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MOTD: Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Chelsea

By on February 17, 2015

In few games this season have Chelsea been so aimless in possession, uncomfortable to open themselves up to PSG’s counter-attacking menace. Jose Mourinho’s men were content in keeping possession to run down the clock, especially after they went ahead. Mourinho was “relieved” his team went away with the draw as Paris Saint-Germain came close to turning the match around.

It’s only a shame that the tie will likely never open up, with Chelsea (who have proven their attacking ability, sitting atop this season’s Champions League scoring chart) taking a slender away goal advantage into the second leg. Again, they will have no incentive to risk conceding an away goal at Stamford Bridge. If only this style of play weren’t so brutally effective in European ties; indeed, PSG’s equalizer came in a rare moment in which Chelsea’s caution lapsed and were caught out with short numbers at the back. Chelsea’s only shot of the match resulted in a critical goal.

With his 6’7″ frame, Thibaut Courtois made every save look easy in the Chelsea goal, almost undermining the magnitude of his performance. If not for his multiple saves and possibly an element of luck, Chelsea could easily have seen their upper hand fall. Following a slow burst to life for PSG, the striking unit forced Courtois into reaction saves first from Blaise Matuidi’s header and then Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s similar header struck into the ground. Then, thirty-four minutes in Edison Cavani met Ezequiel Lavezzi’s near-post corner with a beautiful glancing header, only for Courtois to stop it from sneaking into the top corner with a stunning save at full stretch.

But Chelsea held on and took the lead against the run of play two minutes later, as Gary Cahill flicked John Terry’s low cross on towards the far post, where Branislav Ivanovic powered a header past Salvatore Sirigu. Notably, while Chelsea’s Plan A was flailing, their single goal came from a combination of three of their defenders.

Chelsea then sat back and absorbed pressure, and PSG came close multiple times as Ibrahimovic arrowed a twenty-yard free-kick inches over the crossbar on the brink of the half, then saw his poked effort denied via a kick save after a lovely one-two with Lavezzi on the other side of the half. Lavezzi got on the rebound, only to see his snapshot blocked off the line by an unaware Cesar Azpilicueta.

Chelsea may be disappointed to have conceded an equalizer, with Cavani tucking a free header from Matuidi’s cross into the ground and back of the net fifty-four minutes in. PSG then put Chelsea under siege, with David Luiz flicking a header just over the crossbar before Cavani did brilliantly to get by Azpilicueta down the left, only to toe-poke a low effort just wide of the far post. Ibrahimovic’s late header forced Courtois into another save, but anything even remotely reachable the Belgian goalkeeper had covered.
Man of the Match: Edison Cavani

Homepage photo credit: DSP on Flickr

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.