Chelsea kicked off their Conference League campaign with a 4-2 win over Gent.

Scorers: Veiga 12′, Neto 46′, Nkunku 63′, Dewsbury-Hall 70′; Watanabe 50′, Gandelman 90′

Renato Veiga opened the scoring with a well-placed header to meet Mykhailo Mudryk’s cross from the right at the far post on 12 minutes.

Enzo Maresca’s side doubled their tally immediately after half-time when Pedro Neto drilled home a shot inside the box from Axel Disasi’s ball over the top.

But the visitors halved the deficit just three minutes later through Tsuyoshi Watanabe glancing home Andri Guðjohnsen’s cross to beat Filip Jörgensen.

Christopher Nkunku settled any potential nerves inside Stamford Bridge by rifling home a loose ball inside the area for his seventh goal in nine outings.

The Blues went further ahead as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall opened his account for the club with a swept finish from the centre of the box.

However there was a consolation for Gent as Omri Gandelman fire a clinical effort at the end of normal time from Max Dean’s cutback.

That late goal saw Chelsea miss out on a place in the Conference League’s top four positions as they ended the evening in sixth place after the opening games.