Maribor v Chelsea: Champions League – as it happened

http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2014/nov/05/maribor-chelsea-champions-league-live

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9.35pm GMT21:35

FULL TIME: Maribor 1-1 Chelsea

And that’s that! A much-deserved draw for Maribor, who were thoroughly outplayed two weeks ago at Stamford Bridge, and were expected to be swatted aside tonight. And were they? Nope! Chelsea didn’t even play that badly, and should have won it at the end with Eden Hazard’s penalty. But their hosts were simply magnificent. Agim Ibraimi’s goal was an absolute peach, and every one of his team-mates dug in to deny the Eleven Portillo(e)s In Flight. And to think earlier on we were expecting a complete lack of drama! In your face, Coronation Street and Waterloo Road! And the last word to Simon McMahon: “Think of how Mourinho would react if Chelsea had to take the train home.”

Updated at 10.35pm GMT

9.34pm GMT21:34

90 min +2: A frustrated Hazard twists maniacally down the left, but can’t make space. This looks all over.

9.33pm GMT21:33

90 min +1: There will be two added minutes, and the first sees Ndiaye replace Sallalich.

9.32pm GMT21:32

90 min: Drogba and Fabregas tie themselves in all sorts of knots down the left wing, and eventually run the ball out of play for a goal kick. Maribor take their time, as you’d expect. I’m sure Mourinho would approve in principle, if not necessarily within the context of this match.

9.31pm GMT21:31

89 min: Ibraimi, who tonight scored what will be one of this season’s great Champions League goals, is replaced by Bohar.

9.30pm GMT21:30

88 min: On the touchline, Jose Mourinho is throwing semaphore shapes. This is desperate for Chelsea, who were desirous of winning this match and getting their pre-Christmas European work completed early doors.

9.29pm GMT21:29

87 min: Hazard tries to make immediate amends, going on a baroque jig down the inside-right and hammering a low shot goalwards from the edge of the box, but once again Handanovic is behind it. This half of football has been relentless. Brilliant, and relentless.

9.27pm GMT21:27

Hazard misses!

86 min: A dreadful effort by Hazard, who scuffs it towards the bottom right. Handanovic parries clear! This is astonishing!

Updated at 10.53pm GMT

9.26pm GMT21:26

Penalty for Chelsea!

85 min: Viler has been wonderful tonight, but he’s made the mistake that looks like costing his team the match. Hazard twists this way and that down the inside-right channel, and is flipped into the air like a fried egg. A no-brainer of a decision, and a booking.

9.25pm GMT21:25

84 min: Arghus’s loose clearing header falls to Diego Costa, who hits a first-time blooter from 30 yards. It’s straight at Handanovic.

9.25pm GMT21:25

82 min: From the right of the Maribor D, Fabregas teases a clever diagonal ball over the Maribor back line, with a view to releasing Drogba into the box down the left. But the striker is snoozing, and miscontrols. He’s also offside, according to a slightly dubious linesman’s flag.

9.23pm GMT21:23

80 min: Chelsea look the more likely, but Maribor aren’t letting this go. Mendy twists and turns down the right, then slides a ball inside for Tavares, who hammers a low shot towards the bottom left. Cech’s not getting to that if it’s on target, but fortunately for Chelsea, he’s mishit it slightly, and the ball zips wide left. This has been a brilliant match.

9.21pm GMT21:21

79 min: Chelsea are robbed by the linesman’s flag. Fabregas is sent into the area down the left and pulls the ball back for Diego Costa, who rams home low and hard from 12 yards. But Fabregas is, incorrectly, judged offside. A poor decision.

Updated at 10.41pm GMT

9.20pm GMT21:20

78 min: Hazard bombs down the right and into the box. He waits for Diego Costa to reach the edge of the D, and flicks the ball to the striker. Diego Costa flicks the dropping ball towards the top-left corner, a majestic effort, but Handanovic is the equal of it, arcing his back to tip over in the spectacular fashion. That’s Champions League quality football all round. Sheer brilliance. The corner comes to nothing.

9.18pm GMT21:18

76 min: Now it’s Chelsea’s turn to miss a sitter. Oscar diddles down the inside-right channel and flicks a ball forward to release Hazard into the box. He’s only got Handanovic to beat, but his flick is way too cute. The keeper smothers, and somehow the scores are still level!

9.17pm GMT21:17

74 min: Tavares breaks down the middle of the park! He’s clear, and shoots low, but Cech saves brilliantly with his feet. None of it matters, as the Chelsea back line had stepped up in time; Tavares is offside. Just before the goal, incidentally, Zahovic was replaced by Mendy.

9.16pm GMT21:16

GOAL!!! Maribor 1-1 Eleven Portillos In Flight (Matic 73)

This is so simple. The corner’s lifted towards Terry, on the penalty spot. He heads down towards the bottom left, where Matic is in attendance to bundle over the line. Everyone in yellow celebrates, but they’ve got the good grace not to make a huge song and dance about it.

Updated at 9.30pm GMT

9.14pm GMT21:14

72 min: Should the plural of Portillo be Portilloes? I suppose it should be. Ah well, ‘tis done now. Oscar, by the way, cuts in from the left and curls a wonderful effort inches wide of the right-hand post. In fact, it took a deflection. It’s a corner, from which ...

9.13pm GMT21:13

71 min: Another penalty shout for Eleven Portillos In Flight! Ramires makes off down the right and fires a low cross to the near post. Oscar enters the box and looks to take up possession, but he’s clipped by Arghus. The referee’s not having any of it.

9.11pm GMT21:11

69 min: “My God,” cries Simon McMahon, “I’ve got Portillo’s jacket in HD on my telly right in front of me, right now. It’s canary yellow. Try wearing that in Methil.” Chelsea are wearing yellow too, of course. Eleven Portillos In Flight. Diego Costa battles with Stojanovic as the pair chase a ball down the left. Diego Costa enters the box and goes down after a weak tug. No penalty, though you’ve seen them given. It’s only a corner, from which Zouma half-heads, half-shouders an attempt wide right from 12 yards. Not far from the top-right corner, that.

9.09pm GMT21:09

66 min: Diego Costa finds a little space in the left-hand side of the Maribor area again. And again he hoicks a dreadful effort high and wide. Chelsea have picked up the pace here, and are beginning to ask questions, though that’s not stopped them looking highly frustrated whenever a move breaks down.

9.08pm GMT21:08

65 min: Viler robs the ball from Oscar, 25 yards from the Chelsea goal. He lines up a defence-splitting pass for Zahoivic, but Fabregas nips in to steal the ball away. Up the other end, Oscar slides a ball down the right and nearly releases Diego Costa, but the excellent Viler, everywhere at the moment, slides in to intercept. This is end to end, and a lot of fun.

9.05pm GMT21:05

63 min: Oscar has a belt from 30 yards, down the inside-left channel. His effort blams into Drogba. Nothing’s going Chelsea’s way right now.

9.03pm GMT21:03

60 min: Chelsea should be in all sorts of trouble here. Viler romps into acres down the left. Chelsea are backpedaling, all at sea. (Presumably in a metaphorical pedalo?) Anyways, Viler fires a low cross to the back post. Zahovic is racing in, and with Cech taken out of play by the excellence of Viler’s ball, it’s a tap-in to an empty net from a couple of yards, albeit at high speed. Zahovic leans back and wangs it over the bar. Hey, he’s only 18. But what a miss.

Updated at 9.47pm GMT

9.01pm GMT21:01

59 min: Chelsea are playing three at the back now, and Maribor make use of the extra space, Zahovic tearing down the right and earning a corner. Ibraimi takes the set piece, and loops it to the far post, where Rajcevic meets the ball with his head, albeit not with any particular conviction.

8.59pm GMT20:59

57 min: Hazard embarks on another delightful, twinkle-toed run. This one is straight down the middle, and pulls Maribor’s entire defence towards him on the edge of the D. He then flips the ball to his left where Diego Costa is in acres of space in the area. Diego Costa shoots, but for once Diego Costa does not score: he slices a dismal effort left and high as you like. Very poor.

8.58pm GMT20:58

56 min: Jose Mourinho listens to Dante Danger (55 min) and hauls off Filipe Luis. Ramires comes on in his stead. That’s all three subs used already. So much for treating this match as a nice rest.

8.57pm GMT20:57

55 min: Chelsea look stunned. Their passing has gone to pot. “Filipe Luis!” splutters Dante Danger. “Why was he so slow to close down Ibraimi? He is definitely in the Glen ‘looks better going forward’ Johnson school of full backs.” Glen Johnson was taught how to play full back?

8.55pm GMT20:55

53 min: Stojanovic is booked for a late clip on Fabregas’s ankle. He can have no complaints.

8.54pm GMT20:54

52 min: Arghus clatters into Drogba, who is making his way down the inside-right channel, 30 yards from goal. Free kick in a very dangerous position. Oscar blooters it into the wall. Witless. The polar opposite of that majestic strike against QPR at the weekend.

8.53pm GMT20:53

GOAL!!! Maribor 1-0 Chelsea (Ibraimi 50)

This is a pearler! Viler makes room down the left and loops a cross into the box. Zouma’s header clear is weak, only finding Ibraimi on the right-hand edge of the box. Ibraimi takes a touch, and curls a peach up over Cech and back down into the top-left corner! Drama? Oh we’ve got drama!

Updated at 9.16pm GMT

8.51pm GMT20:51

49 min: Diego Costa embarks on a power run down the inside left. He’s got Drogba to his left, but opts to run into a purple wall instead.

8.50pm GMT20:50

47 min: Drogba crosses from the right. Rajcevic volleys the ball back. Drogba returns it with a volley of his own. This is rat-a-tat stuff. The ball clanks off Rajcevic’s thigh, and nearly squirts into the bottom right with Handanovic momentarily wrong-footed, but the keeper adjusts quickly and snaffles the ball.

8.48pm GMT20:48

46 min: Chelsea begin the half doing the possession thing, making a point. Maribor haven’t touched the ball yet.

8.47pm GMT20:47

And we're off again!

Chelsea get the ball rolling for the second half, having made a double change: Schurlle and Willian have been hooked, with Diego Costa and Oscar coming on. I wonder if Brendan Rodgers has issued a press release about this yet?

8.43pm GMT20:43

Half-time reminder: Seeing you’ll be staying with us here, set your video, or planner, for BBC2 at 9pm, when Michael Portillo takes a locomotive journey to the boundaries of good taste.

“Your Portillo picture got me thinking,” begins Simon McMahon, “about one of the great (short) railway journeys, namely Dundee to Edinburgh, which in the space of about an hour allows you to cross both Tay and Forth Bridges and drink in the magnificent splendour of the likes of Ladybank, Buckhaven, Kirkcaldy, Burntisland and Dalgety Bay in between. I think Michael, and his jacket, would like it.” I’m sure he would. Kirkcaldy, as anyone from Fife or fans of Billy Connolly will know, is the home of linoleum. He could stop off and buy a roll or two. I’m sure his tailor could run him up a good suit using that stuff.

Updated at 8.47pm GMT

8.32pm GMT20:32

HALF TIME: Maribor 0-0 Chelsea

Well, that’s not gone to script for Chelsea. The home side rocked for the first ten minutes, but since then it’s been fairly even. Could we have the potential for some drama here? No flipping!

8.30pm GMT20:30

44 min: Schurrle wheechs a cross into a poorly defended Maribor box from the right, but there’s nobody in the middle to take advantage. On the touchline, Jose Mourinho is wearing one of those faces.

Updated at 8.55pm GMT

8.30pm GMT20:30

43 min: Viler makes good down the left and curls a low cross into the area. Zahovic, running in towards the left-hand post, sticks a leg out, but Terry steps in first to blooter the ball behind for a corner. The set piece is a nonsense, like Chelsea’s before it, but Viler is soon coming at Chelsea down the left again. His cross is overcooked, and the danger, such as it was, is over.

8.27pm GMT20:27

42 min: Hazard drops a shoulder to glide in from the right, and pearls a shot towards the bottom right. Handanovic does well to turn the ball round the post. Chelsea’s corner is a thundering non-event.

8.26pm GMT20:26

41 min: Hazard goes on a Maradonaesque jitter down the right, and nearly breaks through four challenges and into the area, but he’s crowded out. Sallalich, up the other end, looks to break free of Matic down the right, but is clipped. No free kick, though. Frustration for both sides, with little coming off.

8.24pm GMT20:24

39 min: Chelsea pass it hither and yon, but go nowhere.

8.23pm GMT20:23

37 min: ... sends a fairly dismal sidefoot straight down Handanovic’s throat. Not sure which top corner he was looking for there, it went straight down the middle. Maribor attempt to break upfield, but Tavares gifts the ball to Willian, who sets Schurrle away down the inside right. Schurrle whistles a daisycutter towards the bottom-left corner, and he beats Handanovic, but the effort flies wide of the post.

8.21pm GMT20:21

36 min: Matic powers down the middle of the park and attempts to break into the box. His picking up of the pace spooks Filipovic, who slides in recklessly to the left of the D, upending Matic, conceding a free kick in a dangerous position 30 yards from goal, and picking up a booking. Drogba steps up, and ...

8.20pm GMT20:20

35 min: Ibraimi dances down the right. Hazard concedes a free kick by showing him his studs. Maribor load the box. Ibraimi curls one in, and it’s immediately headed out by Matic.

8.18pm GMT20:18

33 min: Drogba is back on. What a waste of petrol.

8.17pm GMT20:17

32 min: Drogba is down on the floor with his right boot off. A medical complaint. Not sure what happened to him, but he’s frowning a lot, and the hospital tractor, or whatever that motorised buggy is called, wheelspins onto the pitch before shuttling him off the field of play.

8.15pm GMT20:15

28 min: Fabregas rolls a ball down the inside-left channel for Drogba to chase. Drogba overpowers Stojanovic, and breaks clear into the area, but he’s pulled at the right-back’s arm. Foul. As is Drogba’s language, I’ll be bound, as he angrily discusses the matter at long distance with the referee.

Updated at 8.32pm GMT

8.13pm GMT20:13

27 min: It’s not quite happening for Chelsea right now. Drogba peels off down the right. His cross, pulled back to the edge of the D, is headed weakly into Handanovic’s hands by Schurrle. Fabregas was coming in behind, hoping to pelt the dropping ball. But no.

8.11pm GMT20:11

25 min: Filipe Luis is booked, ludicrously, for winning the ball off Sallalich. The referee is of the opinion he clattered the Maribor man from behind. A lot of hand waving. The resulting free kick is 40 yards out, and so Ibraimi tries to find the top-left corner with a comical up-and-under. Some decorum, please, one of the best keepers in the world in goal here! (The effort floats miles wide left, for the record.)

8.09pm GMT20:09

22 min: Schurrle misses an open goal from two yards. Willian fires a low ball through the Maribor six-yard area from the right. Handanovic, diving by his left-hand post, can’t stop it, and it reaches the German World Cup winner - who shins it wide left from 72 inches out. The flag goes up for offside, but no matter: the saves-his-blushes cliche shouldn’t apply there, for that was a ludicrous miss. Oh Andre!

8.07pm GMT20:07

21 min: That’s been a fine response from Maribor, who were all over the place for the first ten minutes or so. The crowd do their bit with a deafening bit of call and response. Their team deserve no less after gathering themselves.

8.05pm GMT20:05

20 min: Now Filipovic has a crack, from a central position, the best part of 30 yards out. That’s never beating Cech.

8.04pm GMT20:04

19 min: Sallalich, his dander up, cuts in from the left and has a pelt from 20 yards. His shot’s an awkward bouncing thing, heading towards the bottom right, and Cech does rather well to gather it without any fuss or drama.

8.03pm GMT20:03

17 min: More of the Chelsea passing, though Maribor have it in hand right now.

8.02pm GMT20:02

14 min: And this is even better! Chelsea fall asleep, and suddenly Tavares sashays between Terry and Matic down the inside-right channel. He’s clear, with Zahovic to his left! Instead of going for goal, he lays off inside for his strike partner, but puts too much juice on the ball. Zahovic gathers the ball to the left of the Chelsea goal and pulls it back for Sallalich, rushing in from the left wing. Sallalich fizzes a low shot on target from the edge of the box, but Zouma is on hand to hack clear. That would have put a different complexion on this match.

7.59pm GMT19:59

13 min: This is a little better from Maribor, though. Sallalich finds a little space down the left and curls one into the box. Terry hacks the low ball clear.

7.58pm GMT19:58

12 min: A little relief for Maribor as Zahovic dances on the left-hand edge of the Chelsea box. He’s got nobody to pass to, though, and the ball’s soon whistled off his toe. Chelsea romp upfield through Hazard down the left, but Mertelj blocks him just before he enters the box.

7.57pm GMT19:57

11 min: Drogba and Hazard exchange passes in front of the Maribor D. Drogba takes a shot towards the bottom left. It’s deflected a little, but Handanovic gets a palm to the ball. Chelsea are rampant, and the home side are all over the shop. An opening goal is surely just a matter of time.

7.55pm GMT19:55

9 min: A couple of passes in the Chelsea half for Maribor, but Willian robs Tavares, and a long ball’s launched down the middle. It should be bread and butter for defenders in the Champions League, but neither Arghus nor Rajcevic read the flight, and Drogba nearly powers clear. If he’d taken that under control, he was one on one with the keeper.

7.54pm GMT19:54

8 min: Fabregas immediately picks up the ball from Terry’s loose header, makes for the byline down the left, and lifts another cross into the centre, where Zouma heads just over the bar from eight yards while aiming for the top left. He should have scored. This has been an accomplished start by Chelsea, though, and an appalling one by Maribor.

7.53pm GMT19:53

7 min: Chelsea are passing the ball around. A lot. Hazard hovers down the left wing, then shuttles a ball forward for Filipe Luis, who wins another corner. Fabregas’s delivery is better, to the far post, but Terry’s header is weak and off target.

Updated at 10.51pm GMT

7.51pm GMT19:51

5 min: Fabregas’s corner fails to beat the first man, but he’s soon coming back at Maribor, clear down the inside-left channel. His cross is poor. Chelsea have already had three chances down this flank. Maribor are struggling to gain any sort of meaningful possession.

7.49pm GMT19:49

4 min: Maribor are being pressed left, right and centre by Chelsea, who look in the mood to show no mercy. Did you expect anything less? Fabregas sprays a delicious diagonal ball 40 yards for Ivanovic on the right. He checks back when he could have burst clear, but Chelsea are soon probing down the other wing, first through Drogba, then Hazard, who wins a corner.

7.48pm GMT19:48

It's on! And we're off!

Maribor get the ball rolling. From a distance, and if you adjust the contrast a bit, Maribor’s kit looks a little like the one Wimbledon got themselves promoted in, back in 1986. There’s an immediate brouhaha in the Maribor box, with Filipe Luis finding a bit of space down the left and lifting a ball into the centre. Handanovic punches clear with Drogba lurking. After that 6-0 at Stamford Bridge, an early goal would give poor Maribor the proper fear. But they survive that one; a mere 89 minutes to go.

7.44pm GMT19:44

The teams are out! Tonight’s visual signatures: Maribor sport Portillo-esque bright purple, while Chelsea are in Portillo-esque bright yellow. The Uefa anthem parps out of the PA, and George Frideric Handel continues spinning in his grave. Hands are shaken, stretches are performed, and we’ll be off in a minute.

7.30pm GMT19:30

Cast and crew

Maribor: Handanovic, Stojanovic, Rajcevic, Arghus, Viler, Ibraimi, Mertelj, Filipovic, Sallalich, Tavares, Zahovic. Subs: Cotman, Suler, Ndiaye, Mendy. Vrsic, Trajkowski, Bohar.

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Filipe Luis, Fabregas, Matic, Willian, Schurrle, Hazard, Drogba.Subs: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ramires, Oscar, Saleh, Diego Costa.

Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy).

Jose Mourinho makes four changes, resting Thibaut Courtois, Gary Cahill, Oscar and Diego Costa. Petr Cech, Kurt Zouma, Andre Schurrle and Didier Drogba replace them. For the home side, 18-year-old leading scorer Luka Zahovič gets a chance to put himself about. No word yet regarding Brendan Rodgers’ take on Mourinho’s decision to drop several first-choice stars.

6.30pm GMT18:30

Looking for a little bit of drama tonight? At 7.30pm on ITV, it’s time for a visit to Coronation Street. Then at 8pm on BBC1, catch up with the young rapscallions who attend the Waterloo Road comprehensive. And finally over on BBC2 at 9pm, a new sci-fi thriller, Michael Portillo’s Great Continental Railway Journeys, in which a man bravely struggles with, but is eventually overpowered by, a primary-coloured sports jacket.

Not so much going on over at Sky Sports 1. That’s the channel broadcasting Chelsea’s Champions League match at Maribor. This, surely, won’t offer too much theatre. Chelsea are the form team in England, unbeaten all season in all competitions, and only denied a full house of wins by three of the biggest clubs in Europe: Schalke, Manchester City and Manchester United. Tonight’s Slovenian opponents, by comparison, have lost three of their last five matches, and one of those was a 6-0 spanking at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s biggest victory in the Champions League. Jose Mourinho may shoogle his starting XI around this evening - Brendan Rodgers doesn’t have exclusivity on making the odd change - but whichever line-up he selects should prove strong enough to claim the win that would, providing Schalke beat Sporting Lisbon in the other match, be enough to advance the 2012 champions into the knockout stages.

Maribor will take succour from a decent Europa League record at home against English sides. Their first encounter was with Birmingham City in 2011, a 2-1 defeat. But since then they’ve held Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw in 2012, and last year beat Wigan Athletic 2-1. They’ll also be hoping that young Luka Zahovič, the 18-year-old son of Slovenia’s Euro 2000 legend Zlatko, adds to his eight-goal haul so far this season. But a win or even a draw may be a pipe dream, if the one-sided nonsense in west London last month is anything to go by. The bottom line for Maribor is to make sure, come 10.30pm tonight, their heaviest home defeat in Uefa club competition is still the 4-0 spanking Lazio gave them back in the 1999/2000 Champions League group stage.

That jacket, though. It’s wearing him!

Kick off: 8.45pm at the Stadion Ljudski in Maribor, 7.45pm back in London.