John Obi Mikel’s away goal was the decisive strike on the night despite Edinson Cavani’s late goal to hand first defeat of Guus Hiddink’s second spell as the Chelsea manager. Zlatan Ibrahimovic had scored the opening goal of the night from a deflected free kick.
Chelsea had started the game in the worse way possible after the home side walked away with the initial advantage. PSG passed the ball around with flair and almost a hint of arrogance. Despite having much of the ball, PSG were unable to carve out clear cut opportunities.
PSG 2 Chelsea 1 – Match Stats
It was Lucas, who looked the most dangerous for Chelsea defenders to contain as the Brazilian made two darting runs in the opening half-an-hour. Champions League nights are often cagey and tight affair, but this was anything but that.
Also Read: PSG 2 Chelsea 1 Player Ratings
Chelsea managed to see off the early pressure from PSG and started to grow in to the game. As expected, counter attack was their desired weapon, and with Willian and Diego Costa linking up well, the plan looked like an effective one.
So much so, it was Chelsea, who should have taken the lead after a delightful ball from Baba Rahman found Costa’s head, but an unreal save from Kevin Trapp denied the visitors their surprise lead. Costa must still be thinking, how he missed that header?
Soon after Costa’s miss, Zlatan was about to have his say on the game. The Swedish DEMI GOD got a chance to strike a free-kick after Mikel had fouled Verratti. As luck would have it, Mikel was the unfortunate player with the last touch and a deflection to take the ball home for PSG’s lead.
PSG 2 Chelsea 1 – Post Match Analysis
Also Read: PSG 2 Chelsea 1 Player Ratings
However, PSG could not hold on to their lead and only 6 minutes later, Mikel had his redemption as he scored his first goal since November 2014. He rarely scores goals for his club, but this was a vital one as it was an away goal.
PSG tried to force things in the second half and were caught on the break time and time again. At one point, it looked like Chelsea might nick a winner as well, however, Trapp made sure he kept out Costa, Willian or any other Chelsea goal-scoring threat.
As the half wore on, PSG settled in to a more sustained mode of attacking. Thibaut Courtois was the real reason why the game was locked at 1-1. He had made 3 outstanding saves to deny PSG their deserving second half lead.
Using his last option, Laurent Blanc introduced his ace striker Edinson Cavani, and only minutes later PSG were ahead after the Uruguayan finished off a neat chance through Courtois’ legs to make it PSG 2 Chelsea 1.
Also Read: PSG 2 Chelsea 1 Player Ratings
PSG 2 Chelsea 1 – Who has the advantage?
At very best, I would say the tie is at par because Chelsea have the away goal, and will play the second leg at home. Even a 1-0 scoreline would see them through. However, they will have the be wary of PSG’s outstanding attacking lineup, because they can score at any point of time.
At the moment, I would say its ‘Chelsea 55 – PSG 45′, going in to the second leg of Champions League round of 16 clash. Return leg is scheduled to be played on 10th March later this year.
Image credit: getty
