MATCH REPORT: Chelsea vs Paris Saint Germain [Champions League]

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. 

MATCH REPORT: Paris Saint Germain vs Chelsea [Champions League]

The first game in the current batch of Champions League ties looked to be a pretty good competition, with the leaders in England taking on the team in third place in France. The away team did have some good news as Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas returned to the team as well. 

The game had a slow and nervy start to it, with both sides trying to get a feel of the game. Neither team was moving forward with any pace nor could they create any chances when they did start to push the ball up the field. It took until the 11th minute for Paris Saint Germain to finally create the first two clear cut chances of the game. It started with a powerful header from Blaise Matuidi which Thibaut Courtois palmed away, but he couldn't clear it. The second header came from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but the ball bounced in front of the keeper and he was able to collect the ball easily. 

These chances seemed to wake up Chelsea and they began to push forward with more meaning and pace. They still didn't look likely to get on the score sheet, but Eden Hazard was proving to be a big asset to the team as PSG were not willing to press him when he had the ball at his feet. 

PSG still looked the more likely to get a goal though and were creating a lot more chances. Ezequiel Lavezzi had a chance with a header on 23 minutes but the ball bounced off the top of his head, not really testing Courtois in the end. Two minutes later, Ibrahimovic led the PSG counter attack but a poor pass from Matuidi to Edinson Cavani almost stopped the move. However, they did eventually manage to get a cross into the box which Courtois claimed. This started a quick counter for the Chelsea team now and the ball ended up with Hazard on the right wing. His curling cross almost proved to be difficult to deal with for Salvatore Sirigu, but he caught it and prevented any of the Chelsea players coming in behind him from having the chance to attack the ball. 

Both teams began to create more chances as the half came to an end. Gregory Van der Wiel managed to get in behind Cesar Azpilicueta but Gary Cahill was on hand to clear the ball out of the box. Not long after, Hazard won a free kick in a dangerous position after he was fouled. Fabregas took the set piece but couldn't find a Chelsea player in the box. Instead of quickly putting the second ball into the box, Chelsea played the ball around the box and the move was quickly cut out by PSG. Up at the other end, PSG had a corner taken by Lavezzi and Cavani manages to lose his man and direct his header towards the near post, but Courtois was there to meet it. 

It took until the 36th minute for the first goal of the game to come, and it was very much against the run of play. After a set piece, the ball ended up with John Terry on the left wing. He crossed the ball into the box and Cahill met it, placing a slight flick in front of Branislav Ivanovic, who directed his header into the back of the net. This gave Chelsea the slight advantage in the tie as now they had not only the lead, but the away goal that could prove to be all important in the second leg. 

PSG had a lot of possession following the Chelsea goal, but they weren't able to get the ball to the forward players or anywhere near the Chelsea defence. Even though they couldn't get on the ball, the Chelsea players were pressing PSG and forcing them to play the ball square or backwards so that they weren't a threat on their goal. On the stroke of half time, Ibrahimovic took a free kick from just outside the box. The shot was aimed for the top far corner but was already soaring over the crossbar, although Courtois did have that side of his goal covered.

The first half proved to be good for Chelsea in the end, but if the end of the first half was anything to go by, they weren't in for an easy ride in the second half. This proved to be true as none of the Chelsea players could get on the ball in the opening minutes of the second half, but again they pressed PSG so that they couldn't get into any dangerous positions on the pitch. When they did get on the ball, Hazard was once again proving to be the danger man, drawing in the fouls and his first thought was to get the ball forward. 

Then, on 54 minutes, PSG's hard work paid off for them. A brilliant cross into the box from Matuidi took out the defender marking him and found Cavani on the edge of the six yard box where he had a free header that he directed into the back of the net. From a Chelsea point of view, it was a poor goal to concede. Cavani had a lot of space around him, when he could have been closed down by any of the three defenders around him. 

On the hour mark, PSG were still pushing forward, this time with Ibrahimovic forcing his way into the box. His low shot was dealt with by Courtois, but he could only clear it to another PSG in the box, meaning that he had taken himself out of the game. Lavezzi was the player on the end of the second ball but his shot was first deflected off Terry and then blocked by an unsuspecting Azpilicueta, who was simply in the right place at the right time. A free kick from Lavezzi not long after landed with David Luiz who's header bounced just over the cross bar. PSG were looking dangerous in their search for the winning goal.

Cavani came close again close to full time. He was quickly being closed down by the Chelsea defenders and the keeper, but he still managed to push his shot towards goal, but the shot was inches wide of the far post much to the Chelsea players' relief. PSG also had the last chance of the game deep into stoppage time after a deflected cross came to Ibrahimovic. His header forced Courtois to make a brilliant save, meaning the score line stayed at 1-1 going into the second leg tie at Stamford Bridge in three weeks time.