-half hat trick helped Chelsea ease past Shamrock Rovers 5-1 on Thursday to complete the league phase of the UEFA Conference League with a 100% record.

The 18-year-old forward, who netted twice in a 3-1 win over Astana in the previous round, opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a header from close range at Stamford Bridge.

Markus Poom equalized for the Irish visitors, but Guiu restored Chelsea’s lead with an angled shot from the left in the 34th.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made it 3-1 six minutes later before Guiu completed his first hat trick for the Blues with a header in stoppage time.

“I’ve never seen anyone press like him,” Dewsbury-Hall told TNTSports about Guiu. “He doesn’t slow down, he’ll keep working hard. You forget how young he is. He’s only 18. I’m happy that he got his hat trick, he deserves it.”

Guiu, who joined Chelsea from Barcelona this summer, has scored six goals in six games in the third-tier competition.

Marc Cucurella finished off the rout in the second half.

It’s now eight straight wins in all competitions for Enzo Maresca’s team, which equals the club’s record set in December 2016.

Not PARSE.LY: Marc Guiu

Hojlund scores twice for Man United to beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in Europa League, Tottenham held 1-1

Hojlund scores twice for Man United to beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in Europa League, Tottenham held 1-1

Of the 36 clubs involved in the revamped competition, the top eight in the standings go directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into the knockout playoffs in February. The bottom 12 teams are eliminated.

Unlike the new-look Champions League and Europa League, teams in the Conference League face six opponents, not eight, in the league phase that replaced the traditional group stage.

Chelsea was the only team that stayed perfect, the only team that qualified to the round of 16 with a game to spare, and it scored 26 in six games, by far the most goals.

Despite its first defeat in the competition, Rovers finished 10th and became the first Irish club to advance to the knockout stage of a European competition.

Top eight

Rolando Mandragora netted for Fiorentina three minutes from time to salvage a 1-1 draw at Vitória, a result that gave the Portuguese team second place with 14 points. Fiorentina, runner-up in the previous two editions, was a point back in third.

Rapid Vienna beat Copenhagen 3-0 to advance from fourth place on 13 points. Djurgården was fifth with 13 points after a 3-1 win over Legia Warsaw, which was seventh place.

Lugano finished sixth after being held 2-2 at home by Pafos from Cyprus.

Cercle Brugge’s 1-1 draw against Basaksehir was enough to finish eighth.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer