Heroic Ivanovic

By Gary Watton
February 18 2015

Chelsea away days in two-legged tussles never make for anything other than compelling viewing for the neutral and excruciating viewing for Chelsea fans. Happily, while Jose Mourinho insists upon caution and siege defending, the Blues can call upon the considerable services of Thibaut Courtois to come to the rescue when the troops in front of him let their guard down. In fact this contest became a remarkable carbon copy of the semi-final first leg at Shamfield in January as Chelsea were required to withstand wave upon wave of second-half attacks.

Quite frankly, for the second month running, the Premiership leaders got lucky and owe a huge debt of gratitude to the recalled Courtois. Rob Draper, scribing in the Daily Malice, awarded Courtois a miserly 7.5 out of ten for his goalkeeping heroics! It would be no stretch of reality to suggest that a three-one or even four-one triumph for the hosts would not have flattered them. Chelsea were largely overrun in that torrid second half. They really need to go up at least one level in the return leg. However, since PSG will be chasing the game and in need of a win or a high-scoring draw, then I fear that we are in for more of the same fayre. The Blues will 'cleverly' soak up pressure and try to counter-attack. However, if we get stung with a late goal while clinging on in the second half of the second leg, then that won't be clever at all. It could be an accident waiting to happen. PSG have much to offer in the second leg. It would be foolhardy to expect them to go into their shell at the Bridge. Instead, it could be a case of grimly hanging on again - which is not an attractive prospect.

One would think that with the personnel that Chelsea have at their disposal that they could be relied upon to boss all matches with the lion share of possession and driving their opponents back to their own penalty area. I saw precious little of that in the Parc des Princes. Ramires and Willian were peripheral. Matic was hardly the commanding presence we are accustomed to, and as for Fabregas, is he starting to go missing? One Gooner smart Alec on social media reckons that Cesc fades in the second half of a season. I hope that he's wrong, but I am yet to be persuaded that he is incorrect. It's left as usual to Muggins, poor little Hazard, to act as Chelsea's exclusive attacking outlet, suffering nine fouls in the process. Jose was full of praise for the Belgian magician, stating that he never looks to get an opponent booked and he doesn't roll around on the ground, but gets up immediately. Courtois, Hazard, and Ivanovic would be worthy recipients of a Champions League winner's medal. I'm not sure yet about the other muppets. Are they just flat track bullies who can dominate in the Premiership, but then falter in the heat of the Championsn League's greatest tests? March the eleventh will reveal the answer to that.

Yet again, it took the remarkable Branislav Ivanovic to find the all-important goal. This giant of a player specialises in scoring crucial goals. His value to Chelsea is almost incalculable. Perhaps the same cannot be said of his defensive colleague, Mr Cahill, who is desperately trying to hold on to his first-team place at the expense of the fast-improving Kurt Zouma. Last night was not a convincing audition from big Gary. Costa was not at his best either, but the outlaw was feeding off scraps. It wasn't his fault that Chelsea failed to hold on to their interval lead.  

In fact, failing to hold on to a one-nil lead is becoming a depressingly recurring theme in Chelsea contests with the 'big clubs' this season and suggests that our team is not as cosmic on the break as it might seem. Surely our troops should either be able to defend a one-nil lead better or else extend the lead courtesy of some potent counter-attacking. Howeve,r with Chelsea placing so many players deep behind the ball in our own third of the field, it becomes really difficult to break out of defence in numbers, when the numbers are already posted in defensive positions. Already in this campaign Chelsea have twice taken the lead against Manchester City, once at Old Trafford, once in Paris, and once recently at Ann's field, and each time the team has had to settle for a one-one draw. Worse still, we caved in at Tottensham after taking a one-nil lead. Are Chelsea as unstoppable when they take the lead in the biggest contests? Recent evidence clearly suggests otherwise. 

Paris St-Germain 1 CHELSEA 1; half time: 0-1. Tuesday 17th February 2015.

CHELSEA goal scorer: Ivanovic

CHELSEA team: Courtois, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Matic, Ramires, Fabregas, Willian, Costa, Hazard. Used substitutes: Cuadrado; Remy; Oscar.

CHELSEA LEADING SCORERS:

Costa - 17 goals

Hazard - 13 goals

Oscar - 7 goals

Drogba - 6 goals

Ivanovic, Remy, Schurrle and Terry - 5 goals

Fabregas and Willian - 4 goals

Matic and Ramires - 3 goals

Cahill and Zouma - 2 goals

Chelsea Escape From Paris Punishment

Discussion started by Chelsea FC (IP Logged), 18/02/2015 14:29

Chelsea FC
18/02/2015 14:29

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