toptop
Two
horrible Branislav Ivanovic errors gave Swansea a huge advantage in their
Capital One Cup semi-final with Chelsea after a 2-0 first-leg win at Stamford
Bridge and put more pressure on Rafa Benitez.
The defender's failure to control a ball on the edge of his own penalty area
gave Michu the chance to open the scoring in the first half against the run of
play.
Chelsea, who started with Fernando Torres instead of January signing Demba Ba,
dominated but Danny Graham made it 2-0 in injury time when pouncing on
Ivanovic's blind back-pass.
The European champions had a claim for a penalty, which saw Ba booked for
diving, immediately before Graham's goal in a dramatic conclusion to the game.
But interim boss Benitez heard his team booed off at the final whistle and they
must now overcome two away goals in the second leg.
Chelsea's fans spent a large chunk of the match berating Benitez for his failure
to bring on Ba, who scored twice on debut last weekend, and they also took
umbrage with the interim boss' failure to bring on Frank Lampard until the 70th
minute.
The Blues dominated the game, but lacked a killer touch up front and they paid
the price in the 39th minute when Ivanovic's blunder gifted Michu the chance to
score his 16th goal of the season.
David Luiz, by far Chelsea's best player, went close with two efforts just after
the break but the home fans continued to vent their anger at Benitez for not
introducing Ba or Lampard.
One fan had to be restrained by stewards as he headed in the direction of the
Chelsea bench to remonstrate with the former Liverpool boss.
Another fan invaded the pitch to provide the Blues fans with some entertainment.
The rest of the home crowd continued to demand Lampard's introduction but the
calls fell on deaf ears.
Lampard injected life in to the Chelsea team but Torres continued to perform
poorly. The striker found space on the edge of the box, but could only head
weakly in to Gerhard Tremmel's arms.
Ba was sent on in place of Torres in the 81st minute and hurtled through in
injury time, going down after Tremmel failed to collect the ball in the penalty
area, but the referee did not give a penalty and instead booked the former
Newcastle United man for diving.
Chelsea's night then turned from bad to worse with one minute of added time
left. Ivanovic's second terrible back-pass allowed Graham to pinch the ball off
Turnbull before slotting in to an empty net.
Click Here For Official Teamsheet
Teams
Chelsea Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Ramires
(Lampard 71), Mata, Oscar (Marin 83), Hazard, Torres (Ba 81)
Subs Not Used Hilario, Bertrand, Ferreira, Ake
Booked Ba
Goals
Swansea City Tremmel, Rangel, Chico, Williams, Davies, Britton, de
Guzman, Ki, Routledge (Tiendalli 62), Hernandez, Michu (Graham 83)
Subs Not Used Vorm, Monk, Agustien, Shechter, Dyer
Booked Hernandez, Chico
Goals Michu 39, Graham 90
Attendance 40,172
Referee A. Taylor