Blues Edge Out Copenhagen (Sky Sports)
Chelsea 0 FC Copenhagen 0
Chelsea
failed to score but did enough to qualify for the quarter-finals of the UEFA
Champions League with a 0-0 draw against Copenhagen.
The Blues missed a
number of opportunities to put the tie beyond doubt but were able to progress
with a 2-0 aggregate success against the plucky Danish side.
The home
side began with Fernando Torres on the bench but looked very lively going
forward, creating a number of early chances with some slick approach play.
Despite Chelsea having the lion's share of the chances, it was the visitors
who had the best opportunity of the half, with Dame N'Doye rattling the post
with a curled free-kick that had Petr Cech well beaten.
Torres entered
the fray with just over 20 minutes remaining, yet could not open his account in
a blue shirt as Carlo Ancelotti's men squandered a number of chances.
With the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and even Shakhtar Donetsk sending out
real messages of intent in their last-16 ties, this evening was the ideal time
for Ancelotti's men to do the same against the lowest-ranked team left in the
competition.
Instead, they contrived to fluff at least a dozen
straightforward finishes in their second leg at Stamford Bridge, allowing
Copenhagen to salvage some pride after their comprehensive first-leg defeat.
Squander
Nicolas Anelka, who had been so deadly at the Parken
Stadium, was the culprit-in-chief but the Frenchman was barely more guilty than
several of his team-mates.
Chelsea simply cannot afford to squander the
kind of chances they missed tonight if they are to make it through the
quarter-finals, regardless of who they draw on Friday.
How Torres would
have loved to have started up front in what appeared an ideal game in which to
end his goal drought, but Ancelotti decided it was better for the Spaniard to
play a substitute role only ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash with
Manchester City.
The tone for Chelsea's wasteful evening was set as early
as the third minute when Frank Lampard sent Ashley Cole's cross wide from no
more than four yards.
Cole himself then shot straight into the
sidenetting when he should have cut the ball back, Yury Zhirkov flashed wide
after a lovely Didier Drogba backheel teed up a Cole cross, and Anelka's poked
finish was thwarted by Johan Wiland after Ramires' brilliant cross-field ball
set up a quick break.
Although they could have been 4-0 down inside the
opening quarter, Copenhagen were infinitely more sprightly this evening than
they had been in the first leg, before which they had not played a competitive
match for three months.
Kitted out in what could only be described as hot
pink jerseys, they almost made Chelsea pay for their wastefulness in the 26th
minute.
John Terry, who could be forgiven for being distracted by the
England captaincy farce, brought down N'Doye 20 yards out and, despite being so
close to goal, the Senegal striker managed to crash a brilliant free-kick
against the post.
Zhirkov fluffed another close-range finish from
Anelka's cutback, Drogba shanked a cross with team-mates queuing up to score and
also sent more than one curling shot too close to Wiland before half-time.
Failed to improve
Chelsea's finishing failed to improve after the
restart, Drogba volleying Jose Bosingwa's whipped ball wide from six yards, John
Obi Mikel nodding against the crossbar from no more than two yards and Anelka
twice hesitating when clean through and allowing Copenhagen's defence to
recover.
Drogba was booked for taking out his frustration on Martin
Vingaard, which was Torres' cue to begin warming up on the touchline.
Ramires then made a mess of an improvised finish from Drogba's cutback before
Torres was beaten to the field by Copenhagen striker Kenneth Zohore, who
replaced Pierre Bengtsson.
The change had the desired effect for the
visitors, with N'Doye shooting wide under good pressure from Bosingwa.
Claudemir was booked for hauling back Ramires before Torres finally made his
entrance midway through the half in place of a nonplussed Anelka who was
withdrawn.
A wicked deflection almost helped Torres make an instant
impact and he also sent a low finish straight at Wiland after Copenhagen lost
Vingaard to injury.
The midfielder was replaced by Cesar Santin, with
Chelsea withdrawing Zhirkov for Florent Malouda.
N'Doye blazed another
good chance over on the break as Copenhagen went for broke but they overstepped
the mark when Christian Bolanos was booked for diving.
Michael Essien was
thrown on for Mikel with six minutes remaining.
Torres was being urged to
"shoot" by the crowd every time he got within range. The striker's team-mates
did their best to tee him up but to no avail.
Chelsea |
Team Statistics |
FC København |
0 |
Goals |
0 |
0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
7 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
17 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
5 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
11 |
Corners |
3 |
15 |
Fouls |
14 |
8 |
Offsides |
1 |
1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
76.8 |
Passing Success |
79.6 |
19 |
Tackles |
11 |
78.9 |
Tackles Success |
90.9 |
46.3 |
Possession |
53.7 |
51.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.5 |
Click Here for Official Teamsheet
Chelsea
Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic,
Terry, Cole, Ramires, Mikel (Essien
84), Lampard, Zhirkov (Malouda 75), Anelka (Torres 68), Drogba
Subs Not Used
Turnbull, Ferreira, Kalou, McEachran
Booked
Drogba
Goals
Copenhagen
Wiland, Wendt, Jorgensen,
Antonsson, Bengtsson (Zohore 61), Bolanos Kristensen 89), Claudemir,
Kvist, Vingaard (Santin 74),
Gronkjaer, N'Doye
Subs Not Used
Christensen, Bergvold, Hooiveld, Delaney
Booked
Claudemir, Bolanos
Goals
Attendance
36,454
Referee
Svein
Oddvar Moen (Norway)