Chelsea 2-2 PSG: PSG go through on away goals

Chelsea came in to this game knowing that a goalless draw would see them go through to the quarter finals of this years Champions League. The atmosphere in Stamford bridge was something to behold as both sets of fans made the stadium theater of noise.

Everyone had expected Chelsea to shut up shop from the very beginning with their manager Jose Mourinho being notorious for closing out fixtures and getting the bare minimum for a result. However the game had a more open beginning than we had anticipated with both teams getting up the flanks well.

The opening stages of the game mainly consisted of Chelsea attacking down their left flank and PSG attempting to catch them on the counter. The first talking point of the game was a dispute between Diego Costa and former Chelsea player David Luiz. Costa apparently hit the Brazillian off the ball which lead to the defender going down before complaining for several minutes. Costa is never far from controversy.

As the game went on, it settled more in to the pattern that the world had been expecting. Tight and controlled by Chelsea, PSG feeding off the scraps they could afford to muster up. It didn’t make for exciting viewing in the opening 25 minutes of the game.

The game came to life for all the wrong reasons when the referee made a shocking decision to send of PSG’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a 50/50 challenge. The Sweed was deemed to have gone in with studs showing but replays show that a yellow card would have been more than sufficient.

The aftermath was a circus, players getting booked left right and center for harmless challenges. The match official did a great job of making a mockery of the first half with Motta, Oscar and Matuidi all getting booked within eight minutes of Zlatan being sent off. If that wasn’t enough, Diego Costa was clearly taken down before the half and the reff didn’t feel it was enough to award a penalty. I dare say this referee won’t be getting to officiate many more important games this season as the occasion seems to be too much for him.

The second half started out with Chelsea doing most of the attacking while PSG gave away countless needless tackles. It was more of the scrappy football we saw towards the end of the first half, the referee picked up where he left off by brandishing Ramires a yellow card early on.

The first clear chance of the half and indeed the game came when Edison Cavani broke through Chelsea’s offside trap and rounded the keeper, sadly for him he dragged it too far and clipped the inside of the post, sending the ball away from goal ever so cruelly.

Chelsea were all over the place for the first 20 minutes of the second half, they seemed out of breath and run ragged which is extremely hard to believe considering they had more men on the pitch. PSG weren’t bossing possession but when they had the ball they were pushing Chelsea back to the limit.

The game continued to be the scrappiest I’ve seen in a long time, with a ridiculous amount of mini brawls and yellow cards for everyone in the audience. Tension was high and several poorly timed challenges only added to breaking up the tempo of the game.

In honor of the terrible game of football, the opening goal was just as poor. A Chelsea corner was floated in to the box with Costa attempting to pounce on it. He failed but Cahill grabbed the rebound and smashed it home past the helpless goalkeeper.

The game wasn’t over yet however as PSG continued to push in hopes of an equalizer. They found such an equalizer through former Chelsea defender David Luiz as he headed home fantastically from a well struck corner. Over the course of 90 minutes PSG definitely deserved to bring it to extra time. This is the goal that did it for them-

Extra time started out with Chelsea attacking at will, PSG just sitting back. This proved costly when Thiago Silva had a moment of madness, jumping in the air with both hands over his head. The ball struck his hand and the referee pointed to the spot. Eden Hazard stepped up and passed the ball past the keeper.

Following the penalty Chelsea pretty much parked the bus, much to the surprise of no one. David Luiz did however smash a free kick from distance that troubled keeper Courtois.

Chelsea seemed to be edging towards the victory but you could sense the nerves throughout the ground as PSG continued to push. Their best chance of scoring seemed to be from corners and this was never more evident than when Thiago Silva made up for his earlier penalty error by sending the ball over Courtois with a perfect header. He had won the corner from a previous header but it was no more than PSG deserved when he did send it home.

This was a deserved victory for PSG as they fought fantastically with 10 men from the 32nd minute onwards. Chelsea didn’t show up to play at all and it was a very scrappy affair. This result will come as a surprise to many people across the footballing world but it’s no more than the French side deserved. It was a fantastic display and Chelsea didn’t deserve to go through on the night.

More from FanSided