Chelsea outgun PSG

Demba Ba scoops home Chelsea's crucial late goal.

Chelsea and Jose Mourinho dare to dream of European glory once more after overturning a two-goal deficit to advance to the Champions League semifinals at the expense of Paris St Germain.

Mourinho raced down the touchline in celebration of substitute Demba Ba's 87th-minute goal, which secured the 2012 winners a 2-0 win and a place in the last four for a seventh time in 11 years courtesy of Eden Hazard's away goal in the first leg.

It was a scene reminiscent of Mourinho's sprint at Old Trafford en route to his first European Cup success with Porto in 2004.

The trophy eluded the Portuguese during his first spell at Stamford Bridge, but he won it again in 2010 with Inter Milan and has another shot at glory four years on.

Chelsea trailed 3-1 after the first leg, but were unbeaten since September at home and had kept eight successive clean sheets prior to the match.

Mourinho believed in his side and, when Andre Schurrle swept in after 32 minutes, the Blues needed one more goal and to stretch that defensive mean-streak by one more game.

Against a PSG strikeforce vaunted even without the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic that was no easy task, but the defence held their side of the bargain as the attackers tried to fulfil theirs.

Mourinho had gambled on the fitness of big-game player Samuel Eto'o, but was not banking on losing Hazard to injury after 18 minutes.

Schurrle, the Belgian's replacement, was anonymous in a 'false nine' role in the first leg, but thrived in the second, hitting the bar seven minutes into the second half.

Oscar struck the frame of the goal with a free-kick moments later and PSG had chances as Chelsea surged forward looking for the decisive goal.

It looked like it would prove elusive until Cesar Azpilicueta's drive into the area fell for Ba to turn the ball into the net and spark delirious celebrations, led by Mourinho.

Only two sides in Champions League history had overturned two-goal deficits, with Chelsea involved in both contests, losing to Barcelona in 2000 and beating Napoli 12 years later en route to European glory.

Mourinho called on his side to repeat the comeback of two years earlier against a PSG side which included Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi, then of Napoli.

PSG had lost just once by two clear goals in their previous 110 fixtures and boss Laurent Blanc hoped his side could impose their philosophy on Chelsea to show flair as well as grit.

Mourinho, meanwhile, told his players to enjoy the occasion, to play with smiles on their faces, insisting the result in Paris was more due to his side's failures than PSG's prowess.

The Portuguese dressed down in a tracksuit, but meant business, hurrying a ball boy operating near his dugout. Few Chelsea players seemed to enjoy a pulsating and disjointed opening.

Oscar found some joy down the left, so, too, did Eto'o, who had a shot deflected over before the striker showed his sharpness after a three-game absence with a hamstring injury by pressing Salvatore Sirigu as the goalkeeper dealt with a back-pass, only to commit a foul.

The left wing is usually Hazard's domain, but much to the concern of the raucous home faithful, the Belgian was subdued and soon limped off. The man coveted by PSG shook hands with Blanc on his departure.

The Blues had set-piece opportunities. A Frank Lampard free-kick kicked up wickedly off the wall, forcing Sirigu to turn the ball round the post. Sirigu was beaten soon afterwards as his static defence watched David Luiz flick on Branislav Ivanovic's long throw for Schurrle to sweep the ball into the bottom corner.

Schurrle appealed in vain for a penalty moments later when collided with Marco Verratti. Cavani and Lampard were booked in quick succession by referee Pedro Proenca - the man in the middle when the Blues won the 2012 European Cup - as tempers simmered.

Chelsea maintained the intensity after the restart and went close when Oscar's incisive pass found Willian. He pulled the ball back for Schurrle to strike a fierce drive which rebounded off the crossbar.

Lucas Moura fouled Eto'o on the left edge of the box for a free-kick in a dangerous position and Oscar's curling strike also hit the woodwork.

PSG's forays forward were ever more infrequent but danger lurked. Ivanovic was adjudged to have fouled Blaise Matuidi on the left edge of the Chelsea box, earning a booking which rules him out of their next European match.

Lavezzi's inswinging free-kick was clawed round the post by Petr Cech. Ba replaced Frank Lampard with 24 minutes to go and flicked on for Schurrle, who shot straight at Sirigu.

As Chelsea poured forwards, PSG had chances. The best fell for Cavani, who fired over after controlling Yohan Cabaye's 50-yard pass.

Still searching a second, the much-maligned Fernando Torres was thrown into the fray, but it was Ba who netted the decisive strike before Chelsea withstood a late bombardment to advance.
 By PA Sport  
Source ESPN   

Mourinho fumes at 'ridiculous' defending

April 2, 2014

     

 

   

By ESPN staffChelsea boss Jose Mourinho was scathing in his assessment of Chelsea's defending as a late Javier Pastore strike handed Paris Saint-Germain a 3-1 advantage in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.

PA Photos Jose Mourinho cut a frustrated figure on the touchline.

Eden Hazard's penalty either side of Ezequiel Lavezzi's stunning opening strike and David Luiz's own goal had handed Chelsea a crucial away strike, but Javier Pastore's last-gasp effort tipped the tie dramatically in the Parisians' favour.
The Argentine wriggled away from several challenges on the byline before cutting inside and beating Petr Cech from a narrow angle, which drew a stinging response from the coach.
"He [Gary Cahill] says sloppy. I say ridiculous," Mourinho told Sky Sports. "We played against a great team, full of good players especially attacking players. You would expect them to score fantastic goals. Not the goals they scored.
"We lose the first goal in an easy position and we assist the striker. Nobody in second goal was there for a crucial position.
"The second goal one of my players scores an own goal, it's unlucky, but the way the team positioned themselves defensively was not the right one. Finally the third goal was sloppy, Gary uses that word, but for me, ridiculous."
Mourinho appeared disappointed with striker Fernando Torres too, after he came on after an hour. The Spaniard replaced Andre Schuerrle, who had been fairly ineffective in an unaccustomed lone striker's role.
"I'm not happy with my strikers' performances, so I have to try things," Mourinho said.
"With Andre at least I know we have one more player to have the ball, we have one more player to associate with the other players.
"Football is also about scoring goals. That is for strikers, for real strikers. I had to try."
Mourinho was not willing to defend his initial formation.
"Don't ask me about that," he said. "I change with 1-1 because I thought Fernando could give us more depth than Andre. With Andre the team had good control and possession, he was dropping deep. I thought Fernando could give us a bit more."
Mourinho has lamented his striking options all season -- Samuel Eto'o was unavailable in Paris through injury -- and suggested Chelsea's lack of firepower made hope of recovering the tie a tough prospect.
"It is a difficult job but not impossible," he said. "They are the type of team that out of nothing they can score goal.
"We are not a team full of talent to score goals, especially at this level. But you never know. We have to try. We have to go with everything. Let's try."
Cahill admitted Chelsea face a tough task to reach the semifinals after Pastore's late strike. "It was a horrible time to concede," Cahill added.
"It's a sloppy goal and unlike us. It's a big blow at 2-1. It was difficult to come here; 2-1 would have been okay to take to Stamford Bridge. It's devastating."

Liverpool,dare to dream.

      This weekend thanks to the unpredictability of the EPL, we saw Liverpool go to the top of the table. It seems like everything that needed to happen happened, including Manchester City failing to record a win at Arsenal and Chelsea losing to Crystal Palace. That provided for dreamy weekend for the funs and I am pretty sure a nervous Saturday for Liverpool players.
      For people like me who have supported Liverpool through thick and thin. Taking all kinds of abuse to go with our team misery displays, the time to dream has never been sweeter. For the first time we feel like we really stand a chance to walk out champions in the league. The championship that we have been chasing for 23 years. At the end of the day we know this is just a dream, anything can happen the remainder of the games.
      May is a month away, it is when we will know for sure if the league is our or not, for now I don't mind being in the clouds, sweet sweet dreams

Syria: What is human life really worth?

       For those of you who have been following the Syrian conflict you already know about the Geneva ll convention and how there are no reports of progress coming out of it. The government and the opposition still refuse to talk to each other directly. They act like little children and ignore the human suffering that their ignorance still causes. It is clear that the government does not care much about it's people. They continued to kill them by the hundreds every month. They are starving women and children in the besieged areas.

       On the other hand the opposition is getting weaker by the minute, the fighting between them makes the government stronger. They are not in a position to get much out of negotiations  but they still act like they have the upper hand. How do they expect Assad to agree to step down while he is winning the war? They have to step back to reality and have feasible demands that will put the welfare of the Syrians first, before power of running the country.

       For sometime now the Syrian conflict has been played like a game if Chase. The government knew the best way to winning the conflict is to deface the opposition. This was the reason they freed all suspected terrorists in the beginning if the war knowing the will regroup and try to take on the state. Once that became true, it has ensured no Western state will pick up arms in support of the opposition as they will be supporting Al Qaeda affiliated groups. That move was very smart on Assad's government, but to what costs? People of Syria have been reduced to pieces on the board game and their life worth less than that of cockroaches, just waiting to be crushed.

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