Spartak Moscow boss disappointed over loss to Chelsea
Spartak Moscow manager Valeri Karpin is disappointed after his side's loss to English Premier League champions Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League.
The clubs clashed at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, 3 November, two weeks after Chelsea beat Spartak 2-0 in Russia. This time, it was a far more comprehensive victory for Chelsea as they ran out 4-1 victors.
Spartak played well in the first half, but could not find a way through the Chelsea rearguard. But the Blues took the lead after the break, through Nicolas Anelka. Didier Drogba doubled the advantage with a penalty in the 62nd minute before Branislav Ivanovic
made it 3-0.
Nikita Bazhenov pulled one back for the visitors after 86 minutes, but Ivanovic restored the three-goal advantage four minutes later.
Karpin told UEFA’s official website, "We played good football in the first half. The match was close until the first goal, then we let our heads drop.
"Nothing has changed in terms of our chances of getting out of the group. If we win our last two games, we will qualify."
Chelsea have booked their place in the knockout stages of the competition as a result of the win. Spartak are now tied with Marseille in second place with six points.
Karpin added, "When you're losing 4-1, there's not much joy in having scored at Stamford Bridge. It would only have been significant if the score had been 0-0 at the time.
"I believe our mistakes were down to pressure. Chelsea players are just stronger individually, you can't forget that. We were not that nervous, like in the first match, and that's good.
"Chelsea were simply better tonight. I took a risk by starting with Alex. He was fit, but his form is far from ideal."
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