Post by Taxigirl on Apr 7, 2005 7:49:38 GMT
skysports.planetfootball.com
by James Pearson
Chelsea have one foot in the door of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals following an impressive 4-2 win over Bayern Munich at Stamford Bridge.
Bastian Schweinsteiger cancelled out Joe Cole's early deflected goal just after half time, but a superb double from Frank Lampard and a fourth from Didier Drogba put the home side in control.
The visitors gave themselves a lifeline in the closing stages when Michael Ballack scored from the penalty spot after he went down in the area under a challenge from Ricardo Carvalho.
Bayern have it all to do at the Olympiastadion next week and will hope the return of Dutch ace Roy Makaay might give the Bundesliga leaders a chance in the return leg.
Both sides looked to retain possession in the opening exchanges in West London before a massive slice of luck gave Jose Mourinho's boys the lead.
A simple long ball caused problems for Bayern's defence and Damien Duff played in Cole who saw his speculative shot from outside the box strike Lucio and roll into the net.
Experienced shot-stopper Oliver Kahn had no chance in the visitors' net while Drogba was lucky not to have touched the shot himself as he was standing in an offside position.
Chelsea had the bit between their teeth and almost doubled their lead shortly after when John Terry connected with Lampard's right wing corner, but Kahn was on hand to palm the effort away under pressure.
Bayern responded and just seconds later Owen Hargreaves latched onto over Carvalho's loose ball to run at Chelsea's defence before Terry blocked his shot.
The pace of the game settled down with Drogba going into the referee's notebook for a challenge on Bixente Lizarazu while Hasan Salihamidzic accidentally played the ball with his arm while trying to find Paolo Guerrero.
Both sides then had chances to score but firstly Hargreaves' free-kick was weak and Petr Cech saved easily while Robert Kovac did superbly to close down Eidur Gudjohnsen from Drogba's flick-on.
Glen Johnson had his heart in his mouth just before the half hour mark when he made a hash of Hargreaves' cross, but Ze Roberto saw his left-footed drive flash wide.
Bayern had another chance to test Cech from a dangerous free-kick after Carvalho brought down Ballack, however Ze Roberto's pin-point effort drifted just over.
Chelsea almost made the visitors pay when Lampard connected with Gudjohnsen's lay-off, but his left footed drive curled away from Kahn's far post.
The home side came close to doubling their advantage after the break with Lucio blocking Duff's shot while Drogba failed make the most of Lampard's incisive through-ball.
Bayern were back on level terms shortly after when substitute Schweinsteiger scored from Ze Roberto's rebound after Ballack's initial free-kick hit Chelsea's wall.
The Blues survived heavy pressure from Felix Magath's side before Drogba tested Kahn with a tame free-kick on the hour mark.
Seconds later Drogba, who was much improved from his first half display, headed on for Lampard who made no mistake with his left-footed drive from outside the box.
Despite being on the back foot for much of the second period Chelsea regained their lead with a superbly struck effort that left Kahn with no chance.
A quickly taken free-kick caught the Bavarian giants napping when Duff moved into the space left by the visitors, however Kahn was on hand to turn the effort wide of goal.
Lampard then bagged his second of the game to put the home side in firm control of the tie with a superb piece of technique and finishing.
The England international midfielder latched on Claude Makelele's floated pass to the back post before controlling and turning on a six-pence and lashing past Kahn.
It was all Chelsea at this stage and Drogba capped a much-improved second half display with a goal his play deserved.
Substitute Robert Huth flicked on from Lampard's corner to find Gudjohnsen and while his shot was blocked the rebound fell to Drogba who could not miss from point-blank range.
Just when it looked like Chelsea would bag the dream result, Dutch referee Rene Temmink handed the visitors a lifeline when he adjudged Carvalho to have brought down Ballack in the area.
The Germany international showed great composure to send Cech the wrong way and give Bayern a crucial second away goal.
Chelsea Team Statistics Bayern Munich
4 Goals 2
1 1st Half Goals 0
8 Shots on Target 4
8 Shots off Target 3
6 Blocked Shots 3
8 Corners 4
17 Fouls 22
3 Offsides 0
4 Yellow Cards 2
0 Red Cards 0
67.1 Passing Success 70.8
65 Tackles 28
55.4 Tackles Success 75
42.6 Possession 57.4
41.6 Territorial Advantage 58.4
by James Pearson
Chelsea have one foot in the door of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals following an impressive 4-2 win over Bayern Munich at Stamford Bridge.
Bastian Schweinsteiger cancelled out Joe Cole's early deflected goal just after half time, but a superb double from Frank Lampard and a fourth from Didier Drogba put the home side in control.
The visitors gave themselves a lifeline in the closing stages when Michael Ballack scored from the penalty spot after he went down in the area under a challenge from Ricardo Carvalho.
Bayern have it all to do at the Olympiastadion next week and will hope the return of Dutch ace Roy Makaay might give the Bundesliga leaders a chance in the return leg.
Both sides looked to retain possession in the opening exchanges in West London before a massive slice of luck gave Jose Mourinho's boys the lead.
A simple long ball caused problems for Bayern's defence and Damien Duff played in Cole who saw his speculative shot from outside the box strike Lucio and roll into the net.
Experienced shot-stopper Oliver Kahn had no chance in the visitors' net while Drogba was lucky not to have touched the shot himself as he was standing in an offside position.
Chelsea had the bit between their teeth and almost doubled their lead shortly after when John Terry connected with Lampard's right wing corner, but Kahn was on hand to palm the effort away under pressure.
Bayern responded and just seconds later Owen Hargreaves latched onto over Carvalho's loose ball to run at Chelsea's defence before Terry blocked his shot.
The pace of the game settled down with Drogba going into the referee's notebook for a challenge on Bixente Lizarazu while Hasan Salihamidzic accidentally played the ball with his arm while trying to find Paolo Guerrero.
Both sides then had chances to score but firstly Hargreaves' free-kick was weak and Petr Cech saved easily while Robert Kovac did superbly to close down Eidur Gudjohnsen from Drogba's flick-on.
Glen Johnson had his heart in his mouth just before the half hour mark when he made a hash of Hargreaves' cross, but Ze Roberto saw his left-footed drive flash wide.
Bayern had another chance to test Cech from a dangerous free-kick after Carvalho brought down Ballack, however Ze Roberto's pin-point effort drifted just over.
Chelsea almost made the visitors pay when Lampard connected with Gudjohnsen's lay-off, but his left footed drive curled away from Kahn's far post.
The home side came close to doubling their advantage after the break with Lucio blocking Duff's shot while Drogba failed make the most of Lampard's incisive through-ball.
Bayern were back on level terms shortly after when substitute Schweinsteiger scored from Ze Roberto's rebound after Ballack's initial free-kick hit Chelsea's wall.
The Blues survived heavy pressure from Felix Magath's side before Drogba tested Kahn with a tame free-kick on the hour mark.
Seconds later Drogba, who was much improved from his first half display, headed on for Lampard who made no mistake with his left-footed drive from outside the box.
Despite being on the back foot for much of the second period Chelsea regained their lead with a superbly struck effort that left Kahn with no chance.
A quickly taken free-kick caught the Bavarian giants napping when Duff moved into the space left by the visitors, however Kahn was on hand to turn the effort wide of goal.
Lampard then bagged his second of the game to put the home side in firm control of the tie with a superb piece of technique and finishing.
The England international midfielder latched on Claude Makelele's floated pass to the back post before controlling and turning on a six-pence and lashing past Kahn.
It was all Chelsea at this stage and Drogba capped a much-improved second half display with a goal his play deserved.
Substitute Robert Huth flicked on from Lampard's corner to find Gudjohnsen and while his shot was blocked the rebound fell to Drogba who could not miss from point-blank range.
Just when it looked like Chelsea would bag the dream result, Dutch referee Rene Temmink handed the visitors a lifeline when he adjudged Carvalho to have brought down Ballack in the area.
The Germany international showed great composure to send Cech the wrong way and give Bayern a crucial second away goal.
Chelsea Team Statistics Bayern Munich
4 Goals 2
1 1st Half Goals 0
8 Shots on Target 4
8 Shots off Target 3
6 Blocked Shots 3
8 Corners 4
17 Fouls 22
3 Offsides 0
4 Yellow Cards 2
0 Red Cards 0
67.1 Passing Success 70.8
65 Tackles 28
55.4 Tackles Success 75
42.6 Possession 57.4
41.6 Territorial Advantage 58.4