Chelsea were knocked out of the
Champions League by a magnificent
Inter performance, capped off by a
superb display by Wesley Sneijder
and a 78th minute winner from
Samuel Eto'o.
The main team news came from the
visitors, with Jose Mourinho starting
all three of his available attackers
Samuel Eto ’o, Diego Milito and
Goran Pandev, with Sneijder in close
proximity. For Chelsea, Ross Turnbull
was given the nod in goal as
expected.
Inter created the first half-chance in
the opening moments. Maicon
squared the ball for Esteban
Cambiasso, whose shot from 20 yards
cannoned off a defender and landed
for Samuel Eto ’o, but his decision to
take a touch before attempting to
shoot was a costly one and he was
dispossessed.
Florent Malouda tried to claim a
penalty for Chelsea soon after as he
advanced through the centre, but
after knocking the ball past Lucio,
the Frenchman had run straight into
the Brazilian defender.
Inter went back on the attack, and
Goran Pandev picked up the ball and
played a neat cross to the marauding
Maicon, who was in acres of space
on Inter ’s right, but after drawing
Yuri Zhirkov, the right-back blasted
high into the crowd at the near post.
Chelsea’s first real sighter came on 11
minutes, when Michael Ballack
picked up the ball 20 yards out and
drove a right footed cross-shot just
wide of Julio Cesar ’s goal.
Inter were awarded a free kick 20
yards from goal on the right after
Frank Lampard made contact with
Eto ’o after more good work by
Maicon had opened up Chelsea.
Sneijder swung the set piece into a
dangerous position, but Milito
couldn ’t get a head to the ball.
Moments later Lucio’s dangerously
high foot caught Malouda,
prompting a two-part showdown
between the two sets of players.
When the referee finally managed to
calm the sides down, Didier Drogba
belted the free kick straight into the
wall.
Samuel Eto’o then picked up a yellow
card when he protested against
referee Wolfgang Stark ’s decision to
call Milito offside as he ran into
space from the Cameroonian ’s pass.
There was an opening for Chelsea
when, from a cross from the right,
Malouda flicked the ball on for
Drogba, whose shot with the outside
of his right boot was well blocked by
Maicon, and Lampard skied the
rebound.
The home side could have made
more of a great opportunity in the
32nd minute. Nicolas Anelka made
good progress down the right and
fortuitously received the ball back
from an attempted one-two, but his
pull-back was a poor one and was
easily cleared.
The Blues were almost made to pay
in the cruelest of fashions when Inter
attacked down the right through
Maicon once more. The Brazilian ’s
cross was completely missed by John
Terry, but Eto ’o reacted too slowly to
the chance and could only head the
ball into the ground. It was the best
opportunity of the game up to that
point.
More good work down the right
between Maicon and Eto ’o created a
half-chance for Diego Milito, but he
was dispossessed by two defenders
just as he was about to turn and
shoot.
From the corner, Anelka broke well,
but when he tried to bring his
supporting team-mates into play,
Cambiasso swept up superbly to send
Inter forward again. The move
resulted in a free kick from 35 yards
out, which Sneijder fired straight at
the wall.
A magnificent passing move by
Chelsea seemed to have created the
opening goal as Malouda ghosted
through, but his fierce left-foot shot
was brilliantly cut out by Walter
Samuel ’s amazing last-ditch diving
challenge.
As chances started to come thick and
fast for the Englishmen, Malouda
chipped in from the left, there was
confusion between Lucio and
Samuel, and Anelka ’s shot was saved
by Julio Cesar, with the rebound
coming off Thiago Motta and
running for a corner to the home
side.
From the resulting flag-kick, Samuel
and Drogba ended up in a pile on the
ground, but the Ivorian ’s extensive
protests fell on the deaf ears of
referee Stark.
Samuel’s toe again came to the
rescue for the Italians when Drogba’s
chest down sent in Lampard, but the
Argentine covered superbly to deny
the England midfielder and keep the
scores level at the break.
Chelsea started the second half as
they ’d ended the first, and after
Thiago Motta was booked for
bringing down Malouda, Drogba hit
the target with a long range free
kick, but there wasn ’t enough pace in
the shot to trouble Julio Cesar.
Inter should have had the lead, and a
crucial away goal, after a magnificent
ball from Sneijder found Eto ’o in
acres of space, but the off-form
striker took an age as he bore down
on Turnbull ’s goal, allowing Zhirkov
to get back and get a vital challenge
in.
Another Drogba free kick looked set
to hand Ballack a chance, but the ball
skipped beyond the German, who in
any case had started from an offside
position.
Yellow cards were traded between
Lucio and Malouda as the pace was
ramped up and nerves appeared to
be playing an increasingly huge part
in the game. Didier Drogba was also
booked for a challenge on Thiago
Motta, though the Ivorian striker
appeared to have been hard done by.
Goran Pandev so nearly broke the
deadlock on 59 minutes when he
raced onto Sneijder ’s magnificent
flick and closed to within 12 yards of
goal, but just as he was about to
strike left-footed, Zhirkov came in
with a superb challenge. From the
corner the ball broke for Milito,
whose shot on the turn didn ’t quite
have the power to beat the well-
positioned Turnbull.
Chelsea made the first change when
Carlo Ancelotti replaced Ballack with
Joe Cole. The England man
immediately brought down Thiago
Motta, allowing Sneijder to swing in
another dangerous free kick, but
again Inter were unable to capitalise.
Inter spawned another golden
opportunity in the 65th minute.
Having kept the ball brilliantly down
the left for nearly a whole minute,
they fashioned a marvellous chance
when Sneijder sent Milito into space.
But the Argentine, having drawn
Turnbull, screwed the ball wide of the
far post.
The failure to take chances will have
frustrated Jose Mourniho, but,
similarly, Ancelotti will have become
concerned with the amount of space
Inter were being able to find with
regularity.
Again Inter created a great chance.
Another magnificent Sneijder free
kick from the right found Thiago
Motta free at the far post, but he
headed over the bar from a tight
angle three yards out.
Carlo Ancelotti’s second roll of the
dice was to bring on Salomon Kalou
for Zhirkov in an attempt to make
the Blues more potent down the left.
Jose Mourinho responded by
bringing Dejan Stanklovic on for
Pandev for the final 15 minutes.
Kalou’s first act was almost a match-
changing one, but after he’d cut
inside two, his right-foot shot from
25 yards was an erratic one.
And with 12 minutes remaining, Inter
finally got the goal they ’d been
threatening throughout the second
period. Wesley Sneijder delivered a
delightful left-foot through ball from
his own half for Samuel Eto’o, who
took two touches as he bore down
on goal, kept his composure under
Ivanovic ’s challenge and hit a superb
right foot finish beyond Ross Turnbull
at the near post. The importance of
the goal could not be overstated, as
Chelsea ’s body language told the
whole story.
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