G14 Champions League: Chelsea 1 Valencia 1 + Vid

OLD BIG EARS
By dixon9
April 9 2007

A tense yet enjoyable game last night at the Bridge although it was a great shame that our overwhelming 2nd half pressure too often lacked penetration. Bad luck when Kalou hit the crossbar and bad refereeing when Sheva received an elbow in the side of his head.

We should have been awarded with a penalty and it signalled that it was going to be a hard night.

 

In typical Chelsea fashion, we certainly have made life a bit uncomfortable for ourselves in the land of oranges and rice for next Tuesday evening and it concerns me that in the intense Mestalla atmosphere the referee will find it all to easy to follow the anti-Chelsea agenda (hopefully our inclusion on the new UEFA committee, designed to weaken the G14 lobbyist pressure, will help to reduce this when we play in Europe).

Valencia were fairly solid and organised although Canizares flapped too much for an experienced international goalkeeper and this nervousness needs to be exploited much more in the return leg in Valencia if we are to meet Liverpool in the semi-finals.

Chelsea looked a bit lethargic during the first half in general (although we have been a 2nd half team for a few seasons now) and Valencia looked to have more sparkle about them although not possession.  Villa skewed a shot wide Sunday league style when he should have done better from a not difficult angle and then again with another which went over the bar.  His shooting didn´t justify the current hype about himself although the fact that he got himself into so much space against a notoriously solid defence must be noted.

Despite our lethargy, Shevchenko dashed diagonally into the box on 10 minutes and his run took him past one defender but then he was pole-axed in the box as he was about to go past Ayala before shaping to shoot.  Unfortunately, the referee’s whistle remained by his side and I couldn’t help thinking that in 9 out of 10 cases, another European team would have received a penalty with the offending defender a straight red.  The resulting “advantage” (!!!) given by the Belgian referee allowed Kalou to retrieve and shoot from just inside the box and his effort rattled the crossbar with Canizares motionless.

Valencia responded and a Chelsea playing with a strangely 1^st half off-form Lampard and lacking the drive of the frustratingly still injured Essien had a few scary moments.  Joaquin had a shot in the 21st minute and Silva beat an offside trap but shot wide and then Del Horno of all people forced Cech to save.

A jaded Chelsea with the exception of Ashley Cole generally kept possession but then Silva surprised when he scored a marvellous goal from 30 yards out wide on the left.  The long range shot had to be exceptional to beat who for me, is the best keeper in the world at the moment.

The second half saw tremendous pressure from Chelsea and Valencia looked nervous and seemed to give us a lot of respect which is surprising from a team of their calibre.   

The shrill from the 2^nd half start whistle had hardly died when Kalou tried to snatch a shot but missed from a Diarra cross.  Fortunately, just 8 minutes later Drogba wrote himself into the Chelsea history books with an equalizer.  The nervous Canizares took a poor goal kick which Ashley Cole casually looped back towards the Valencia penalty area.  Ayala found himself out of position and as the ball bounced over him, Drogba stole in behind and nodded the ball over the advancing Canizares.

This was the first time in 22 years a Chelsea forward has scored 30 goals in a season when my namesake was the last to achieve this milestone.  It also ended a goalless 7 game spell for the Ivorian Coast Striker.

Great to see the introduction of Joe Cole with 15 mins left and Chelsea pressured intensely with a winner seeming inevitable.  In the last 5 minutes Shevchenko who had earlier been unlucky with an overhead kick had his shot dropped by Canizares, Carvalho shot the rebound and the Valencian keepers parry was met by Shevchenko again but his shot deflected out of harms way by a defender.

It’s disappointing that we didn´t come out with more from this game after so much pressure but it’s sometimes refreshing to read a more neutral press report with no anti-Chelsea agenda and with no rival domestic fans to appease to ensure their circulation – this from the Italian press:

"What emerged after half-time wasn't a team - it was an armada... a multinational armada with fearsome physical power. They seemed like the Spartans at Thermopylae from the ferocity with which they launched their pursuit of the equaliser".

Nice to read although as one Chelsea fan put it “This Sir Francis Drake act might get a bit risky one day!”

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZDx2atmJSc

Chelsea (4-4-2): Cech; Diarra, Terry, Carvalho, A Cole; Kalou (Wright-Phillips 74), Ballack, Lampard, Mikel (J Cole 74); Drogba, Shevchenko.
Subs: Cudicini (g), Makelele, Boulahrouz, Bridge, Ferreira.
Booked: Drogba, Diarra.

Valencia (4-4-2): Canizares; Miguel, Ayala, Moretti, Del Horno; Vicente (Angulo 57), Albelda, Albiol, Joaquín (Viana 86); Silva, Villa (López 90).
Subs: Butelle (g), Torres, Insa, Pallardo.
Booked: Silva, Albelda, Ayala.

Referee: F De Bleeckere (Belgium).