SOCCER/Juventus 2 Chelsea 2:CHELSEA HAVE their quarter-final and scars aplenty to show for this skirmish with the Old Lady. A frenzied evening marked by a flurry of goals and cards, a timely reward for a player whose season had appeared wrecked by injury, and some bizarre decisions from the officials ended with Guus Hiddink's side safely ensconced in the last eight. They may not have sent shockwaves across Europe, but at least there is evidence that the resilience is back.
It took a goal against 10 men finally to deflate Claudio Ranieri’s side. Juliano Belletti, whose handball had presented Juventus with an unlikely late lead, eked out space down the right and crossed low for Didier Drogba, capitalising on the space left by the dismissed Giorgio Chiellini, to slide in the second equaliser.
That was fine reward for the Ivorian, though it was Michael Essien’s name that was chorused at the end, the midfielder having scored on his first start in over six months. There is more to come from the Ghanaian, and the same might be said of this team.
Chelsea had known this was likely to prove an uncomfortable occasion. Juve had overcome first-leg deficits to force progress in the knock-out phase of this competition four times, and had shown flashes of class in the first leg despite conceding an early goal.
Hiddink must have feared seeing his side subjected to a scorching start and his selection was nothing if not bold, handing Essien a first start since August and with Nicolas Anelka, absent from training all last week with a toe injury, beginning up front.
The pair had an immediate impact, if not in the way their manager had envisaged. Both clattered Pavel Nedved in the early exchanges, forcing the Czech from the field before the quarter-hour mark clutching his ribs and leaving Juve apparently shorn of creativity.
Even so, they had forged level in the tie before, with the interval approaching, Essien proved his worth in more legitimate manner.
The visitors were still coming to terms with a linesman’s insistence that Drogba’s near-post free-kick, bent round the wall, had not crossed the line when, within seconds, Frank Lampard emerged from the midfield stodge to crash a shot from distance on to the underside of the crossbar via Gianluigi Buffon’s touch. The ball cannoned down near the goal-line again with Buffon prone for Essien, marauding through the centre, to knock it into the net.
The Ghanaian has been through so much on the sidelines this season that he deserved the reward – celebrated with gusto and the coaching staff – and it was a dagger to Juve’s hopes. For so long they had appeared destined to prosper, their midfield runners disturbing Chelsea’s rhythm and the clever inter-play of their front trio threatening to expose the frailties which had surfaced too often before Hiddink’s arrival.
The game had taken almost 20 minutes to erupt. Then David Trezeguet collected Vincenzo Iaquinta’s pass and flicked an exquisite ball inside John Terry and Ashley Cole for the Italy forward to gather. His finish was emphatic and the Premier League team quivered.
In the aftermath of that goal the contest had appeared Juve’s for the taking. Alessandro Del Piero, losing Mikel John Obi at will, had prompted and provided to make up for Nedved’s absence.
It was the veteran’s free-kick that had Petr Cech palming up and away with little conviction. Yet the manner of the riposte just before the interval knocked the belief from the Italians’ approach.
The officials, however, were not done influencing affairs just yet. Chiellini’s second yellow card, this one for dissent, had appeared to have settled matters, but the Spanish official penalised Belletti for handball as Del Piero’s free-kick veered into the area to present the Italians with an unlikely route back into the game. Del Piero calmly stroked in the penalty and Chelsea, so dominant, were fretting again.
JUVENTUS: Buffon, Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro, Tiago, Marchisio, Nedved (Salihamidzic 13), Iaquinta (Giovinco 61), Del Piero, Trezeguet (Amauri 79). Subs not used: Manninger, Zebina, Poulsen, Ariaudo. Sent off: Chiellini (71). Booked: Salihamidzic, Chiellini, Del Piero.
CHELSEA: Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Alex (Carvalho 88), Ashley Cole, Mikel, Ballack, Essien (Belletti 66), Lampard, Drogba, Anelka. Subs not used: Hilario, Malouda, Deco, Kalou, Mancienne. Booked: Cech, Drogba, Ashley Cole, Anelka.
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain).
