Paris Saint-Germain win 2-1 once again
Chelsea have been knocked out of the Champions League after losing 2-1 this evening at Stamford Bridge against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Ligue 1 champions went into the game with a 2-1 advantage after Edinson Cavani‘s winner back in Paris, and they repeated that feat this evening thanks to goals from Adrien Rabiot and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Guus Hiddink made a surprise decision by opting to use Kenedy as left-back, leaving Baba Rahman on the bench, but the rest of the team was as expected, and they will be going away with a sense of disappointment after a battling display.
Summary
The first chance of the game fell to the hosts as Diego Costa made himself some room just inside the box, but his tame shot was easy for Kevin Trapp.
PSG then took firm control of the tie thanks to Rabiot, who turned home a delightful cross from Ibrahimovic after just 15-minutes, giving them a 1-0 lead on the night and a 3-1 lead on aggregate.
Costa did eventually find the target when he created a second opening however. Thiago Motta was robbed of possession in the midfield and the ball found it’s way to Costa, who turned inside Thiago Silva before placing home past Trapp.
Cesc Fabregas and Willian then both had openings to give Chelsea the lead, but both efforts were tame and one rolled past the post, while the other fell into the arms of the PSG ‘keeper.
The second-half was very open, with both teams going out for the all important second goal, but the hosts were dealt a real blow when Costa limped off with a muscular problem.
Hiddink‘s men did nearly take the vital lead on the night, but Willian couldn’t find a way past Trapp and then after a goal-mouth scramble, the French side eventually cleared their line.
The game got even worse for Chelsea as they fell 2-1 down when Angel Di Maria found Ibrahimovic in the box, who was left with the simple task of slotting home into the empty net.
PSG had the two away-goals and had the tie wrapped up, with Chelsea having to score a further three more to advance.
The game was done after the Swede’s goal and it ended slowly with neither side creating anything after the Ibrahimovic goal.
Match Reaction
PSG defender David Luiz: “It was a difficult game for us but we never change our philosophy, we try to play with the ball and create gaps to score. It was a collective vicory. Everyone knows how hard it is to play here. We kept calm and we scored at key moments.
“Diego Costa is a fantastic player and to play against him is very difficult. We try our best to go on and win it. We are ready.”
PSG winger Angel di Maria: “We’re very happy. It’s a huge joy. The work of one season is fruitful tonight. We demonstrated our talent. We controlled the game and the result is well deserved.”
PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “I stayed more than 20 minutes on the pitch this year! We did a good game, very stable. We played with lots of patient possession and when we had a chance to strike we scored two goals. We had enough to win the game.
“Overall we played the way we wanted to. It was not easy, you have to watch out. Chelsea’s front four are able to do anything. We are doing good things, where we end up we don’t know. We are not satisfied yet.”
Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink: “We gave too much respect in the first 10 minutes, they were dominating. They are a good side but once we stepped up we had some chances. In the 67th minute it all changed. We had a good chance to score, then Diego Costa was injured. We knew he was not totally fit but he desperately wanted to play and scored a beautiful goal.
“You saw the difference between the squads when we had to bring young guys on and they have Edinson Cavani to come in. I must say that we had young Kenedy at left-back and he was excellent.
“It is a difficult season. We we re almost panicking about relegation when I came in but it is difficult to get into fourth place.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
