Chelsea 2 APOEL Nicosia 2: Essien's hamstring injury is agony to the Blues

08 December 2009 23:30
Carlo Ancelotti stood in the rain, hands sunk deep in his pockets, and scowled as Michael Essien first underlined his immense value to Chelsea, then limped off clutching his hamstring.[LNB]Is there any wonder managers send out the youth players for these games at the fag end of the Champions League group stage?[LNB]In a game which barely mattered, Chelsea were nowhere near their best and narrowly avoided the ignominy of a third defeat in seven days. But there were enough things to irritate Ancelotti.[LNB]His team were complacent at the start, surrendering an early lead toAPOEL, and sloppy in the closing minutes when John Mikel Obi's mistakepresented Nenad Mirosavljevic with an equaliser.[LNB] A point to savour: Nenad Mirosavljevic nets the equaliser[LNB]In between, there were wonderful goals for Essien and Didier Drogbabut Essien's injury will be the greatest concern. He definitely missesSaturday's game against Everton.[LNB]Chelsea's squad may not yet look quite as depleted as ManchesterUnited's but the weight of fixtures is taking its toll and players willbe lost to the Africa Cup of Nations at the end of this month. SalomonKalou is out for two weeks with a thigh injury and Ancelotti restedMichael Ballack, Ashley Cole and Alex, who were all nursing slightaches and strains.[LNB]Petr Cech was replaced by Ross Turnbull, making his full debut andpicking the ball out of the net after only six minutes. John Terrydeclared himself fit despite a cut on his knee but his back fourstarted shakily.[LNB]Turnbull had already been forced into one save before ConstantinosCharalambides darted down APOEL's left and crossed low for MarcinZewlakow to score.[LNB] Caught cold: Zewlakow stuns Chelsea early on[LNB]After 10 successive clean sheets at Stamford Bridge, it was thefirst goal conceded by Chelsea at home in 968 minutes. The previous onewas scored by Stephen Hunt for Hull in August.[LNB]Ancelotti's team, who won Group D with a victory in Porto two weeksago, woke up once they went behind. Joe Cole thought he had levelledwithin five minutes, leaping at the near post to head in FlorentMalouda's cross, but it was disallowed for offside.[LNB]The decision looked marginal but Essien stepped forward to smash in the equaliser. The Ghanaian collected a short pass in midfield, side-stepped a defender andunleashed a 25-yarder which took a slight deflection and swerved pastDionisios Chiotis.[LNB] [LNB] Level pegging: Michael Essien restores parity[LNB]Unfortunately, it was Essien's last significant contribution. He injured his hamstring moments later and hobbled off in pain.[LNB]Chelsea went ahead with 10 men as the bench hurriedly prepared tosend on Frank Lampard. Drogba finished a slick passing move involvingGael Kakuta and Yuri Zhirkov with his 16th goal in 20 games thisseason. Not bad for a player who doesn't do a lot, according to ArseneWenger.[LNB]Cause for concern: Essien hobbles off[LNB]Kakuta, also making his full debut, impressed with his footwork andvision. Chelsea are being careful not to over-expose the French18-year-old, who has found himself at the centre of controversy sinceFIFA imposed a transfer ban on Chelsea for recruiting him illegally.[LNB]The ban has been suspended pending an appeal next year but Kakuta's talent commands attention.[LNB]He was eventually replaced by Italian teenager Fabio Borini, whoalso looked sharp. Cole and Malouda went close as Chelsea wastedchances for a third and slowly the momentum swung back to APOEL, whoneeded a win to qualify for the Europa League.[LNB]Mikel must take the blame for the late equaliser. He controlled ashort pass from Terry and tried to return the ball to his captain, onlyto leave it short.[LNB]Mirosavljevic burst on to the error, charging into the penalty area before driving a shot under  Turnbull's dive.[LNB]APOEL's noisy supporters tried to cheer their team on to a winnerand Zhirkov had to make a  desperate clearance in stoppage time toprevent another defeat.[LNB] [LNB] Carlo on the warpath: Ancelotti rages as Chelsea slump to dismal draw Under-fire Chelsea keeper Cech takes blame for defeat at Manchester CityRussia probe claims stars drank before World Cup play-off exit to SloveniaCHELSEA 2 APOEL 2: As it happenedCHELSEA FC

Source: Daily_Mail