Source: Daily_Mail
Juventus 2 Chelsea 2: The Train is on time with vital goal as Juve fall
Amid the chaos and confusion of an enthralling Champions League encounter, Michael Essien, known to his team-mates as The Train, arrived on time and so, more crucially, did a goal from Didier Drogba. [LNB]Chelsea[LNB]are through to yet another Champions League quarter-final but they made hard work of it here, almost contriving at one stage to succumb to a spirited Juventus side that had actually been reduced to 10 men. [LNB]It was absorbing stuff. A bumptiously-executed penalty from the forever-young Alessandro Del Piero and suddenly the Italians had 16 minutes to score what would have been a decisive goal. [LNB] Goal crazy: Didier Drogba is ecstatic after his aggregate winning strike[LNB] But from Juliano Belletti came a cross that made amends for theneedless handball that had led to Del Piero's spot-kick; and from arejuvenated Drogba came the goal that had Guus Hiddink shaking his fistin celebration at the final whistle. [LNB]In fairness to the OldLady, she probably felt as if she had been mugged, given how shedominated much of this contest. Chelsea were disappointing last night,as even Ray Wilkins admitted in his half-time verdict to the televisioncameras. 'We were poor,' he said. [LNB]In fairness to Chelsea theydid, however, have what replays suggested was a perfectly good goaldisallowed when Gianluigi Buffon failed to stop Drogba's bulletfree-kick from crossing the line in the 43rd minute.[LNB] Chelsea boss Hiddink calls for goal-cams after Drogba effort is ruled out[LNB]MARTIN SAMUEL: We could do with another dose of Jose [LNB]ASH WEDNESDAY: Mourinho for Man U? Jose would rip United apart and job-for-life Sir Alex will never stand for that [LNB]Juventus 2 Chelsea 2: How the action unfolded[LNB]CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GALLERY[LNB]CHELSEA FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB] [LNB]Chelsea,down to what amounted to a wonderful opening goal from VincenzoIaquinta in the 19th minute, were struggling and the sight of the matchofficials signalling for play to continue in the wake of Buffon'scontroversial save only worsened their mood. [LNB]Little more thanthree minutes later, though, in first-half added time, and Essien haddemonstrated why his comparison to a locomotive goes beyond thatawesome combination of pace and power.[LNB] Turin breaks: Vincenzo Iaquinta dinks it over Petr Cech to complete a well-worked opener for Juventus[LNB] [LNB]Mussolini once made thetrains run on time in Italy and even he would have admired the sheerperfection of Essien's arrival after seeing Buffon push a deflectedeffort from Frank Lampard against the bar. [LNB]In the second or soBuffon spent trying desperately to regain his balance and possession ofthe ball, Essien had pounced ahead of Juve's central defenders to markhis long-awaited return to Champions League football in style. [LNB]Itmust have been tough for Claudio Ranieri to take, especially when hehad proved to his former employers that his tinkering is sometimesbased on sound tactical thinking. [LNB]The loss of Pavel Nedved toinjury after only 13 minutes amounted to a major disruption but Ranierireshuffled his side impressively, deploying Del Piero in Nedved'splaymaker role, pushing Iaquinta alongside David Trezeguet in attackand sending on the excellent Hasan Salihamidzic to sit in centralmidfield.[LNB] Back with a bang: Michael Essien fires past Juve keeper Gigi Buffon to score Chelsea's first equaliser[LNB] [LNB]Only six minutes later and the switch had produced agoal. A backheel from Iaquinta was followed by a great pass fromTrezeguet that in turn was rewarded with a sublime finish from his newpartner. If they made John Terry and Ashley Cole look rather foolish,it was as much down to the sheer quality of their football as it wasthe static nature of Chelsea's defending. [LNB]It was exactly whatboth sides deserved, Juve for their invention and industry, Chelsea fornaively believing they could sit back and protect the one-goaladvantage they had brought from Stamford Bridge. Hiddink said it wouldbe dangerous to sit so deep but that was exactly the approach his sideemployed, inviting Juve to extend their lead, forcing Petr Cech to makethe first of a series of fine saves to deny Del Piero. [LNB]Not oncein those previous five games under Hiddink had Chelsea gone a goalbehind but here they were in such a position and they appeared to be introuble, albeit in a tie that was now perfectly balanced. [LNB]Frustrationbegan to surge through those blue Chelsea veins. Essien was incensedwhen a decision was given against him. Michael Ballack shook his headwhen a pass went astray. They seemed bereft of ideas. Sadly lacking ininspiration. Until, that is, they suddenly earned a free-kick shortlybefore the interval. A free-kick that would lead to a goal that wouldnot be given but would succeed in injecting some life into thisstuttering Chelsea side.[LNB] False hope: Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero scored the second for the hosts but his effort was soon scratched off by Drogba's late leveller[LNB] [LNB]Hiddink said they might need a bit ofgood fortune as well as good football and it did eventually come in theform of the deflection that suddenly made Lampard's shot that much moredifficult for the brilliant Buffon. [LNB]A goal for Essien. Disasterfor Juve. Thanks to the away-goal rule, Juve now needed to score twiceto progress to the last eight but my how hard they worked in trying totrying to perform what appeared the impossible. After the break and thefluent football had given way to a more frantic approach but one thatin some ways was more effective. Cech had to produce a world-class saveto guide a Trezeguet header to safety and the Chelsea goalkeeperexcelled again when he held a searching free-kick from SebastianGiovinco. [LNB]When Giorgio Chiellini was then dismissed in the 71stminute for a second yellow card for what seemed to be dissent, Chelseamust have thought they were home and dry. [LNB]That, however, wasbefore Belletti - on as a replacement for the exhausted Essien -decided in a moment of madness to raise a hand in stopping a free -kickfrom Trezeguet. This Del Piero did not miss, ignoring the disgracefulprotests of an angry Chelsea mob and inviting Juve to make the final 16minutes all the more compelling.[LNB] Italian job done: Frank Lampard toasts Chelsea's dramatic Champions League win as his team-mates rejoice in the background[LNB] Chelsea boss Hiddink calls for goal-cams after Drogba effort is ruled out[LNB]MARTIN SAMUEL: We could do with another dose of Jose [LNB]ASH WEDNESDAY: Mourinho for Man U? Jose would rip United apart and job-for-life Sir Alex will never stand for that [LNB]Juventus 2 Chelsea 2: How the action unfolded[LNB]CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GALLERY[LNB]CHELSEA FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB] [LNB] [LNB]
