Álvaro Morata puffed out his cheeks and tried to muster a smile. He had provided the game’s decisive moment and his grateful teammates ran to congratulate him after his poacher’s finish. Yet Chelsea’s matchwinner betrayed relief more than joy by burying his face in Willian’s shoulder, and his struggle to enjoy the feeling of ending his barren run summed up an awkward night for Maurizio Sarri’s side.

Putting the result to one side, this was an unsatisfactory exercise for Chelsea, and Morata’s inconsistencies were a prominent feature in a messy collective display. On the one hand, the Spaniard’s first goal since August allowed Chelsea to break Vidi’s stubborn resistance and establish control of their Europa League group. Yet Morata’s dreadful miss in the first half felt more in keeping with his insipid form this season. He cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest and was booked for dissent after complaining too much about Vidi’s robust defending.

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The emotions were mixed and Sarri was even asked if Morata had been on the verge of tears after his late strike. The Italian shrugged and claimed not to care. “After a goal, if he wants to cry, I hope to see him cry very often,” Chelsea’s manager said.

Sarri was more concerned with his side’s erratic performance than Morata’s mindset. Chelsea had to turn to Eden Hazard for inspiration in the second half and Kepa Arrizabalaga made some important interventions, not least when he denied Istvan Kovacs a dramatic equaliser with an outstanding save. “We have created a lot of opportunities but we have conceded two or three opportunities,” Sarri said. “We have to do better in the defensive phase to avoid the counterattacks of the opponents.”

Chelsea, who made eight changes after last weekend’s intense draw with Liverpool, were certainly relieved that Miroslav Zelinka, the Czech referee, chose not to penalise Gary Cahill when he appeared to bring Boban Nikolov down on the edge of the area shortly before half-time. The Vidi striker had escaped his markers and the away bench leapt up in protest at Cahill’s lunging tackle. They could not believe it when their appeals for a free-kick and a possible red card for the Chelsea defender fell on deaf ears. “I didn’t see well from my position,” Marko Nikolic, Vidi’s manager, said. “But it was a questionable decision.”

In fairness, Chelsea also had cause to feel aggrieved when Paulo Vinicius got away with tugging Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s shirt inside his own area and the hosts were also entitled to argue that they were the better side.

Yet sloppiness infected Chelsea’s play at the end of the first half. Vidi were timid at first but the Hungarian champions went close to snatching a shock lead when indecision between Kepa and Andreas Christensen almost allowed Loic Nego to prod home a loose ball. Nego would also threaten after dribbling inside from the right, only to scuff a shot straight at Kepa from close range.

Those openings were not as clear as the sitter that Morata wasted in the 16th minute. Pedro, causing problems with his direct running on the right, carved Vidi open with a deft pass that left Morata with only Tomas Tujvel, the away goalkeeper, to beat. Yet Morata’s difficulties were encapsulated by the way he fluffed his lines. He had a sizeable target to hit, with Tujvel stranded on the turf, and some members of the crowd were already celebrating. Yet those cheers turned to jeers as the ball sailed wide.

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Chelsea had not anticipated the occasion turning into such a grind. They had dominated the early stages and there were moments when a breakthrough felt inevitable. Cesc Fàbregas was pulling the strings in a deep-lying role and Emerson Palmieri was disappointed to fire over at the end of a weaving run in the eighth minute.

Yet their momentum dipped after Morata’s miss and they were indebted to Kepa’s sharp reflexes when Nego threatened with a fierce drive at the start of the second half. Having crept in to the contest, Vidi began to believe that an upset was possible.

Nikilic’s players were competing well and will have taken it as a compliment when Sarri introduced Hazard in the 55th minute. For Chelsea, however, this was not part of the plan. They had hoped to keep the Belgian back before visiting Southampton on Sunday. Instead, they found themselves crying out for his creativity.

Even more worryingly for Sarri, Hazard’s arrival did not immediately lead to an improvement. Vidi, who lost their first two games in Group L, continued to threaten on the break and Loftus-Cheek, making his first start of the season, faded before being replaced by Ross Barkley in the 66th minute.

Yet Chelsea would finally break Vidi down with 20 minutes remaining. Fabregas chipped a pass into the area, Willian flicked a header in to the six-yard box and Morata, who had just been booked for dissent, darted to the near post to smash the bouncing ball past Tujvel. He had made amends, not that he looked too happy. There was a bittersweet vibe.