The first leg between Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain ended in a 1-1, with Chelsea scoring that all important away goal. That left PSG with the task of getting at least one goal in the match to stand any chance of staying in the competition. Chelsea, however, could still go through to the quarter finals if the score stayed at 1-1. On paper, it looked to be an interesting game, but would it play out that way?
The game had a quick start to it by both sides. The ball was being passed around quickly, but never in the end third of the pitch where some early damage could be caused. On the 5 minute mark, Eden Hazard got one on one with Javier Pastore and crossed the ball into the box. The cross was aimed towards Cesc Fabregas, who was beaten to the cross and the chance as cleared away.
PSG were having quite a few chances to get the ball into the box, but the chipped cross they tried over the defence didn't work and they had trouble getting the ball past the first man from set pieces. If they did, Thibaut Courtois was equal to everything the players could throw at him. On the other side, Chelsea were getting a lot of joy down their left hand side. Thiago Silva was scared to get too close to any of Chelsea's attacking players, allowing them to create a few half chances.
The first big talking point of the game came just after the 30 minute mark. Both Oscar and Zlatan Ibrahimovic went in for a tackle, both going in recklessly, but Oscar seemed to come off a lot worse. The Chelsea players swarmed around the referee in protest, but although to an outsider it could look like they helped to sway the referee's decision, it seemed that he had already made his mind up. He walked straight over to the player and showed him the red card, leaving PSG a man down, and still in need of that away goal.
This seemed to boost Chelsea's morale for the rest of the first half. Oscar had a good chance as he came inside from the left onto his right foot and curled a shot towards goal, but Salvatore Sirigu was in the right position to catch the ball. Chelsea also had a penalty shout as the half came to a close when Edison Cavani clipped the ankle of Diego Costa who went down with the challenge. The referee waved away the shout, much to the annoyance of Costa, who just before had been on a brilliant run that saw him brush off three or four PSG defenders.
The game was extremely scrappy and a lot of challenges were going in, including a lot of heavy tackles, which only seemed to continue into the second half. The way things were going, it wouldn't have been surprising if more than one player had been sent off before the night was over.
Chelsea started the second half the way they finished the first; strongly. Willian took a free kick from just outside the box, but couldn't get a good enough connection to look like it would cause any problems. Sirigu, however, looked extremely nervous as he anxiously palmed the ball away from the goal and out for a corner, when he should have been able to catch the ball. Ten minutes later, PSG had turned the game on its head. Chelsea looked tired and were walking through the game instead of closing down the ball like they had been at the beginning of the game. Cavani, who was onside, was slipped in behind the Chelsea defence and Courtois came out early to try and close down the angle, but he can't smother the shot. The left footed shot bounced off the near post and goes agonisingly wide of the far post. It should have been a PSG goal.
Considering that PSG had been playing the game with 10 men since the half hour mark, you couldn't really tell. Chelsea still weren't playing the type of game that Premier League fans had been seeing all season, they were extremely slow, and allowing the opposition to play around them. The game was still feisty though, and temperatures were rising as they normally would in an important game.
10 minutes from full time, Chelsea had another chance which Willian played a part in creating. He slipped in Ramires on the right side of the box, but he closed down the angle, and it took the slightest of touches from Sirigu to turn the ball onto the post and out for a corner; a corner which proved to be very important and totally against the run of play. The PSG defenders just couldn't deal with the cross and the ball bounced around in the penalty box until it landed at the feet of Gary Cahill. He took the shot sweetly on the half volley and powered the ball into the back of the net, giving Sirigu no chance at saving it.
Chelsea sat back again after their goal though and weren't putting any pressure on the ball to try and protect their lead. Ezequiel Lavezzi almost made an instant impact when he took his shot on goal, but the ball was aimed straight at the keeper. On the 86th minute, the game was turned on its head. An out-swinging corner into the Chelsea box landed on the head of a former player, David Luiz. He lost his marker and got up higher than the other players to power his header past Courtois, sending the game into extra time. Before that could happen though, Chelsea could have seen their team go down to 10 men as well. Costa, who had already been booked earlier in the game for a rash challenge on Silva, pushed a PSG player to the ground in anger, but luckily for him, the referee had turned his back and didn't see the incident, otherwise his team could have been in even more trouble.
In the 6th minute of extra time, a moment of stupidity gifted Chelsea the lead once again. Silva jumped to challenge Didier Drogba for the ball and put his hand up in the air which saw him make contact with it before Drogba got his head onto it. Hazard stepped up to take the penalty, and as usual, calmly slotted the ball down the centre of the goal when Sirigu dived to his left. Could Chelsea hold onto their lead this time?
It didn't look like they could. Luiz had a brilliant chance through a free kick which caused Courtois some problems as it looped up over the wall and looked to be bouncing over him into the back of the net. He managed to get a hand to it and turn it over the crossbar though. 20 minutes later, set pieces were still causing Chelsea all sorts of problems. Silva in particular looked dangerous as he looked to make up for his earlier mistake. His header was low, but Courtois got down and palmed the ball away for another corner. This time, they couldn't defend it though. Silva was stood just to the right of the penalty box when this cross came in and he jumped higher than John Terry to fire his header past Courtois and into the back of the net. After almost losing the tie for his team by giving away a penalty, he had just scored the away goal that took them through to the quarter finals.
Chelsea didn't have it in them to retaliate and after looking so strong in the first leg, a lot of people had thought that Chelsea would be the name in the draw for the next round. If this is the way that the top team in England is challenging in Europe now though, it doesn't look like it's going to be a good tournament for our home teams this year. For a lot of the game, Chelsea were slow in possession and closing down of the ball and looked like they were the team with 10 men, not their oppositions.
The game had a quick start to it by both sides. The ball was being passed around quickly, but never in the end third of the pitch where some early damage could be caused. On the 5 minute mark, Eden Hazard got one on one with Javier Pastore and crossed the ball into the box. The cross was aimed towards Cesc Fabregas, who was beaten to the cross and the chance as cleared away.
PSG were having quite a few chances to get the ball into the box, but the chipped cross they tried over the defence didn't work and they had trouble getting the ball past the first man from set pieces. If they did, Thibaut Courtois was equal to everything the players could throw at him. On the other side, Chelsea were getting a lot of joy down their left hand side. Thiago Silva was scared to get too close to any of Chelsea's attacking players, allowing them to create a few half chances.
The first big talking point of the game came just after the 30 minute mark. Both Oscar and Zlatan Ibrahimovic went in for a tackle, both going in recklessly, but Oscar seemed to come off a lot worse. The Chelsea players swarmed around the referee in protest, but although to an outsider it could look like they helped to sway the referee's decision, it seemed that he had already made his mind up. He walked straight over to the player and showed him the red card, leaving PSG a man down, and still in need of that away goal.
This seemed to boost Chelsea's morale for the rest of the first half. Oscar had a good chance as he came inside from the left onto his right foot and curled a shot towards goal, but Salvatore Sirigu was in the right position to catch the ball. Chelsea also had a penalty shout as the half came to a close when Edison Cavani clipped the ankle of Diego Costa who went down with the challenge. The referee waved away the shout, much to the annoyance of Costa, who just before had been on a brilliant run that saw him brush off three or four PSG defenders.
The game was extremely scrappy and a lot of challenges were going in, including a lot of heavy tackles, which only seemed to continue into the second half. The way things were going, it wouldn't have been surprising if more than one player had been sent off before the night was over.
Chelsea started the second half the way they finished the first; strongly. Willian took a free kick from just outside the box, but couldn't get a good enough connection to look like it would cause any problems. Sirigu, however, looked extremely nervous as he anxiously palmed the ball away from the goal and out for a corner, when he should have been able to catch the ball. Ten minutes later, PSG had turned the game on its head. Chelsea looked tired and were walking through the game instead of closing down the ball like they had been at the beginning of the game. Cavani, who was onside, was slipped in behind the Chelsea defence and Courtois came out early to try and close down the angle, but he can't smother the shot. The left footed shot bounced off the near post and goes agonisingly wide of the far post. It should have been a PSG goal.
Considering that PSG had been playing the game with 10 men since the half hour mark, you couldn't really tell. Chelsea still weren't playing the type of game that Premier League fans had been seeing all season, they were extremely slow, and allowing the opposition to play around them. The game was still feisty though, and temperatures were rising as they normally would in an important game.
10 minutes from full time, Chelsea had another chance which Willian played a part in creating. He slipped in Ramires on the right side of the box, but he closed down the angle, and it took the slightest of touches from Sirigu to turn the ball onto the post and out for a corner; a corner which proved to be very important and totally against the run of play. The PSG defenders just couldn't deal with the cross and the ball bounced around in the penalty box until it landed at the feet of Gary Cahill. He took the shot sweetly on the half volley and powered the ball into the back of the net, giving Sirigu no chance at saving it.
Chelsea sat back again after their goal though and weren't putting any pressure on the ball to try and protect their lead. Ezequiel Lavezzi almost made an instant impact when he took his shot on goal, but the ball was aimed straight at the keeper. On the 86th minute, the game was turned on its head. An out-swinging corner into the Chelsea box landed on the head of a former player, David Luiz. He lost his marker and got up higher than the other players to power his header past Courtois, sending the game into extra time. Before that could happen though, Chelsea could have seen their team go down to 10 men as well. Costa, who had already been booked earlier in the game for a rash challenge on Silva, pushed a PSG player to the ground in anger, but luckily for him, the referee had turned his back and didn't see the incident, otherwise his team could have been in even more trouble.
In the 6th minute of extra time, a moment of stupidity gifted Chelsea the lead once again. Silva jumped to challenge Didier Drogba for the ball and put his hand up in the air which saw him make contact with it before Drogba got his head onto it. Hazard stepped up to take the penalty, and as usual, calmly slotted the ball down the centre of the goal when Sirigu dived to his left. Could Chelsea hold onto their lead this time?
It didn't look like they could. Luiz had a brilliant chance through a free kick which caused Courtois some problems as it looped up over the wall and looked to be bouncing over him into the back of the net. He managed to get a hand to it and turn it over the crossbar though. 20 minutes later, set pieces were still causing Chelsea all sorts of problems. Silva in particular looked dangerous as he looked to make up for his earlier mistake. His header was low, but Courtois got down and palmed the ball away for another corner. This time, they couldn't defend it though. Silva was stood just to the right of the penalty box when this cross came in and he jumped higher than John Terry to fire his header past Courtois and into the back of the net. After almost losing the tie for his team by giving away a penalty, he had just scored the away goal that took them through to the quarter finals.
Chelsea didn't have it in them to retaliate and after looking so strong in the first leg, a lot of people had thought that Chelsea would be the name in the draw for the next round. If this is the way that the top team in England is challenging in Europe now though, it doesn't look like it's going to be a good tournament for our home teams this year. For a lot of the game, Chelsea were slow in possession and closing down of the ball and looked like they were the team with 10 men, not their oppositions.
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