A rare goal by John Obi Mikel has given Chelsea a slim chance of progressing to the last eight of the UEFA Champions League after the midfielder was culpable for the west Londoners falling behind against Paris St Germain.
Obi Mikel turned his back on a Zlatan Ibrahimovic free kick, which went in off the Nigerian’s boot with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stranded in the Parc des Princes. But the man who had scored just five times previously in a decade with the club lined up in an unusually advanced position for a corner kick just before half time, and he reacted well to a flick on from Diego Costa to slam in the equaliser from close in.
Playing away from home in a lacklustre season with two of their three centre backs out injured, Chelsea’s makeshift defence kept PSG’s formidable attack at bay until a quick move inside the last fifteen minutes caught Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic flat-footed and left back Baba Rahman too far forward to recover, allowing Edinson Cavani to slot the ball home past the advancing Courtois for a 2 – 1 first leg advantage.
Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink said he believes Obi Mikel’s away goal could be key in determining his team’s progress to the quarterfinal.
“I think it’s 50-50 still. You have to consider it’s a two-leg game. Scoring away is always good,” said the very experienced Hiddink.
Away goals have separated these sides in the Champions League in each of the last two seasons and Hiddink is optimistic Chelsea’s position is favourable ahead of the March 9 second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Club captain John Terry missed the game with a hamstring injury picked up against Newcastle on Saturday and centre-back partner, Frenchman Kurt Zouma, is out long term with a knee ligament problem.
To add to Chelsea’s problems, their best player last season, Eden Hazard, made ill-timed comments about how difficult it would be to resist a move to PSG in the summer. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he underperformed on Tuesday night and was substituted.
In this week’s other Round of 16 games, Real Madrid defeated Roma 2 – 0; Benfica beat Zenit St Petersburg 1 – 0; and Wolfsburg survived a late revival to pip Belgian champions Gent 3 – 2. The eight other teams still in the competition, which include Arsenal and Manchester City, will play their first leg games next Tuesday and Wednesday.
