[ 2013-12-12 ]

Chelsea fail to impress
It is José Mourinho’s contention that Chelsea
will struggle to win the Champions League this
season, and his players do not appear desperate to
prove him wrong any time soon. A low-key victory
over opponents who would be out of their depth in
the Europa League will not have caused any alarm
at Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Barcelona, but of
greater significance is that Chelsea will avoid
such powerhouses in next Monday’s round-of-16
draw after winning group E.
Mourinho will not have been thrilled by
Chelsea’s performance, but was pleased enough by
the outcome as his players got the job done while
conserving energy for the greater challenges
ahead, securing a maximum return from the minimum
outlay.
Oscar, David Luiz and Ashley Cole got some
much-needed game-time after spells on the
sidelines, no one else was injured and a Chelsea
striker eventually got on to the scoresheet, even
if Demba Ba’s first-half goal appeared to be
dubious at best.
Mourinho had demanded that his strikers start
scoring goals, and this was deemed the perfect
opportunity. Like a cricket captain who wins the
toss on a featherbed pitch, Demba Ba could not
believe his luck at being given the first
opportunity to bolster his average against
sub-standard opposition, with the visiting side so
hesitant early on that it seemed only a matter of
time before Chelsea ran up a cricket score.
Ba’s desperation to impress betrayed him,
however, the only explanation for his attempt to
claim Chelsea’s opening goal in the tenth
minute, which eventually proved successful.
Willian’s corner was headed across goal by Oscar
and Daniel Georgievski somehow contrived to bundle
the ball into his own net, the second goal he has
scored “for” Chelsea in this season’s
competition, as many as any of their strikers. The
Macedonia right back was born in Australia, which
might have explained his sloppiness after several
sleepless nights revelling in the heroics of
Mitchell Johnson et al.
Ba looked as if he was nowhere near the ball, but
that did not prevent him running away with his arm
in the air in celebration. The public-address
announcer was fooled initially, but the stadium
scoreboard gave the goal to Georgievski, until a
bizarre ruling from Uefa that returned it to Ba.
Irrespective of the identity of the goalscorer
there was no doubting that Chelsea switched off
after taking the lead, allowing Steaua to break on
the counter-attack and create an opportunity from
which they should have equalised three minutes
later.
Georgievski’s through-ball released Gabriel
Iancu who found himself one-on-one against Mark
Schwarzer, but he scuffed his shot across the face
of goal. The 41-year-old goalkeeper is the oldest
player to make his debut in the history of the
competition, and he had little to do in the first
half on what is likely to be his sole appearance.
Chelsea soon recovered their poise, without ever
looking like producing their best football, not
that they had to. Branislav Ivanovic was denied by
a brilliant close-range save by Ciprian Tatarusanu
from Eden Hazard’s cross, and Frank Lampard
volleyed wide from 25 yards, but there was little
else in the first half of note.
The second half was similarly forgettable, other
than the odd classy contribution from Oscar, who
has clearly not suffered from ten days on the
sidelines. The Brazilian has been Chelsea’s
player of the season so far and he continues to
impress, creating space for others with his
intelligent movement and releasing team-mates with
probing passes.
One such pass led to the best move of the match in
the 52nd minute, which failed to get the finish it
deserved.
Hazard collected Oscar’s ball and immediately
switched the direction of attack to release
Willian on the right, only for Ba to blast an
inch-perfect cross over the bar from six yards.
André Schürrle made an impact after his
introduction as a substitute in the 67th minute,
crossing from the left for Hazard to head over the
bar, but his team-mates did not seem too desperate
to score a second as they cruised through the rest
of the game.
Apart from winning the match, Chelsea’s only
other concern all evening was the presence in the
East Stand of someone with a laser pen, which was
periodically shone at several players and
Mourinho, leading stewards to search for the
culprit and issue a warning over the PA system
that such actions constitute a criminal offence.
After another less than convincing performance,
Mourinho seems to have accepted that it will be a
while before his side are legitimately lit up in
lights.

Source - The Times(UK)

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