 |
Football Soccer - Paris St Germain v Chelsea - UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - 16/2/16 Edinson Cavani scores the second goal for Paris St Germain Reuters / Benoit Tessier Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.
Both Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea can look at Tuesday's Champions League first-leg
showdown in the round of 16 as mission accomplished.
[ Slideshow: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea in pictures ]
PSG couldn't have settled for anything but a victory playing before its home fans, while Chelsea had to leave the Parc des Princes with somewhat favorable margin for the March 9 return leg at Stamford Bridge. So in that context, both sides got what they needed in the 2-1 PSG victory.
Chelsea is fortunate it left Paris with an away goal and only a goal down. Facing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and PSG's devastating attack with a reshuffled backline (due to injuries to starting center backs John Terry and Kurt Zouma), the Blues had no choice but to bunker down and absorb pressure. The backup tandem of Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic surprisingly stayed calm and cool in front of Thibaut Courtois, who made some clutch stops among his six saves.
But the Ligue 1 leaders finally broke through in the 39th minute. Ibrahimovic, who drilled an early free kick into the Chelsea wall, tricked the Blues with his second dead-ball attempt, firing it low and below the leaping defenders. The shot deflected off the leg of John Obi Mikel and past a helpless Courtois for a 1-0 PSG leadMikel gave PSG the free kick with a foul on Lucas Moura, but he would redeem himself in the most surprising way. The defensive midfielder tied the game just before the break with only the second Champions League goal of his career, scoring from point-blank range after finding the ball at his feet from Willian's corner kick and Diego Costa's flick-on header.
showdown in the round of 16 as mission accomplished.
[ Slideshow: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea in pictures ]
PSG couldn't have settled for anything but a victory playing before its home fans, while Chelsea had to leave the Parc des Princes with somewhat favorable margin for the March 9 return leg at Stamford Bridge. So in that context, both sides got what they needed in the 2-1 PSG victory.
Chelsea is fortunate it left Paris with an away goal and only a goal down. Facing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and PSG's devastating attack with a reshuffled backline (due to injuries to starting center backs John Terry and Kurt Zouma), the Blues had no choice but to bunker down and absorb pressure. The backup tandem of Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic surprisingly stayed calm and cool in front of Thibaut Courtois, who made some clutch stops among his six saves.
But the Ligue 1 leaders finally broke through in the 39th minute. Ibrahimovic, who drilled an early free kick into the Chelsea wall, tricked the Blues with his second dead-ball attempt, firing it low and below the leaping defenders. The shot deflected off the leg of John Obi Mikel and past a helpless Courtois for a 1-0 PSG leadMikel gave PSG the free kick with a foul on Lucas Moura, but he would redeem himself in the most surprising way. The defensive midfielder tied the game just before the break with only the second Champions League goal of his career, scoring from point-blank range after finding the ball at his feet from Willian's corner kick and Diego Costa's flick-on header.
|
0 comments Blogger 0 Facebook
Post a Comment