Chelsea arrived in Paris and instantly made themselves heard, as the team bus got stuck in the tunnel beneath the Parc des Princes last night. This was not the start Jose Mourinho had hoped for as his men endured a long and gruelling 90 minutes in Paris. This was by no means a Chelsea side that we are used to watching, but ultimately they left France with the advantage after Branislav Ivanovic secured an away goal for Chelsea.
It was Edison Cavani who cancelled out Ivanovic’s header to draw to the two team’s level, the striker had been a threat all game and found space between Gary Cahill and John Terry to head home. Chelsea may well have Thibaut Courtois thank, the Belgian justified his selection with numerous spectacular diving saves.
Both sides started with a measured approach, in what was to clear to be a tactical battle between the two managers. The opening minutes were controlled and closely contested. The first clear cut chance came from the French side, it was Cavani’s whipped cross from which found Blaise Matuidi after the midfielder made a powerful and direct run from deep. However his strong header was at a good height for Courtois to push wide. Matuidi quickly retrieved the ball, to send a cross of his own into the Chelsea penalty area, finding Ibrahimovich who saw his downwards header saved also by the Belgian.
The chance sparked the game into life and lifted the fans in Paris. Prior to the goal, Chelsea did not offer much going forward. The Premier League side were nearly made to pay for it too, Lavezzi’s out swinging corner found Edison Cavani at the near post, his header forced an instinctive save from an alerted Thibaut Courtois.
The save would prove to be vital, as just moments later a Fabregas free kick was cleared by Thiago Silva. John Terry chased down the loose ball to prevent a throw in, the Chelsea captain curled a low cross back into the penalty area. The cross was delicately flicked on by Gary Cahill to Ivanovic who was alert in the area and headed Chelsea into a one goal lead.
The goal was hard on the French side, but forced them to attack Chelsea, they began to grow in confidence as the second half got under way. Chelsea were soon on the back foot and under constant pressure from the Laurent Blanc’s men. On 54 minutes Maxwell found space on the left hand side to and picked out an overlapping Matuidi, who crossed the ball into the penalty area towards Edison Cavani. The striker who had been a constant presence in the PSG attack all night, found space between Gary Cahill and John Terry to place his header past Courtois.
PSG went in search of their second as the momentum shifted towards the French side, Courtois produced another moment of magic as he saved an Ibramovich shot down low with his feet from close range. Lavezzi pounced on the follow up, which looked to be a certain goal with Courtois on the floor. However his shot was to be blocked by John Terry and Cesar Azpilcueta.
Suddenly the game was becoming a feisty affair, tempers started to flair as a result of strong tackles from the likes of David Luiz and Fabregas. PSG were now attacking relentlessly, substitute Javier Pastore was bundled to ground by Ramires off the ball but penalty claims were swiftly waved away.
In the final minutes PSG fashioned a late chance from a Maxwell cross, which found Ibrahimovich who could not manage to beat Courtois. Despite the feeble and nervous performance, Chelsea take an away goal to Stamford Bridge and seize the advantage ahead of the return leg on March 11th.
