Group F:Marseille 1 Chelsea 0: CHELSEA'S CONVICTION continues to wilt. This may have been the least significant of the four defeats suffered in their last eight matches, with the result meaningless in the context of qualification, but the sense that this season is veering away from them has been maintained. Confidence must be draining away.
This contest had been meandering towards a goalless conclusion when Taye Taiwo cut inside Paulo Ferreira with his cross shot deflected off Ramires and the centre-halves, Branislav Ivanovic and Jeffrey Bruma, wrong-footed in the six-yard box.
Brandao, a lump of a forward, guided the ball into the net and Chelsea’s earlier endeavour had counted for nothing.
Carlo Ancelotti’s angst was heightened further by the hamstring injury sustained by Jose Bosingwa which, if as serious as it appeared, would rule him out with games against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Arsenal to come. These are troubled times.
Ancelotti had demanded a performance from a largely senior side to shrug them out of their dismal recent form though, as open a contest as this was, there were passages of play that left the visiting manager pacing his technical area in frustration.
He had reason to complain when the referee Vladislav Bezborodov took his assistant’s advice and reversed a decision to award Chelsea a penalty despite Souleymane Diawara clearly flooring Florent Malouda.
The award of a corner was perplexing. Diawara, once of Charlton, appeared just as culpable towards the end of the first half when tripping Salomon Kalou right in front of the additional assistant referee, with the Ivorian’s appeals ignored.
Yet while those decisions tested his patience, Ancelotti will have been more concerned at the apparent vulnerability across his side’s back-line.
The visitors had dawdled alarmingly from the start, inviting danger by conceding territory and possession too easily in central midfield. Mathieu Valbuena had struck the crossbar from distance, then flashed a diving header wide, while Brandao was granted too much space to spin and fizz a shot wide of the post.
There had been some encouragement to be had from Kalou’s busy running, if not his rather erratic finishing, and, particularly, Josh McEachran’s tidy distribution. Yet Didier Drogba’s homecoming amounted to one effort well constructed but poked high and wide, as if he was taking the banner unfurled on the Virage Nord – “Drogba, you say you love l’OM, now prove it” – rather too seriously. His reception upon being substituted just after the hour was deafening.
Ancelotti will have been grateful that the striker emerged unscathed from the contest given the team’s recent lack of goals, and his withdrawal of Terry with 18 minutes remaining reflected the reality that thoughts were turning to White Hart Lane on Sunday.
With Bosingwa departed, Brandao’s late reward was plundered against a reshaped back-line, though confidence as a whole has suffered a further blow.
Afterwards Didier Drogba admitted he felt emotional during his return to Marseille but was disappointed with the outcome.
The Ivory Coast international said: “It was quite emotional to be out there. There was a fantastic atmosphere. It was difficult for me to play but I’m disappointed with the defeat . . . it’s frustrating.”
On the decision not to award Chelsea in the 15th minute Drogba revealed said: “I’m wearing the Chelsea shirt now, not the Marseille one, so I wanted to score. He gave a penalty then said Florent dived – but if that’s the case you have to give him (Malouda) a yellow card. It changed the game – 1-0 for us would have made it a different game.”
Terry admitted his team need to rediscover the form which preceded their current poor run but added: “There is no point us panicking. We realise we are not playing as well as we can, the players realise there is a lot more to give and to come.”
Chelsea’s next games are away to Tottenham on Sunday, home to Manchester United and and away to Arsenal on St Stephen’s Day.
Guardian Service
MARSEILLE: Mandanda, Kabore, Diawara, Heinze, Taiwo, Valbuena (Gonzalez 62), Abriel (Andre Ayew 63), N'Diaye (Jordan Ayew 86), Cheyrou, Remy, Brandao. Subs Not Used: Andrade, Cisse, Sabo. Booked: Andre Ayew.
CHELSEA:Cech, Bosingwa (Van Aanholt 80), Ivanovic, Terry (Bruma 72), Ferreira, Kalou, Essien, McEachran, Ramires, Malouda, Drogba (Sturridge 62). Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Mikel, Kakuta, Sala.
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (Russia).
