- Zlatan Ibrahimovic controversially sent off in 31st minute for challenge on Oscar
- Gary Cahill smashes home from a corner in final ten minutes to put Chelsea on the brink of the last eight
- But David Luiz powers home a header against his former club to send the game into extra time
- Eden Hazard puts Chelsea back in front from the penalty spot after Thiago Silva handball
- PSG captain scores crucial second away goal with superb header late in extra time
Thibaut
Courtois wanted to come, changed his mind and back-pedalled. By then it
was too late. Thiago Silva’s header was looping over his head and
Chelsea were heading out of the Champions League. Deservedly, too.
Paris
Saint-Germain were the better side here, played the best football,
overcame the odds. That blend of class and cussedness reminded one of
Chelsea, at their best. They were nowhere near that level on Wednesday
night, though.
They
had the game won, twice. Firstly, in the 81st minute when Gary Cahill
gave them a scarcely deserved lead, then six minutes into extra time
when Eden Hazard restored it from the penalty spot. Both times, PSG came
back — and with 10 men, too. They had as much possession as Chelsea
despite having played with a numerical disadvantage for 90 of the 120
minutes. Takes some doing, that.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is shown the red card, handing the advantage to Chelsea, as the Chelsea players call for treatment for Oscar
Both players flew into the tackle, but it appeared that Ibrahimovic was withdrawing his legs as he lunged into Oscar
Ibrahimovic immediately raised his
hands to protest his innocence, but the referee decided that his tackle
was worthy of a red card
Ibrahimovic protests his innocence as Oscar begins to writhe on the floor following the tackle that saw the Swede sent off
Jose Mourinho couldn't believe what he was seeing and Diego Costa was head in hands as Chelsea crashed out of Europe
Gary Cahill slams Chelsea into the lead late on after the ball fell to him following a corner, but the advantage was short-lived
Cahill celebrates the goal he thought had put Chelsea through, but his former team-mate David Luiz equalised soon after
David Luiz gets up above Branislav Ivanovic to power his header past Thibaut Courtois and send the game into extra time
The Brazilian defender celebrated
excitedly after scoring against his former club, sliding on his knees in
front of the travelling fans
Thiago Silva inexplicably moves his hand to the ball, leaving the referee no option but to award Chelsea a penalty in extra time
Eden Hazard was calm from the penalty spot, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to put Chelsea back ahead
The Belgian looked delighted after restoring Chelsea's lead with the spot kick putting them back in control of the last-16 tie
Thiago Silva's late header loops over the outstretched arm of Thibaut Courtois to knock Chelsea out of the Champions League
Jose Mourinho's men cannot believe they have conceded another away goal as they trudge back towards the halfway line
There
will be the usual inquest but for a moment shouldn’t we just praise
PSG? Shorn of Zlatan Ibrahimovic after 30 minutes, they were quite
magnificent in the second half and showed enormous resolve throughout.
It
was an ugly game, and both teams share responsibility for that, but PSG
had more ambition and scored the goal of the night, through David Luiz,
which sent the tie into extra time.
As
Chelsea fans will recall from that night in Munich, Luiz knows how to
celebrate and he savoured every moment of this away-goals victory.
Despite
the £50million transfer fee his departure from Chelsea still feels like
rejection, so this was revenge. If not on the club, then perhaps on
Diego Costa, who fought him every step off the way — some of it picked
up by the cameras, much of it not.
There
was clearly ill-feeling over the dismissal of Ibrahimovic, too, PSG
convinced that Chelsea’s players — led by John Terry — had a huge
influence over referee Bjorn Kuipers.
Their
reaction to his tackle on Oscar was as extreme as the challenge itself —
high, late and pretty nasty — and Kuipers had the red card out, while
surrounded by blue. Thiago Motta was then booked for pointing this out
It
made for a spiteful game, always bubbling on the brink of eruption. For
Chelsea, Hazard was the sole shining light, with too many of his
team-mates happy to engage on every other level bar creation. Not that
PSG were blameless, or faultless — but they were better.
They
could have won it in normal time had Edinson Cavani taken an
opportunity in the 58th minute, and Chelsea looked tired and often
mediocre by comparison.
Courtois
made the save of the night from Thiago Silva in extra time but it only
set up the corner from which the Brazilian scored the fateful second.
Jose Mourinho looks furious on the touchline after watching his team twice concede a lead as they exited the Champions League
Diego Costa puts in a tackle on former Chelsea defender David Luiz as the pair endured a bad-tempered exchange in the first half
The Brazilian defender was left on the floor after a coming together with Spain striker Costa, but recovered quickly to continue
Javier Pastore gets himself in between Chelsea's midfielder Nemanja Matic and defender Cesar Azpilicueta, but can't pick a pass
Pastore, who scored brilliantly against Chelsea when the sides met last year, controls the ball as John Terry looks on
Verratti goes down in the penalty area
under pressure from Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Ramires, but the
referee waved play on
Until
that moment, it looked as if Chelsea would go through against the run
of play. They took the lead in extra time through a mystifying stroke of
luck. Thiago Silva challenged for a high ball, inexplicably with a hand
raised as if tipping it over the bar.
Hazard
stepped up, waited for goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu to move and slipped
the ball past him, cool as you like. That is five penalties in eight
Champions League games for Chelsea. The team that can’t buy one at home
can’t stop scoring them in Europe.
That
should have been it, except Chelsea are having increasing problems
closing out games. Mind you, PSG are an attacking force to be
respected. They never gave up and, in Luiz, had a talismanic figure
almost possessed in his intensity.
They’ve
seen a few good headed goals in their time at Stamford Bridge, yet even
by the standards of Jimmy Greaves, Peter Osgood, Kerry Dixon and lately
Didier Drogba and John Terry, Luiz’s equaliser was something special.
It
was the sheer pace that did it. Luiz lost Branislav Ivanovic with his
run, yes, but it still needed converting and not even Courtois in
Chelsea’s goal was ready for the power that was delivered, from mid-air.
He barely moved, and certainly didn’t have time to dive. It hit the net
like a long-range shot, dragging Chelsea into extra time.
Sportsmail's Big Match Stats: Eden Hazard vs David Luiz
Bjorn Kuipers shows the red card to Ibrahimovic, under pressure from nine Chelsea players who immediatley surrounded him
David Luiz confronted his former
manager Jose Mourinho, who put pressure on the referee before the game,
after Ibrahimovic's red card
Ibrahimovic trudges down the tunnel,
past Mourinho, after he had been sent off, leaving his team to try and
earn a win with 10 men
John Terry rises above Ibrahimovic to head the ball away as Chelsea looked to defend their first leg away goal advantage
Eden Hazard skips away from Pastore down the right wing, but Chelsea struggled to create very much before the red card
Yet
PSG were unlucky not to win in 90 minutes and had a 58th minute chance
for Edinson Cavani gone in who knows what could have happened. A Chelsea
forward move broke down and Marco Verratti broke downfield.
He
fed the ball to Cavani who had burst through with Cahill caught
surprisingly unaware. He charged toward Courtois, rounded him, and with
the goal now empty shaped to shoot.
Yes,
the angle was tight, but this is one of the world’s finest forward
players. He would be expected to score from there but hit the near post.
Agonisingly,
the ball spun off and across the face of goal, preciously close to the
goal-line. Back down the field, PSG players fell to the ground in
frustration. Quite why, who knows? There was enough of that going on as
it was.
Costa gets away from Marquinhos (right) and Marco Verratti as Chelsea looked to defend their progress to the quarter finals
Diego Costa had a good shout for a
penalty turned down, but Chelsea didn't create many clear-cut chances
against the French champions
Costa was furious at the decision, pounding the ground in frustration after being denied the penalty
Edinson Cavani missed a golden chance , as he rounded Thibaut Courtois but couldn't finish with the goal gaping
Cavani's shot, which at the time would have put his side in a position to qualify, hit the post, with the keeper already beaten
The Uruguayan forward cannot believe what he has done after blowing the French champions' golden chance to progress
Sometimes
it was justified — Costa absolutely cleaned out Silva after 72 minutes —
on other occasions, not. This was a bad- tempered match, the polar
opposite of Tuesday’s meeting of Real Madrid and Schalke.
Jose
Mourinho would no doubt sneer and call 4-3 a hockey score. Yet for all
the wealth and excellence on display, some will sneer at this, too. Not
until Ramires forced a save from Sirigu in the 79th minute did Chelsea
have a chance worthy of recall. From that corner, they scored.
It
was a poor clearance, headed back across goal by John Terry. Costa had a
swipe, missed and the ball skewed to Cahill. He shot through a crowd of
players and, with nine minutes to go, Stamford Bridge thought the job
was done.
Cahill's strike, after the ball had dropped to him in the crowded penalty area, looked to have seen Chelsea through
David Luiz's bullet header took the game to extra time as he rose highest to meet a set pie
David Luiz could not confine his joy
after netting against his former employers as PSG knocked Chelsea out of
the Champions League
It
should have been. With Ibrahimovic out of the way it was advantage
Chelsea. True, the striker was getting very little here, but still lost
his cool quite spectacularly.
It
was a 50-50 with Oscar and the ball was there to be won. The Brazilian
arrived first, however, and Ibrahimovic hit him, hard. A rotten tackle
but a sending off? Maybe just short. Probably a booking and a
three-quarters if such a thing existed, on the grounds that it looked
more ill-timed than ill-intended.
Chelsea’s
players were in no mood for clemency, though, and sprinted as a
collective to Kuipers which made the tackle look 10 times worse. From
there, both sides were spoiling for a fight.
In
the aftermath, tackles and challenges grew in intensity and one should
have resulted in a Chelsea penalty when Cavani tripped Costa. One can
only imagine Kuipers had no view of the tackle through a crowd of
players.
There
was so much happening, on and off the ball, that keeping track of it
all was a thankless task. Luiz looked to have elbowed Costa on the blind
side in the first half and, if so, was lucky to stay on. There may have
been previous, however, with Luiz felled earlier and claiming foul
play. The Brazilian had the last laugh, though, and one imagines wasn’t
too proud to let that show.
Courtois pulled off a brilliant save to deny Silva, moments before the Brazilian beat him with another header
David Luiz sinks to his knees at the
final whistle, celebrating a famous victory for his new club on the
ground he used to call home
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