BACKS TO THE WALL
Chelsea facing an uphill task after Cavani’s late strike
EDINSON CAVANI sunk Chelsea but the spotlight will fall on John Obi Mikel – who turned his back on a free- kick which put Paris Saint- Germain ahead.
Mikel shied away when Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck his free- kick and the ball defl ected off the midfielder and past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Mikel then made amends, scoring just his sixth goal in 10 years at the club, before Cavani, on as a subsitute, struck the winner in the 78th minute.
A 1- 0 victory for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on March 9 will see them progress and defender Branislav Ivanovic said: “We will keep going, keep fi ghting and will give everything to go through.”
IN THE end they just could not hold on. After looking like escaping from Paris Saint- Germain with a draw substitute Edinson Cavani spoiled the party.
He had been on the pitch just five minutes after replacing Lucas in the second half and spun on to Angel Di Maria’s pass before half- volleying the ball through the legs of Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois. Now it is all to do at Stamford Bridge on March 9.
John Obi Mikel, of all people, had pulled Chelsea level. The strike was the culmination of an amazing seven minutes Mikel will never forget.
For before claiming only his second goal in the competition – the other came at home to Sporting Lisbon in December 2014 – he got himself booked and then defl ected the free- kick into his own goal for his transgression.
Mikel, who has become a key player again under interim boss Guus Hiddink, was cautioned for bringing down Lucas 25 yards out in the 38th minute. It was to prove costly as Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s low free- kick defl ected off the half- turning Mikel’s shin in the Chelsea wall, and deceived Courtois, diving the other way to his right.
Former Chelsea star David Luiz showed how to block in a wall soon after as he leapt to keep Willian’s effort away from goal.
But from the corner just before the break, Mikel got his revenge.
Willian took it and after skimming off Diego Costa’s head it landed perfect for the onrushing Nigerian to control in his midriff area then lash home gleefully with his right foot. Away goals are precious at this stage of the Champions League and although Chelsea looked at times like they could be overwhelmed by the might of PSG they were so dangerous on the break. In fact there was much of their performance, including the resilience in defence and counter- attacking sharpness, which was a throwback to
their 2012 success in the competition. Eden Hazard, though, who claimed before the match he could not turn down PSG, did not exactly sparkle and was guilty, at times, of gifting possession away.
It was some atmosphere and the home support loved it in the third minute when a brilliant backheel from Ibrahimovic to Lucas showed he was ready to put on a show. A minute later Marco Verratti forced Courtois down low to his left to push away a 20- yard drive. Without his two first- choice centre- halves, the injured John Terry and Kurt Zouma, Hiddink was forced to move Branislav Ivanovic across from right- back to partner Gary Cahill and brought in Baba Rahman.
They did not let him down, nor did Courtois, who put in a display 2012 hero Cech would have been proud of. Then in the 23rd minute Chelsea almost scored. A ball in from Rahman was perfect for Costa to meet with a header, having escaped the attentions of Luiz. It looked a goal but keeper Kevin Trapp threw up his right hand to tip on the bar and for a corner. Cahill did well to distract Ibrahimovic in the 33rd minute as the Swede looked to pounce on Di Maria’s cross.
Instead he headed tamely into the ground and over the bar. Another Chelsea counter- attack soon after the restart saw Willian play Costa into the box, but his dinked shot over Trapp was not high enough and the keeper blocked. Courtois tipped over a screamer from Di Maria and Ivanovic
blocked a Ibrahimovic attempt . The Belgian did well to keep out a drive from Lucas in the 61st minute , but the keeper could not deny Cavani giving PSG the late goal advantage.