UEFA Champions League FT report: Chelsea v Marseille - Chelsea dominate in first half to secure win
Chelsea were looking to take on Marseille at home, in what was both the teams’ second match of the Champions League group stages. There was some bad news for Chelsea going into the match however. Didier Drogba was still suspended
from Champions League football and was not going to be making an appearance in the match.
Moreover, Chelsea's talismanic midfielder and all round star player, Frank Lampard, was also not going to be making the trip for tonight's game. This was because the player’s recovery from his hernia surgery was taking place at
a much slower rate than expected.
Carlo Ancelotti was well aware of this fact and said, “We need to have more time for him than we expected for his rest. He will be ready for the next game after the international break.”
On the other hand, Marseille's manager Didier Deschamps was scheduled to make his return to Stamford Bridge, after having played there in the past. However the manager did not plan on taking to the ground was with his former team
as he was determined to take home the three points for his club.
He was reported to have said, ''We have got to go into this game making no mistakes and playing at our top level.”
He added, ''Chelsea have had a good start to the season but they have not played many sides from the upper echelons of the league. I did watch the game against Manchester City, who did a lot of good things that hopefully we can
repeat.”
With both team eager to go at it, it was only a matter of time till the referee blew the whistle to get things under way.
The match kicked off with the home side applying all the early pressure. Florent Malouda went close on the seventh minute but forced a fine save from the keeper. The resulting corner however, managed to land in the back of the
net to give Chelsea the one goal advantage early on. Gael Kakuta whipped in a poor corner, but captain John Terry, managed to walk his way to the near post and flick the ball into the back of the net with a deft touch.
That was the only incentive that Chelsea needed as they went all out from then on. In fact the team went into such an offensive mode that Ashley Cole was playing as an extra winger rather then a full back for the most part.
On the twenty sixth minute a ball was played into the Marseille box. However the ball bounced awkwardly and struck M'bia on the arm. The referee had no option but to give the home side a penalty.
Nicolas Anelka stepped up to take the resulting spot kick and the striker left the keeper frozen in his tracks as he struck his shot into the left hand side of the goal.
The match quietened down a bit then and soon after the half time whistle was blown.
In the second half, Chelsea took a completely different approach to their game. They were more than satisfied with their two goal advantage and were now relying on the counter attack.
They went unusually close through Michael Essien on the seventy fifth and the ninetieth minute, when the midfielder unleashed two rockets. Unfortunately both his shots came back off the wood work.
Nonetheless, Chelsea finished the game with a two goal advantage despite being awfully quiet in the second half as compared to the first. The team, the fans and the manager didn't seem to mind that much considering they took the
three crucial points from the game.
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