PSG v Chelsea: Champions League second round - as it happened
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Version 0 of 1. 9.36pm GMT21:36 FULL TIME: Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Chelsea ... nothing. Chelsea mop up the set piece, and that’s that! Chelsea were on the back foot for the majority of that match, but they escape from the Parc des Princes with a precious draw - and an away goal! PSG will wonder how they didn’t win the match. Chelsea will be strong favourites to make it to the quarter-finals now. An entertaining game, albeit not one that’ll take up too much space in Chelsea’s long history book. Updated at 9.54pm GMT 9.35pm GMT21:35 90 min +2: A ball’s swung into the Chelsea box from the left. Ibrahimovic meets it with a powerful downwards header. It balloons up and is heading for the top right, but Courtois tips the ball round the post. And from the resulting corner ... Updated at 9.44pm GMT 9.34pm GMT21:34 90 min +1: There will be two added minutes of this. 9.34pm GMT21:34 90 min: From the left-hand corner of the Chelsea box, Pastore wedges a delightful cross towards the near post. Terry is taken out of the picture, but Matuidi, extending a leg, can’t connect. 9.33pm GMT21:33 89 min: Cavani over-runs the ball in the centre circle, allowing Oscar to nip away with it. Chelsea take the opportunity to run down the clock with a period of unambitious passing around the back. But there’s a time and place for ambition. Their work here is nearly done. 9.30pm GMT21:30 88 min: All PSG again, but mainly in the PSG half. Matuidi tries to break free into the Chelsea box down the left, but is quickly smothered by a neon yellow blanket. 9.28pm GMT21:28 85 min: The changes keep on comin’. Oscar is the latest new boy, coming on for Fabregas. A long ball’s hoicked into the Chelsea box down the middle. Ibrahomovic gets his head to the ball, though can only send it flying off to the left. Pastore chases a ball that looks like it’s going out of play for a goal kick, looping it to the far post. Cavani attempts an overhead, six yards out, but takes a fresh air shot. Adding insult to injury, the ball clanks off his arse as he falls to the floor, and away from danger. But Chelsea are giving up a few chances here, which is very much unlike them. A draw will be a magnificent result. 9.25pm GMT21:25 83 min: Maxwell, in a tight spot on the left, rolls a clever little pass inside, through a tight gap for Pastore, who is suddenly in space to the left of the D. His attempted curler is appalling. 9.24pm GMT21:24 82 min: A couple of changes, one for either side. Lavezzi is replaced by Pastore, while Costa makes way for Remy. 9.24pm GMT21:24 80 min: Cuadrado comes on for Willian. Then after the restart, PSG carve Chelsea open down the left. Cavani and Lavezzi exchange crisp passes, the former breaking clear into the box. He’s only got Courtois to beat, albeit from a tight angle. He pokes the ball past the keeper, but it bobbles agonisingly wide of the right-hand post. Inches away from a precious lead. 9.22pm GMT21:22 79 min: Chelsea load the Paris box, but can’t find a yellow shirt. That is poor. A subsequent tatty period of play in the midfield ends with Verratti picking up a very deserved booking for a studs-up slide on Hazard. That was pretty nasty, red cards have been produced for challenges like that in the past. 9.20pm GMT21:20 77 min: Or are they? After soaking up pressure for the best part of four minutes, they spring upfield through Willian down the right. Willian can’t make space in the area for a shot, so checks back and finds Hazard, who is bundled to the floor by Luiz, 40 yards from goal out on the right. 9.19pm GMT21:19 76 min: It’s all PSG, but in the middle of the park right now. Chelsea are sitting back, compact, filling all the gaps, happy to keep going like this until full time if needs be. 9.16pm GMT21:16 73 min: Fabregas is booked for clipping the heels of Matuidi, who has turned him down the inside-left channel. A free kick in a dangerous area, the best part of 30 yards from goal. Ibrahomovic wants to take it, but Luiz firmly makes his case. He might not be getting another dig, for his effort is sidefooted gormlessly into the wall. 9.14pm GMT21:14 72 min: All a bit scrappy at the moment. Chelsea will be the far happier team should it remain so. This is still a decent scoreline for Mourinho’s men, and would be a great result. 9.13pm GMT21:13 69 min: Ibrahomovic chases a long, bouncing bomb down the inside-left channel, near the centre circle. He nudges it past Cahill, who cleverly nudges him to the floor. Ibrahimovic would have been free in acres down the left, with only Terry covering. That should have been a free kick, but Cahill gets away with it. On the floor, arms outstretched, Ibrahimovic is perplexed. 9.11pm GMT21:11 66 min: Ivanovic is booked for a ludicrously cynical rugby tackle on Lavezzi as the two slip around on the floor down the left, the winger getting up first with a view to making off towards the goal. That’s a free kick, just to the left of the area. It’s whipped in for Ibrahimovic, who aims his header towards the top right. But the ball is tipped over by Courtois, a marvellous reaction. A couple of corners are taken as a result, but eventually Courtois claims one cleanly, and the pressure is released. Updated at 9.32pm GMT 9.08pm GMT21:08 65 min: Luiz brings Hazard down as the Chelsea man skitters down the left. Fabregas whips the set piece into the box. Ibrahomovic clears with a spectacular can-can clearance. He’s entertaining, idiosyncratically so, at both ends of the pitch. 9.06pm GMT21:06 63 min: Luiz blocks Costa in the midfield. It’s a foul, no more, no less. Luiz gets in Costa’s face, begging for a reaction. And he gets one, Costa shoving him in the chest. The referee barks at the pair to stop being so bloody childish. Luiz is clearly fishing for a reaction, and Costa is biting. The striker needs to calm down a little. 9.04pm GMT21:04 60 min: Van der Wiel in space down the right. The full back reaches the byline and pulls a ball low to the near post for Matuidi. Terry steps in to concede a corner. Chelsea clear, but PSG are soon pouring back at them. First Cavani nearly breaks down the right. He can’t get a shot away. Then the ball’s looped to the left, where Ibrahimovic breaks clear into the area. His low shot, aimed for the bottom right, is parried brilliantly by Courtois. The rebound falls to Lavezzi, who sidefoots powerfully towards the unguarded net. Or it’s unguarded by a keeper, anyway; Azpilicueta is on hand to make the block! PSG have turned up the heat, and all of a sudden this could be a long 30 minutes for Chelsea. 9.00pm GMT21:00 57 min: ... Sirigu claims a Fabregas free kick with confidence. Ivanovic was looking to challenge, and for a second it looks like he’s looking for trouble, too, but is ushered back upfield before the atmosphere can curdle. 8.59pm GMT20:59 56 min: Well that’s warmed the crowd up. It wasn’t as if the Parc des Princes was particularly quiet beforehand, but there’s a roaring atmosphere now. Chelsea respond to the setback well, though, Azpilicueta making trouble down the left to win a corner kick. From which ... 8.58pm GMT20:58 GOAL! Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Chelsea (Cavani 54) Costa and Luiz engage in a bit of light shoving in the middle of the park. PSG are getting frustrated. But no more! Matuidi is sent into space down the left. From a deep position, he loops a cross into the box for Cavani, ten yards out, a little to the left of centre. Cavani heads powerfully down, the ball bounding up and into the top right, out of the reach of the despairing Courtois. PSG are right back in this! Updated at 9.15pm GMT 8.57pm GMT20:57 8.56pm GMT20:56 53 min: Hazard is the victim this time, as van der Viel comes through the back of him, 40 yards from goal down the Chelsea left. That’s a booking. The ball’s lumped rather witlessly into the PSG box, and easily dealt with by Thiago Silva, who heads clear while being fouled. Free kick, and the pressure’s off PSG. A second goal for Chelsea would surely kill this tie. 8.54pm GMT20:54 51 min: Verratti and Hazard compete for a high ball down the PSG right. Both players miss the ball. Hazard brushes Verratti’s chin as the pair sail elegantly through the air. Verratti wants a foul, but he’s not getting it. Updated at 9.06pm GMT 8.52pm GMT20:52 49 min: Thiago Silva rakes a long ball down the inside-right channel. Ibrahimovic rises high in the box to head down towards Lavezzi to his left, but Cahill steps in to boot upfield. “Rules is rules, Scott,” writes Simon McMahon, having visited the Minor Controversy dept. at half time. “Allow Luis to get away with this, and before you know it players will be diving, swearing, feigning injury, trying to get people sent off, you name it.” 8.50pm GMT20:50 47 min: Lavezzi breaks into the Chelsea box down the left, but there’s not much space to play with. He over-elaborates, too, and is eventually dispossessed. 8.50pm GMT20:50 And we’re off again! Chelsea get the ball rolling again, as they look to become the first away team to win a European tie at PSG since 2006. Meanwhile there’s been some more minor Luiz-related controversy, with footage of Costa tugging away at the PSG defender-midfielder’s Shirley Temple curls as the two exchanged a full and frank exchange of views during a pause in play. Grown men. Grown men. 8.44pm GMT20:44 Minor controversy dept. “Did I dream or did Luiz simply wipe away the free-kick foam and replace the ball thirty centimetres to the left?” wonders Loig Thivend. It would appear not! But, and let’s be quite frank about this: who cares? 8.39pm GMT20:39 Half-time advertisement: Starring erstwhile Fulham chairman Tommy Trinder. So apologies to Chelsea fans for that. But at least this one’s not in Norwegian. Betyr flere km i tanken! You lucky peøple! Other environment-bothering fuel brands are available. 8.34pm GMT20:34 HALF TIME: Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Chelsea And that’s the first half of a well-executed smash and grab completed. Chelsea soaked up a lot of pressure, and gave up a couple of chances. Half-chances at least. But PSG couldn’t take them, and Chelsea scored a very decent goal on one of their few sorties upfield. Jose Mourinho will be very content indeed. The home side depart to a light smattering of whistles. The second half should be fascinating, because PSG can’t afford to travel to London trailing in the tie. No flipping! 8.32pm GMT20:32 45 min: ... batters one towards the top-left corner. It’s always high, and covered by Courtois anyway. 8.31pm GMT20:31 44 min: Costa, faffing around down the Chelsea left, loses the ball to Verratti, who romps towards the box down the inside-right channel. Matic fairly cynically clips Verratti to the floor, just before he enters the area. No card, but a free kick in a dangerous position. Ibrahimovic stands over the set piece, and ... 8.29pm GMT20:29 42 min: Fabregas clatters into Luiz, who isn’t best pleased with the challenge, a knee into the thigh. That should probably have been a booking, but the ref’s keeping his cards in his pocket for now. “Who needs midfielders or strikers anyway?” asks Matt Leonard. “Stopper crosses to stopper who flicks it on to rampaging right-side fullback.” Ha, yes. One sometimes gets the feeling Mourinho could field 10 goalkeepers and a striker between the sticks, and still find a way to win a match 1-0. 8.27pm GMT20:27 39 min: Matuidi bombs down the left and looks like having the beating of Cahill. As he reaches the byline, he’s bundled over. He’s won a free kick there, applying pressure on the defender until panic set in. But he doesn’t get his reward, the referee ludicrously pointing for a goal kick. PSG aren’t happy. 8.26pm GMT20:26 38 min: To repeat, PSG had been much the better team up to that point. But you have to take your chances against Chelsea, because this is what they do so well. Ivanovic has been a marvellous player for Chelsea over the years. 8.24pm GMT20:24 GOAL! Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Chelsea (Ivanovic 36) Ibrahimovic brings Hazard down on the right. Chelsea load the box. Thiago Silva clears to the Chelsea left. Terry picks up the loose ball, and curls it into the box. Cahill, on the penalty spot, flicks it on and up, like Garrincha, and Ivanovic, coming in from the right and unmarked, guides an uncontested header into the top left! A precious away goal! Updated at 8.37pm GMT 8.22pm GMT20:22 34 min: From Lavezzi’s set piece, whipped to the near post, PSG nearly score, Cavani battering a header towards the top right from the right-hand edge of the six-yard box. Courtois tips the effort round the post, spectacularly so, in full flight. The second corner isn’t up to much. PSG would be leading by a goal or two were it not for the excellence of the young Belgian. 8.20pm GMT20:20 33 min: Chelsea knock it around the PSG half for a while. But they lose possession carelessly, allowing the home side to zip upfield. Ibrahimovic slides a ball left for Lavezzi, whose cross into the centre is long and nowhere near a team-mate. But Azpilicueta chests behind for a corner anyway. Safety first. 8.19pm GMT20:19 30 min: Anyway, the resulting free kick, out on the left, 30 yards from goal. Fabregas whips it to the far post, where Terry lurks. He’s about to nut one goalwards with purpose, but Sirigu flies out to punch clear. 8.18pm GMT20:18 29 min: Matic, Costa and Fabregas triangulate beautifully down the left. Hazard is set infield by a clever little Fabregas back-heel, and he’s about to shoot when Verratti clips him over. Free kick, and the PSG man is fortunate to escape a booking for that one. For a second it looks like he’s going in the book, but the referee’s not pulling out his card, he’s feeling around in his pocket for his foam canister (which I am at pains to stress, this being a family newspaper, is not a euphemism). 8.15pm GMT20:15 27 min: Verratti pitching-wedges a pass down the right, releasing van der Wiel into the area. Azpilicueta - and this doesn’t happen often - is all over the place. Luckily for the full back, van der Wiel panics while in space and rolls a first time pass in the vague direction of Ibrahimovic in the middle. Cahill batters the ball away from danger. Had van der Wiel taken a composed touch, Chelsea could have been in a little bit of bother there. 8.13pm GMT20:13 26 min: A little space for Hazard down the right. He enters the area, but his low cross in the general direction of Costa is easily snaffled by Sirigu. Chelsea have done very, very little in attack so far. Updated at 8.27pm GMT 8.13pm GMT20:13 25 min: Ibrahimovic, in the centre circle, flicks a ball round the corner to release Matuidi into the Chelsea half. He’s got two team-mates to his left, and Chelsea are light at the back. The right pass selection here, and Chelsea are in a lot of trouble. But his pass left to Maxwell is wonky as you like, behind the runner, and the move inexplicably peters out. Danger there. 8.11pm GMT20:11 23 min: A dreadful ball out of defence by Terry is easily snaffled by Maxwell down the left. Ibrahomovic takes up possession and curls one in from the wing. Lavezzi attempts to guide a header into the top left from the left of the D, but it’s a wild effort that flies miles over the bar and wide left to boot. 8.09pm GMT20:09 20 min: Thiago Silva, deep on the left, lumps one diagonally into the box for Ibrahimovic. The big man turns Terry wonderfully, races towards the byline, and then tries to score from the tightest angle possible. The ball’s basically on the byline, so he sets it out a little to the left, then fading it back in to the right. That’s an outrageous effort, and though it flies into the side netting, it wasn’t that far off from being on target. Then again, if Courtois was beaten at his near post from that angle, retirement might have been a consideration for the 22-year-old. 8.06pm GMT20:06 8.06pm GMT20:06 17 min: Verratti loops a long pass down the right wing, with the hope of releasing van der Weil. The full back’s nearly sprung free, but Azpilicueta covers well, and hoicks the ball back upfield. Costa challenges for it with Thiago Silva. The former clatters the latter. Thiago Silva points to his lug-hole, suggesting he’s been illegally clattered upside the head, a bookable offence. But it’s a foul and nothing more. The referee got that one right. Diego Costa’s studied expression of innocence is, as always, a thing of strange beauty. 8.02pm GMT20:02 15 min: The game sprung to life for a bit there. But now we’re back to cagey lull. Maxwell shows again down the left wing, but his cross from deep is aimless and flies straight into the hands of Courtois. 8.01pm GMT20:01 13 min: Hazard attempts a run into the PSG box down the inside-left channel. He’s crowded out of it. PSG counter attack through Ibrahomovic, but he’s hauled back cynically by Cahill. No yellow card, which is what Ibrahimovic wants. It would have been a harsh one, but you’ve seen mardy refs dish them out for less. 7.59pm GMT19:59 11 min: Two headers, two saves, within 30 seconds! Cavani, just inside the Chelsea box on the left, whips a cross into the middle. Matuidi, running at full pelt, guides a header towards the top left. Courtois, at full stretch, parries clear. Then after PSG recycle the ball, Matuidi turns provider, making good down the left and curling one in for Ibrahimovic, whose header is straight at the keeper, who nevertheless strongly bats the ball away. Cahill cushions the loose ball back to his keeper. Magnificent play by PSG, and equally impressive defence by the Chelsea keeper. Updated at 8.16pm GMT 7.57pm GMT19:57 9 min: Thiago Silva and the lively looking Maxwell combine down the left. For a brief moment there’s an opening, but Cahill comes in to blooter clear. This is all a bit cagey so far. Much as expected. 7.54pm GMT19:54 7 min: Ramires, deep in his own half on the right, sprays a gorgeous crossfield ball towards Costa on the opposite wing. PSG would have been a bit stretched had Costa brought it down well, but the striker, after three games on the sidelines, hasn’t shaken off the rust yet. Chelsea are soon coming back at PSG through Willian down the right. Cavani, dropping back to put in a defensive shift, overpowers the winger and that’ll be a goal kick. Updated at 8.09pm GMT 7.51pm GMT19:51 4 min: Lavezzi and van der Wiel exchange flicks down the right wing. The nippy van der Wiel is released into a bit of space, scampering towards the byline. He should stand a dangerous ball into the middle, but only floats a useless ball onto the top of the netting around Courtois’s goal. 7.50pm GMT19:50 2 min: Maxwell and Matuidi flick passes to each other down the left, and for a second threaten to open Chelsea up early doors. But the ever-solid Ivanovic is quickly in to intercept, and put a stop to the hosts’ early gallop. Chelsea take the early sting out of the game by passing it around the back quite a lot. Azpilicueta finally gets fed up and rakes a long ball down the inside-left channel, but Costa’s never getting to the ball. Goal kick for PSG, and an awful lot of whistling by the home fans in response to the brief period of Chelsea possession. 7.47pm GMT19:47 And we’re off! A raucous atmosphere in the Parc des Princes, as the knockout stage of the 2015 Champions League begins. The home side get the ball rolling. Berlin, here they all come! 7.46pm GMT19:46 OK, that’s not the Chelsea bus. “Can you explain why the two-decker bus in your picture bears a Norwegian advertisement?” asks Sindre Brusselmans. “Being of said northern tribe I do not think those buses have ever been on our roads. Betyr flere km i tanken, by the way, translates to ‘means more miles per tank’.” It’s a Routemaster bus being bundled onto the Edelgarde at Millwall docks in 1966, on its way to Oslo to shuttle visitors to and from a trade fair called British Fortnight. I wonder how often it broke down? Only we don’t really make anything any more, and the decline had to start somewhere. The brazen lie advertising slogan you quote is for BP. And just to tie all pre-match loose ends up, PSG are playing in their favourite shirts of blue and red, while Chelsea are in neon yellow. 7.22pm GMT19:22 PSG name former Chelsea star David Luiz in midfield. The visitors meanwhile welcome back Diego Costa, Thibaut Courtois, Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas. And it appears the team coach, upon entering the stadium, got stuck as it was driven up some tight ramp or other. Chelsea fail to successfully park the bus! Imagine the vexed look on Jose’s grid. 7.09pm GMT19:09 The teams Paris Saint-Germain: Sirigu, van der Wiel, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Maxwell, Verratti, Luiz, Matuidi, Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic, Cavani.Subs: Douchez, Camara, Bahebeck, Digne, Rabiot, Pastore, Kimpembe. Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Matic, Willian, Fabregas, Hazard, Costa.Subs: Cech, Luis, Zouma, Oscar, Drogba, Remy, Cuadrado. Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey). 6.45pm GMT18:45 Matters preambulatory “You ain’t got no history.” Chelsea fans have to put up with this tedious claptrap quite often, which is a bit off considering the club was formed in 1905, after which it embarked on a scenic journey of remarkable highs and spectacular lows before eventually winning everything there is to win. But life’s never fair, is it. Still, they’ll not be suffering the song tonight. When Paris Saint Germain came into being just in time for the start of the 1970-71 season, Chelsea, 65, already had a league title, a League Cup, and a newly won FA Cup on their roll of honour. And their first European trophy was a mere nine months away. Nope, they’ll not be suffering that song tonight. PSG, mere whippersnappers to Chelsea’s pensioners (109) at 44 and a half, recently whipped baby Louis XIV’s cradle off their badge. A symbolic, if slightly self-conscious, gesture of their desire to become one of the big boys? Perhaps. Until the club was taken over by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund in 2011, they’d enjoyed a decent if not spectacular return of trophies. Two league titles in 41 years, a few domestic cups, and one major European trophy, the 1996 Cup Winners Cup. Not bad, but nothing to worry those dining at Europe’s top table (e.g. Chelsea). But now they mean business. Two league titles in the last two years. A third on the bounce very much a possibility, especially if they stop throwing away two-goal leads, as they did against Caen last weekend. Plenty of world-class talent in the squad: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Edinson Cavani. And a team looking for a third successive appearance in the Champions League quarter-finals, having been denied semi-final places in the last two tournaments only by late recoveries from the behemoths of Barcelona and mighty Chelsea. In fact, PSG were a mere three minutes away from putting Chelsea out last year, before professional dreamwrecker Demba Ba pounced. Ba’s goal at Stamford Bridge set the seal on a 2-0 win, and meant Chelsea scrambled through on away goals, having lost the first leg 3-1 in Paris. The memory of coming so close should give Laurent Blanc’s team a little succour - and they’ll need it, because while PSG are unbeaten in their last 32 home European matches, Chelsea are favourites to make it through the tie overall. PSG need a big performance and a result tonight, injury worries to several of their squad notwithstanding. Chelsea, who had their feet up at the weekend and have only lost three games in all competitions this season, will be hopeful of securing at least a draw. It’s on! Il est sur le point d’arriver! Kick off: 8.45pm in Paris, 7.45pm back in London. |