Reports

Chelsea ground out a 0-0 draw with Atletico to put themselves in charge of their Champions League semi-final with the La Liga leaders. That result did come at a cost, with four players now ruled out of the return game through suspension or injury.

John Terry and Petr Cech picked up injuries that will rule them out of the rest of the Premier League season at least, while Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel both picked up bookings that put them out of the second leg.

Despite conceding much of the possession to Atletico and losing Cech with just 15 minutes gone, Chelsea kept an important clean sheet. That puts them in control ahead of the return leg at Stamford Bridge, but they’ll need to be just as resolute in defence with an away goal for Atletico liable to change things completely.

That task will be even harder without Cech and Terry, who will only feature again this season if Chelsea reach the Champions League final on 24th May in Lisbon. That is a possibility, given their great performance in Madrid.

The Blues made it clear from the start that they were going to keep things tight. Lampard, Mikel and David Luiz lined up in midfield, while Willian and Ramires played out wide. That five played very deep, blocking Atletico at every opportunity and taking few risks going forward.

Chelsea suffered a blow early on, when David Luiz shoved Raul Garcia while defending a corner, and the forward clattered in to Cech. The goalkeeper landed awkwardly, and suffered a dislocated shoulder. Mark Schwarzer, who was at fault for one of the goals in the weekend defeat to Sunderland, came on to play the remaining 70 minutes.

Despite giving Atletico almost 70% of the possession, the Spaniards didn’t really produce any opportunities of note. Chelsea had very few chances, with Fernando Torres left isolated up front on his return to his hometown club.

John Terry went off after 73 minutes after a collision with Luiz, but up until then the captain had a very good game. He, along with Gary Cahill, kept Chelsea target Diego Costa quiet. The hosts rallied when Terry went off, Arda Turan missed a good chance and Gabi sent a free kick into the arms of Schwarzer. Chelsea held out, and they know they’re a home win away from a Champions League final.

After the game Mourinho confirmed their injury problems, and said that he may play a weakened team in this weekend’s clash with Liverpool. “When the Premier League decide to put that Liverpool game on Sunday, when Liverpool refuse to play on a Saturday, it is a decision I have to make with the club, if the club wants to go with everything in direction of the Champions League I am ready for that.”

“The Premier League should [fight for our match to be played on Saturday]. We have a big match on Wednesday that can give Chelsea another Champions League final, we ask, ask and asked again to play on the Saturday. I know what I would do, but I’m not the club. I have to speak with the club.”

LCN Man of the match: Gary Cahill

Chelsea’s chances of winning the Premier League this year are all but over after they suffered a shock home defeat to bottom of the table Sunderland.

Despite taking the lead through Samuel Eto’o, Chelsea conceded a soft goal from Connor Wickham to level the scores. Referee Mike Dean didn’t make things any easier for the Blues when he gave a very dubious penalty, which was dispatched by Fabio Borini to score the winning goal.

Chelsea started the game without their first choice goalkeeper Petr Cech, who was ill. In stepped Australian veteran Mark Schwarzer, making his league debut for the club. Eden Hazard was still missing through injury, while Samuel Eto’o replaced in-form Demba Ba in the starting line up.

And it was Eto’o who struck first in the game, volleying in from a corner. After taking that lead Chelsea looked in control of the game. The three points that would put them top of the league seemed within their grasp.

But, with some lax defending from the home side, Sunderland got themselves back in the game. The ball came out to Sunderland left back Marcus Alonso from a corner, whose long range shot was spilled by Schwarzer, with Wickham on hand to tap the ball home.

Chelsea looked to have given themsevles the lead again, when John Terry volleyed home from Nemanja Matic’s knock down. The goal was disallowed for a foul by the Serbian, but it looked like Jack Colback went down very easily. Despite piling on the pressure late in the first half, Chelsea went in at the break on level terms.

In the second half Mourinho made several changes to spark a response from his side. He brought on Demab Ba, Fernando Torres and Andre Schurrle in an attempt to find a winner, but none was forthcoming. As Chelsea looked forward, they became open at the back. Cesar Azpilicueta stuttered on the ball, lost it to Jozy Altidore and then chased the American in to the box. He went down easily again, and Dean pointed to the spot.

Ex Chelsea man Fabio Borini fired home to put the away side ahead. Chelsea then had two penalty shouts turned down by Dean, with the man from the Wirral strengthening Liverpool’s hold at the top of the table.

Chelsea continued to press forward, but they couldn’t find a goal. After the game Mourinho, who had just suffered his first home league defeat in charge of Chelsea, refused to answer any questions from the press. Instead, he “congratulated” Dean and the referee’s union for their part in the title race.

“I will not wait for your questions. I can say everything I want to say,” Mourinho said. “First I congratulate my players. Secondly congratulations to Sunderland – it doesn’t matter how or why they won, but they won. Thirdly I want to congratulate Mike Dean. Fantastic performance. And finally congratulations to Mike Riley, the referees boss.”

LCN Man of the match: Mike Dean (according to Jose!)

Demba Ba reignited Chelsea’s title hopes after following up his crucial Champions League goal against PSG with the winner at Swansea.

Chelsea struggled to break down the Swans, who played most of the game with 10 men. Despite having several chances many were wasted as Swansea defended deep and in numbers hoping to hit the visitors on the break in an attempt to match Aston Villa and Crystal Palace’s victories over Chelsea in recent weeks. Ba eventually scored what proved to be the winner after 68 minutes.

Chelsea went into the game knowing that Liverpool had beaten Manchester City at Anfield, a result which could be highly significant for the Blues’ title hopes. A win would put them just two points off the top of the table, five points clear of City, with a clash against Liverpool to come later this month.

Chelsea went looking for the win with Tuesday’s hero Ba handed a rare start, but he was quiet in the early stages of the game. Chelsea were still without Eden Hazard, who went off injured last Tuesday, and it was his replacement Mohammed Salah who went close early on. The Egyptian saw his effort hit the post from Branislav Ivanovic’s cross after just five minutes.

After just 15 minutes, Swansea were reduced to 10 men when Chico Flores picked up a second booking for a clumsy challenge on Andre Schurrle. Flores had been booked for a cynical foul on Willian just a minute before. Chelsea used this to their advantage, dominating the first half. Salah missed another good chance, but Chelsea didn’t make too many clear cut opportunities.

Samuel Eto’o and Oscar came on after the break, with Ramires and Schurrle making way. The change worked and Ba and Eto’o both went close, but couldn’t find a breakthrough. With time ticking away, Chelsea finally made their possession count. Nemanja Matic, who looked assured in midfield once again, played a long pass through to Ba who controlled brilliantly and fired past Michel Vorm.

Chelsea couldn’t find a second, despite having chances, but they held on to get an unimpressive but vital three points.

Jose Mourinho didn’t appear for the post match press conference, and he sent first team coach Steve Holland in his place. Holland was glad to finally get a win against the Swans, and gave an update on Hazard’s fitness.

“I’ve been here three times with Chelsea without winning before today. Swansea can frustrate you. They’re good at retaining possession.” Holland said.

“The title is still in Manchester City’s hands if they win all their games. We’ve still got a Champions League semi-final to look forward to as well. That’s what Chelsea are all about, playing in the big games.”

On Hazard, Holland said he, “should be fit sooner rather than later, we can’t say for sure when, but a week’s break is good for us.”

LCN Man of the Match: Nemanja Matic

A late strike from Demba Ba sealed a 2-0 win over PSG and saw Chelsea reach the Champions League semi-final stage for the 7th time in 11 years.

Chelsea, who trailed 3-1 from the first leg, took the lead in the first half through substitute Andre Schurrle, but they had to wait for the crucial second that sent them through. With just three minutes left, Ba managed to scramble to ball home to send the Blues through to the semis and the home crowd into wild celebrations.

Jose Mourinho sprinted down to join the celebrating players after Demba Ba’s goal. It was almost a carbon copy of his run down the touchline at Old Trafford in 2004 when in charge of Porto.

That kind of win looked unlikely in the opening stages after a lacklustre first 20 minutes for the Blues. To top that off, Eden Hazard picked up an injury and had to come off after just 18 minutes, with Schurrle coming on in his place.

The forced change proved to be an inspiration to the home side’s chances of success as Schurrle put the Blues in front. The PSG defence failed to deal with a long throw from Branislav Ivanovic, and David Luiz teed up the German to fire Chelsea ahead and set them on their way to the comeback.

In the second half, the only thing keeping PSG in the competition was the woodwork, with two Chelsea efforts bouncing off the bar and back in to play. Man of the moment Schurrle beat keeper Salvatore Sirigu but saw his strike come back off the framework. Oscar then suffered the same fate as his great free kick also came back off the bar.

With just under 25 minutes to go, Mourinho sent on Ba for Frank Lampard. 15 minutes later Fernando Torres came on for Oscar to join Samuel Eto’o up front, as Chelsea chased a second goal.

PSG couldn’t take their chances on the break, and Chelsea’s pressure finally told when Ba found the net to put Chelsea back in the lead in the tie. PSG then raced forward but Petr Cech was on hand to ensure Chelsea made the semi-finals for the third time under Mourinho.

After the game, the manager explained his touchline run after Ba’s goal. He said he did it, “Not to celebrate – to tell Fernando and Demba the changes we had to do, because there was still three minutes plus added time and with that amount of time left, playing like we were playing, it was too risky. I wanted to use my two freshest players for a different job in the last period.

“We did enough in the beginning of the second half to score, but we couldn’t and after that there was a bit of a contradiction in terms of what PSG are and what they were saying yesterday – they played pure counter-attack, with no ball possession, just getting behind using counter-attack and closing everything.

“It was difficult for us to penetrate in that second part of the second half, so I played Demba and Fernando. We had looked at different systems yesterday and the players knew what to do. Demba made a crucial finish for us and I think it was very much deserved.

“The team that decided to defend was punished. The team that gave everything, sometimes with their hearts, deserved to go through to the semis.”

LCN Man of the Match: Gary Cahill

Chelsea put their run of back to back defeats behind them with a comfortable 3-0 win over Stoke, but manager Jose Mourinho is still refusing to recognise their status as Premier League contenders.

Goals from Mohammed Salah, Frank Lampard and Willian sent the Blues above Liverpool and back to the top of the table (for a while at least). Salah impressed on his first start for the club, playing a big part in the win which sets Mourinho’s side up for their crucial Champions League clash with Paris Saint Germain on Tuesday night.

With Tuesday’s game in mind, the hosts made several changes with Oscar and Eden Hazard both left out of the starting line up. Neither man was missed as Chelsea’s midfield fired them to victory. Salah opened the scoring after half an hour, slotting home from Nemanja Matic’s cut back.

Branislav Ivanovic had a goal disallowed for offside, with replays showing he was only narrowly off. Chelsea went in at the break with just a goal advantage, but Belgian Hazard was introduced just after the break for Andre Schurrle, and he linked up with Salah, which led to Andy Wilkinson bringing down the Egyptian and conceding a penalty.

Frank Lampard missed from the spot, but Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic spilled the ball and Lampard was first in line to poke the ball home on the rebound to effectively wrap up the points.

The pace of the game began to slow down, but then Willian ran at the Stoke defence before shifting the ball on to his right foot and curling in a magnificent strike that his performance merited. After that goal, Willian was withdrawn ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League game, with Ashley Cole coming on to make a rare appearance.

Despite the good win, Mourinho is still refusing to say his team are part of the title fight, with Manchester City and Liverpool still favourites to lift the trophy. When pressed on their title changes he said, “The situation is the same. The table is fake. The table is again with lots of matches in hand.”

The Portuguese is more hopeful over their chances for next season, especially after their latest win. “The players can go home with smiles on their faces,” Mourinho said. “He [Salah] is improving, step by step. We knew he was a player for the next season and can use this season to improve. Next season we have kids like him – Oscar, Eden Hazard, Willian and Andre Schurrle – all of them 20 to 25, all talented and with time to reach the top of the game.”

Chelsea still have a chance of winning the Champions League for the second time in two years, but first they have a 3-1 deficit to overturn. “We have to enjoy the match on Tuesday and not to be scared of it, not lose the tie and go out,” Mourinho said. “[To] enjoy it is the best way to play this match because of the difficulty of this situation.”

LCN Man of the Match: Mohammed Salah

Chelsea have been left with an uphill task to make the semi finals of the Champions League after a 3-1 defeat by PSG. Manager Jose Mourinho blasted his usually reliable defenders after the game for, “joke defending”.

Ezequiel Lavezzi fired home just three minutes in to the game to put the hosts ahead. Brazilian playmaker Oscar won a penalty for his side after being fouled in the area, which Eden Hazard confidently swept home midway through the first period.

David Luiz restored the hosts’ lead with an hour gone as he bundled the ball in to his own goal, before Javier Pastore fired home in added time, beating Petr Cech after a mazy run through the Blues penalty box.

Before the game Mourinho sent out a warning to his strikers, by leaving them all out of the starting 11. German winger Andre Schurrle started up front with Willian, Hazard and Oscar in support in the regular 4-2-3-1 formation.

But, it was the Chelsea defending that let Mourinho down as a PSG winger put the hosts ahead early on. John Terry misplaced a headed clearance with just three minutes gone, sending it straight in to the path of Lavezzi, and the Argentine volleyed it past Cech and in to the top left hand corner.

With the half hour mark approaching Oscar drew a clumsy foul from his international team mate Thiago Silva and the referee pointed to the spot. Hazard stepped up and coolly dispatched the penalty, a goal which his fine overall performance deserved.

The teams were level going in to the second half, but PSG’s attacking talents were troubling the Chelsea back four from the start of the second half, and they got their reward after 61 minutes. Luiz gave away a free kick wide on the left, and Lavezzi’s wicked cross was turned in to his own goal by the Brazilian.

Pastore gave his side a two goal lead late in the game, when he jinked through the box beating Chelsea defenders with ease before seeing his low shot fly past Petr Cech.

Mourinho didn’t hold back after the game, calling out his defenders for their poor showing. “The third was not a goal, it’s a joke. Gary Cahill says ‘sloppy’. I say ‘ridiculous’,” said the Portuguese boss.

“We played against a great team with fantastic attacking players and you would expect them to score fantastic goals, not the goals they scored. We assisted the striker for the first goal. For the second goal, the way the team was positioned defensively was not right. The third was ridiculous.”

A clearly unhappy Mourinho then explained his team selection, after he left both of his available strikers out of the starting line up. “I’m not happy with my strikers, I have to try things. With Andre, at least I know we have one more player to have the ball, we have one more player to associate with the other players.

“Football is also about scoring goals. That is for strikers, for real strikers. I had to try.” Try as they might, the fact remains the Pensioners now have a huge task ahead of them at the Bridge next week.

LCN Man of the Match: Eden Hazard

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho ruled his side out of the title race after they lost 1-0 at struggling Crystal Palace on Saturday.

An own goal from captain John Terry sent Chelsea on their way to a second consecutive league defeat away from home, stealing all of the momentum from last week’s thrashing of Arsenal.

Palace started the game much better, playing quick, physical football against the sluggish Blues. Many looked to have one eye on the clash with PSG in mid week as they never really got back into the game.

Palace seemed to grow in stature as the contest progressed, with the hosts threatening a few times in the first half. Yannick Bolasie fired wide while Petr Cech was forced in to making a few good saves as Palace bossed the first half. They could have even had a penalty when Gary Cahill went in to Cameron Jerome late in the half.

Oscar’s substitute appearance for the second half did little to get the Blues firing, with Palace still in control of the game. The home side made their pressure count after 53 minutes when John Terry headed the ball past his own keeper under pressure from Joe Ledley.

Eden Hazard would have levelled but for a good save from Julian Speroni, but Palace didn’t stop there and Jason Puncheon shot just wide, while an effort from Jerome hit the post and bounced out. Chelsea pushed for an equaliser but a total of 21 shots and just two on target shows just how close they came to picking up a point.

After the game, Jose Mourinho ruled out his side’s title chances and blamed the defeat on complacency in the squad. “Now it’s impossible to win the title. When you depend a little it’s possible, when you depend a lot I don’t think it is possible. Mathematically it is still possible but one thing is mathematics and another is reality.”

When it came to the result, Mourinho was quite open about what caused the defeat, saying, “Clearly we have some players who because of their profile they find it difficult to perform in some profile of matches.

“You can find things in common with every match we lost this season — to Stoke City, Everton, Newcastle away and at West Brom where we dropped two points.
My four defenders, phenomenal performance, as always. The others I’d prefer not to analyse individually.

“You have Terry, Ivanovic, Cahill and Azpilicueta and they perform in the sun, the rain, small pitches, big pitches, aggressive teams, possession teams. They perform every game from day one to the last day.”

The Blues next game is away to Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday night in the Champions League. Given they are now two points adrift of Liverpool in the Premier League and just two points clear of Man City having played two games more, European glory may be their best hope of silverware this term.

LCN Chelsea player of the match : Branislav Ivanovic

Chelsea landed a hammer blow to Arsenal’s title chances after they ran out 6-0 winners in Arsene Wenger’s 1000th game in charge of the Gunners. That rout has put seven points between Chelsea and Arsenal, and maintained Chelsea’s lead at four points.

Arsenal conceded twice in the opening seven minutes, first to Samuel Eto’o and then to Andre Schurrle after two perfectly executed counter attacks. A penalty from Eden Hazard extended that lead to three after Kieron Gibbs was bizarrely sent off despite Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain conceding the spot kick with an obvious hand ball.

Brazilian playmaker Oscar scored either side of the half time break to inflict further misery on Arsenal, then substitute Mohammed Salah completed the rout after some terrible Arsenal defending.

The result goes down as Jose Mourinho’s biggest ever Premier League victory, but the build up to this game was all about his opponent Wenger. After 18 years at the club the Frenchman was managing Arsenal for the 1000th time. He was looking to celebrate that by beating Mourinho for the first time, and end the Portuguese’s unbeaten league record at Stamford Bridge.

Those hopes took a blow very early on in the game. Oliver Giroud saw his goo1d chance saved by Petr Cech, and then Chelsea broke away and took the lead from a neat finish by Eto’o with just five minutes on the clock. Two minutes later Schurrle latched on to Nemanja Matic’s through ball and doubled the lead.

Oxlade-Chamberlain then pulled off a save that any keeper would have been proud of to block a shot from Hazard, even though it was going wide. Referee Andre Marriner strangely sent off Gibbs instead, getting the two mixed up. Hazard stepped up and slotted the penalty home, effectively wrapping up the points.

Chelsea weren’t done though, with Oscar tapping in a Fernando Torres cross three minutes before half time. Oscar also scored the 5th, with Wojciech Szczesny at fault after the Brazilian’s long range shot slipped past him. Mohammed Salah beat the offside trap before slotting home.

After the game Mourinho was delighted with the performance, but he still refused to call his side title favourites.

“We came to kill and in 10 minutes we destroyed them. The way we started, the way we pressed them and recovered the ball, it was fantastic. Everyone in the stadium felt it would be an easy Chelsea win after only 10 minutes and it was then easy and comfortable.”

When asked if they were favourites for the Premier League crown Mourinho replied, “No. Obviously not. We go match after match. We play Crystal Palace next and after that we go to Paris. It’s a different situation to Arsenal. It’s a different situation to Liverpool, and Manchester City are also not in that situation. We are happy to be in that situation.” We bet you are, Jose!

LCN Man of the match: Oscar

Chelsea eased through to the last eight of the Champions League on Tuesday as they recorded a comfortable 2-0 win over Galatasaray – and returning hero Didier Drogba – at Stamford Bridge which gave them a 3-1 aggregate victory.

First half goals from Samuel Eto’o and Gary Cahill ensured that Chelsea wouldn’t fall to the same fate as Manchester City and Arsenal, who both crashed of the Champions League last week. The hosts dominated the game throughout, completing a straightforward win that could well have been by an even greater margin.

The Blues had 20 shots in all, but despite having marginally less possession they controlled the game, with their Turkish visitors not even managing a single shot on target in the 90 minutes. Eden Hazard was a thorn in the side of the Galatasaray defence throughout, and he probably deserved a goal.

Drogba’s return to Stamford Bridge rightly dominated the news agenda ahead of this tie, just as it did in the build up to the first leg. Just before kick off the stadium united in appreciation for the Ivorian striker, but once the game began Chelsea made sure there would be no fairytale return for the former fan favourite.

Eto’o gave Chelsea the lead after just four minutes when he latched on to a pass from Oscar, and fired past Galatasaray keeper Fernando Muslera for his 30th Champions League goal. The Cameroon striker was good value for the goal, starting the game well and looking sharp.

Chelsea continued to press and Frank Lampard, Willian and John Terry all wasted good chances to double the lead for the Blues. However, with half time looming Terry got on the end of a Lampard corner, forced a save from his header and Cahill fired home the rebound.

That goal from Cahill effectively wrapped up the game for Chelsea but they could have recorded an even bigger win. Hazard continued to threaten in the second half and the Belgian forced a good save from Muslera, while Oscar, Lampard and Willian all had good chances. Drogba had the chance to score a consolation goal in stoppage time but he uncharacteristically missed the target.

Jose Mourinho was delighted with the win over Galatasaray, and even managed a parting shot at Rafa Benitez in his post match press conference.

“To come from the Europa League to the quarter-finals of the Champions League is important for the club, important for the players. We are a Champions League club and now we are among the best eight, the best clubs in the world, and we are there. The players deserve to be there.”

He also said that they have no preference about who they play in the next round, “All the big teams are there. All the big candidates to win the competition are there. And we would welcome any one of them. It would be very good for our evolution as a team and very important for us to play one of the best. We wait for the draw. It doesn’t matter who. They are all welcome.”

Chelsea’s title hopes took a huge hit after losing at Villa Park on Saturday, in an ill-tempered game that saw two players and manager Jose Mourinho sent off.

Chelsea, who had a goal disallowed for offside late in the first half, went reduced to 10 men when Willian received a harsh second yellow card. Villa midfielder Fabien Delph hit the winner after a breakaway before Ramires and Jose Mourinho were sent off in added time.

The Blues boss was sent to the stands after coming onto the pitch during the fracas following a two-footed challenge by Ramires on Karim El Ahmadi. Chris Foy has now sent off six Chelsea players in the last eight games he’s refereed for them, plus Mourinho.

After that defeat Mourinho’s side sit six points ahead of Manchester City, who have three games in hand and are now favourites for the title following their 2-0 win at Hull. It means Mourinho’s claims before the game that they weren’t really league leaders look even more true now.

The game started as a quite drab affair, with little happening before Nemanja Matic was denied what would have been his first Chelsea goal in his second spell at the club after he handled the ball before finishing.

Chelsea’s attacking trio of Oscar, Willian and Eden Hazard were brighter after the break, until Willian tripped Delph and received his second yellow card. Chelsea continued to press with their 10 men but they were hit on the break with just eight minutes to go. Marc Albrighton sent a low cross across to Delph, who managed to back-heel the ball past Petr Cech and into the bottom corner.

Chelsea’s day got even worse when Ramires saw red during stoppage time for an ugly lunge on El Ahmadi. After that, tensions boiled over on the pitch as both benches ran towards the ref. Mourinho, who has now not won in five visits to Villa Park, was sent to the stands for his part in it.

The Portuguese manager didn’t want to comment on Chris Foy’s perfromance, but he left no one in any doubt about his anger over the sending off. “I prefer not to comment because I don’t want to bring the game into disrepute,” said Mourinho. “I prefer not to speak. If I speak I am in big trouble.”

“I ask, ‘If you can give me just five seconds, Mr Foy?’ [But he said] ‘No.’ So I have to go home and close my mouth.”

The Chelsea manager went on to say, “It’s a big occasion for me to know about the character of Mr Foy, because I want to know what he’s going to write about my sending off. I was two, three metres inside the pitch or four, five metres, but there was like 10 persons there. It was me, my two assistants, Paul Lambert, Paul’s assistants.”

And despite saying he would keep his mouth closed, he didn’t, going on to question the decision: “So if I was sent off because I was on the pitch, I ask why not the others, especially one player that made an aggression on another one, Agbonlahor on Ramires? Agbonlahor came from the dug out, he went to Ramires pulled him from his neck and Agbonlahor was not on pitch he was on the bench.” All in all, it was certainly not a special day for the Special One.