In a thrilling encounter at Stamford Bridge with lots of drama, PSG went to the quarterfinals defeating Chelsea 2-2 to proceed on aggregate. In Munich, Bayern sent their Ukrainian visitors home crying after a 7-0 thrashing.
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In one of the most exciting encounters of the Round-of-16, two goals from two Brazilian centre-backs saw a 10-man PSG through to the next round. The game began well, with both sides attacking menacingly. Diego Costa and David Luiz got into a fierce altercation as soon as the 11th minute, after the former knocked the latter down. 20 minutes later, Chelsea were gifted one extra man, when Ibrahimovic was sent off for a two-footed tackle on Oscar, who clutched his feet wailing theatrically. It wasn’t that bad of a foul but the referee saw things differently and PSG were down to 10-men. Chelsea were denied a penalty when Diego Costa was felled by Edinson Cavani but the referee waved away all appeals. PSG lost all their creativity following Ibrahimovic’s sending off and with the scores 0-0, Chelsea should’ve seen this off.
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In the 57TH minute, Cavani missed a shot on open-goal when he pranced past Courtois to face an empty net, albeit from an acute angle, only to hit the post. PSG renewed their belief and it seemed as if they were the side a man up, with their midfield trio of Verratti, Matuidi and Motta playing brilliantly. In the 73rd minute Costa got into another fight with David Luiz, who was yellowe-carded for approaching the Spaniard. In the 81st minute, after a corner, Costa’s mishit fell into the path of Gary Cahill, who half-volleyed it home to give Chelsea the lead. And in then in the 86th minute, substitute Lavezzi whopped in a beautiful corner and former-Chelsea man, David Luiz did the honors of bringing his new team back into the game.
Photo: Paul Gilham
Extra-time ensued and with both sides fatigued, it was going to be a test of the real metal of the players. And then Thiago Silva gifted Chelsea a penalty after a blatant and needless handball in the box. Hazard stepped up and calmly slotted it home to give Chelsea the lead. After some scrappy play, Silva made amends for his earlier mistake when thumped in a glorious header over Courtois, meeting another well-placed set-piece. The game ended 2-2, and the Parisians went ahead on away goals. Chelsea were outplayed in every aspect by a side playing one man down. The gutsy PSG midfield trio was too much for the somewhat lazy Fabregas and almost invisible Matic.
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Shakhtar were always going to find it hard to beat German leaders Bayern Munich but following a dull stalemate in Ukraine, even a draw, although not a goalless one would see the Ukrainians through. But all that could go possibly wrong went wrong. In the 3 minute Olexandr Kucher was sent off for a foul on Mario Gotze in the box and despite the fact that there was minimal contact, Kucher was the last-man who had prevented a clear-cut chance on goal. And being a man down against an outfit which won the Champions League two seasons ago, isn’t any team’s dream. Thomas Muller sent Andriy Pyatov the wrong way and it was a double whammy for the Ukrainians. Despite their deficit, Shakhtar were defending admirably and also brought off Taison in place of Kryvstov, a centre-back. But then Jerome Boateng finished the game off in the33rd minute when he tapped in from close-range after Lewandowski’s shot was saved by Pyatov, only to fall in the feet of Boateng who made no mistake.
Photo: Matthias Hangst
It was all Bayern since the beginning and it was all Bayern even after the interval, as Ribery made it 3-0 when he clinically hit the ball into the bottom right-corner after a slick one-two. Two minutes later it was 4-0, when Pyatov unnecessarily parried a cross, right into the path of Muller, who slid the ball into an empty net. And in the 63rd minute, another centre-back scored, when Holger Badtssuber scored a bullet header from close-range. Shakhtar failed to create any meaningful chances and Bayern were clinical and creative on the counter. Polish striker Lewandowski finally got the goal he so craved for, when a simple lob over the Shakhtar defence was enough to rip them apart and Lewandowski calmly controlled the ball and shot it past Pyatov, who did well to get a hand on it. In the 87th minute, Shakhtar won a corner and it was rare opportunity to score a consolation. But the ball was cleared and Boateng, the centre-back, who was up near the half-way line instead if defending the corner, beat his man, and crossed it to Gotze who was all clear on goal and shot it right past Pyatov. Bayern on seventh heaven and Shakhtar on their way home, with the tie ending 7-0 aggregate. Arguably, the unconvincing red card ruined the game for Shakhtar Donetsk but take no points away from Bayern who played brilliantly.
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Tags: Bayern Champions League Chelsea PSG
