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Eden Hazard misses late penalty to deny Chelsea victory over Maribor Eden Hazard misses late penalty to deny Chelsea victory over Maribor
(35 minutes later)
Chelsea remain unbeaten but their charge suddenly feels more of a stagger, the rhythm not quite as upbeat as it once was. This was a desperately unimpressive display against a team they had put to the sword last month, their season’s unbeaten record only salvaged by a late equaliser and victory passed up by Eden Hazard’s penalty miss. The travelling support’s vocal reminders to José Mourinho that his criticisms of the atmosphere back at Stamford Bridge will not go ignored merely added to an unfamiliar sense of angst. Chelsea remain unbeaten but what once was an irrepressible rhythm feels checked. There were long periods of this display which were desperately unimpressive against a team put to the sword a fortnight ago, the memories with which the Premier League leaders departed Slovenia more of a rare Eden Hazard penalty miss, an undeniably sloppy performance and even a show of dissatisfaction offered up by the travelling support which clearly went unappreciated by those in the visitors’ dug-out. The mood music is not quite as positive.
Those in the away end had bellowed choruses of “José, give us a song” and “Sing up Mourinho” towards the end of a goalless first half as the visitors’ initial urgency gave way to a plod. If tongues had been in cheeks with that serenade then it was not immediately obvious. The point had been made and, while the team spluttered out on the pitch against a side nine points from the top of their domestic league, the timing felt apt. Qualification will have to wait. José Mourinho’s post-match demeanour suggested as much. The chants bellowed by the 640 away fans just before the interval ‚ “José, give us a song” and “Sing up Mourinho” harked back to the manager’s criticisms of the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge during the derby against Queens Park Rangers last Saturday and, even if the chorus was tongue in cheek, the point had been made. The issue was apparently not up for discussion post-match. “Forget it,” offered the Portuguese dismissively. More troubling for him was the complacency he had sensed in his players throughout the first period, an attitude he could not eradicate at source.
The locals had thumped their drums behind Petr Cech’s goal through the opening period and bounced optimistically as one, all flags and flares, but this had initially felt like a mismatch in waiting from the start. So untroubled in possession were the visitors in the opening quarter that a repeat of the 6-0 mauling back in London a fortnight ago did not feel outlandish, Hazard tearing eagerly into a flustered Petar Stojanovic at right-back and the flurry of early chances all conjured by those in fluorescent yellow. Kurt Zouma squandered the best, his header from Cesc Fàbregas’ centre drifting narrowly wide of the angle of post and bar, but Chelsea clearly sensed Maribor’s vulnerability. Defensively, they looked the team struggling to make an impact in the Slovenian domestic title race. He suggested that was a managerial failing, though his squad will surely have been left feeling culpable. “We played very slowly, no intensity, no creativity, in the first half,” said Mourinho. “It was easy for Maribor to control the game and reach what they wanted to reach, a 0-0. In the second we played very well, but they scored. Players are players. Many, many times surprises happen when people are not … I would not say ‘committed’, but not ‘fully focused’. When they believe the game can’t be a difficult one. Only when Maribor scored did the players realise the game was in danger. After that there was a fantastic reaction. We deserved to win, clearly. But football is football. People who give everything, like Maribor, deserve a bit of luck. They fought. They had a fantastic goalkeeper. And the referee’s team … didn’t have a good night.”
Didier Drogba, on his 100th European appearance, might have pierced them only for Jasmin Handanovic to turn away a deflected attempt after slick approach play with Hazard. The locals squirmed at the ease at which they were being cut apart, though it was to their credit that they resisted, albeit rather fortuitously at times. Their coach, Ante Simundza, prowled his technical area barking instruction, Handanovic denying Hazard and Drogba once more but, as the half progressed, the more anxious of the two managers was actually Mourinho. That was a reference to the Italian officials’ decision to rule out a Diego Costa goal for offside in the frenetic period after Nemanja Matic had restored parity, lumbering into the six-yard box to convert John Terry’s header from a corner from virtually on the goalline. Mourinho had been banned for a game and fined £13,500 back in 2009 for protesting a decision made by Daniele Orsato while the Portuguese was in charge of Internazionale, the second of two occasions when the manager had been sent to the stands by this official. Regardless, the offside flag was an oversight amid the visitors’ late pressure, with Costa having been flung on at the interval along with Oscar, to be joined by another Brazilian-born player in Ramires before the hour mark. The changes reflected desperation. Chelsea may still top the group but, given the nature of that 6-0 win over these opponents last month, this was an opportunity missed.
It was as if his team had been flummoxed by their inability to forge an advantage, the Portuguese’s pre-match warning that the thrashing at Stamford Bridge had actually been “a fake situation” ringing ever truer. The scowl he wore was hardly eased by the choruses offered up by around 640 travelling fans, most of whom were clearly unimpressed by the manager’s criticisms of the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge during Saturday’s derby victory over Queens Park Rangers. Not that the home side deserved anything less than the point they celebrated with gusto at the final whistle. Where they had initially felt prone and vulnerable, scarred by those experiences in south-west London two weeks ago, they grew into the contest with Chelsea increasingly flummoxed by an inability to score early. From blanket possession, the visitors’ concentration wavered. Sintayehu Sallalich’s bursts offered the home side hope with Kurt Zouma clearing a first-half shot from the goalline. Pepped by their increasingly impressive display, Maribor eventually chiselled out a lead when Mitja Viler’s deep cross found Agim Ibraimi unmarked in the corner of the penalty area. He curled a delicious shot over Petr Cech and into the corner and Chelsea were behind for the first time since 13 September.
He had cause for concern. Maribor’s opportunities were gleaned on the counterattack, often courtesy of Sintayehu Sallalich’s bursts down the flank or the bustling Marcos Tavares through the centre. The latter’s wriggling run through Filipe Luís, Nemanja Matic and Zouma might have earned a lead, Luka Zahovic forced wide by the Brazilian’s pass with his cut-back forced goalwards by Sallalich only for the young French centre-half to recover come poise and clear. Zouma was increasingly overworked, the backline stretched too often. Mourinho marched across the turf at the interval utterly unimpressed. Aleksander Rajcevic and, more critically, Luka Zahovic should even have extended that lead but the teenage striker skied over the bar from inside the six-yard box and the visitors were spared their humiliation. Matic prodded them level, Jasmin Handanovic did wonderfully well to deny Hazard and Costa before the Belgian was tripped by Viler’s planted leg. The penalty offered an opportunity to claim the tie, though Hazard’s attempt was weak and easily blocked by the goalkeeper.
The sloppiness had been the most troubling aspect, a hangover from plenty of that second period against QPR and afflicting even previously stellar performers such as Fàbregas. Mourinho’s reaction was to fling on Diego Costa and Oscar for the diminished André Schürrle and Willian, though there was no instant reaction. Instead, Chelsea wilted. Maribor broke cleverly, Agim Ibraimi collecting Mitja Viler’s deep cross unmarked on the corner of the penalty area and curling a delicious shot over Cech and into the corner. Off went the firecrackers in celebration with the visitors undone and behind for the first time since 13 September. Given the accusations of complacency, Chelsea probably did not merit more than a stalemate. “I was conscious of it a bit before the game, but I was not successful in passing over that message,” added Mourinho. “If I cannot convince the players that the game is difficult and you have to play from minute one, obviously it’s my responsibility.” That is a concern before a trip an underperforming Liverpool side on Saturday lunchtime. As for the Champions League, qualification for the knockout stages will have to wait.
All three substitutes had been introduced before the hour-mark as Chelsea frantically sought out parity, Costa twice blazing high into the stand when well placed even if, in truth, Aleksander Rajcevic should really have converted Ibraimi’s corner to extend the hosts’ lead. Quite how Zahovic contrived to sky Viler’s fizzed delivery from the left over the bar from inside the six-yard box defied belief, with Chelsea suddenly prone and that initial authority long since drained.
A set-play eventually offered salvation. Fàbregas’ centre was headed goalwards by John Terry and Matic strode in unchecked to tap in from virtually on the goalline. Anxiety was restored to the home side’s rearguard thereafter, with Hazard fluffing his lines from in front of goal at Costa’s lay-off and Handanovic summoning an outstanding save to deny the Spain striker’s volley in the frenzy that followed.
It was the Belgian who should have supplied the winner, initially liberated by Drogba’s pass and then tumbling over Viler’s outstretched leg. Yet his penalty was weak and easily blocked by Handanovic. In truth, his team did not merit a success. While the visitors skulked away, the locals celebrated this as a famous result.