Friday, April 11, 2014

Champion's League: PSG upsets Chelsea 3-1

PSG players celebrate after Pastore goal


Javier Pastore struck in stoppage time to give Paris Saint-Germain a 3-1 win over Chelsea at the Parc de Princes in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Jose Mourinho's side made a sluggish start to the evening, and found themselves a goal down on three minutes when captain John Terry's headed clearance went straight to Ezequiel Lavezzi, who controlled the loose ball before hammering a volley high into the net from 12 yards with Petr Cech well beaten.
Chelsea restored parity on 27 minutes when Oscar was bundled to the deck clumsily by Thiago Silva. Eden Hazard stepped up to slide the ball into the net as Salvatore Sirigu heading in the opposite direction.
Chelsea's lack of a recognised striker - Mourinho started with Andre Schuerrle rather then Fernando Torres up front - caught up with the 2012 winners in the second half as David Luiz felled Blaise Matuidi out wide. That led to a wicked Lavezzi free-kick that eluded Cech and ricocheted into the net off the shins of the helpless Luiz.
PSG lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a hamstring strain midway through the second period, but they were not finished for the night as £37 million signing from Palermo Pastore - on for Lavezzi with five minutes remaining - somehow ghosted into the visiting box from out wide, evading three players before sending a shot spinning under Cech, who was slow to go down at his near post.
It was an awful piece of defending, later described as "ridiculous" by Mourinho, and leaves Chelsea with a vast amount of work to be done in the second leg at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday.