Chelsea 2-0 Galatasaray - Chelsea make easy work of Mancini's men.
Chelsea beat Didier Drogba's Galatasaray side 2-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate with goals from Samuel Eto'o and Gary Cahill ...
https://www.chelseadaft.org/2014/03/chelsea-2-0-galatasaray-chelsea-make.html
Chelsea beat Didier Drogba's Galatasaray side 2-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate with goals from Samuel Eto'o and Gary Cahill that sees Jose Mourinho's men move into the draw for the Quarter Finals.
We all expected more from our opponents than they actually produced and Chelsea won this well within themselves at Stamford Bridge.
We all watched the second half performance from Galatasaray in Istanbul and expected the same intensity from our opponents in this game but it never happened. In the opening exchanges, Mancini's men were looking to press high up the pitch but it only lasted for the first ten minutes or so because by that time, they were already a goal down.
Jose Mourinho chose to shuffle his pack and started with our regular a back four in front of Petr Cech, Ramires and Frank Lampard in the middle, Oscar, Willian and Eden Hazard as our attacking three playing in behind Samuel Eto'o up front.
Having watched the first game again, it was clear that although the Turkish side have some talented players in midfield and attack, their defence is not the best. Time and time again in Istanbul, Chelsea had the chance to get in behind their back four and this would be key in the return leg.
Within minutes of the game starting, we managed to do exactly that. Eden Hazard collected a throw in and was able to turn. He then fed Oscar wide right who in turn spotted a run from Eto'o in behind their back four and played him in.
Eto'o took a touch to compose himself before firing low and under the keeper into the net to make it 1-0 after four minutes!
Galatasaray couldn't cope with Chelsea's movement off the ball and our quick passing to begin with. Slowly, they managed to get their foot on the ball, looking to probe at us but never really created anything of note to worry us in that first half.
Every time Chelsea collected possession of the ball, we look to move it quickly and to spread the ball wide to open the game up. Eden Hazard was back on form and providing the width we needed, giving Eboue a tough time down that side.
Time and time again, Chelsea were able to force Galatasaray backwards but couldn't finish off some fine moves from one side of the pitch to the other.
Eden Hazard fired low straight at the keeper. John Terry volleyed high over the bar from 12 yards after getting on the end of a Lampard free kick floated into the box when arguably, he should have done better.
Frank Lampard and Willian both made a late run into the box at different times, picked out from the left hand side but failed to get a full connection onto the ball when we looked to get into a scoring opportunity.
So it seemed that the first half would pan out with Chelsea taking a goal advantage into the break. Not as far as Oscar was concerned.
A long ball played over the top and into the far corner was chased down by Oscar, putting pressure on the full back and he managed to win a corner late in the first half.
The cross came over and John Terry managed to get himself a free header and headed down towards goal for the keeper to block his effort. Unfortunately for the keeper, the ball came out to Gary Cahill and he smacked the ball into the net to make it 2-0 right on half time and game over!
Chelsea went into half time more than comfortable. The one piece of action that Drogba had been involved in had been one cross to the far post. He had managed to pull onto the shoulder of Azpilicueta and won the header back across the box but that was it.
Cesar Azpilicueta was having another stormer of a game and numerous times had picked Drogba's pocket as he tried to win the ball up top and bring others into play. The big man had done little during the half.
Second half and Mancini made a tactical switch, he moved Melo into the back three with the two existing full backs either side of him to try and dominate the midfield. It never happened and if anything, Chelsea were about to counter attack over and over again.
If there was one negative about the performance was the fact that were never took more chances that we had created. Chelsea were playing well within themselves but I would have liked to have seen them really go for broke and tear Galatasaray apart.
The visitors had created nothing of note until the last kick of the game as Drogba failed to connect to a free kick pumped into the box, 8 yards out and Petr Cech grabbed the rebound. Drogba was never given a chance to dominate as JT, Cahill, Ivanovic and Azpilicueta managed to deal with his threat all game.
Chelsea created various openings in the second half but just lacked that cutting edge we see from the likes of Real Madrid at the moment. Willian shot straight at the keeper, the goalkeeper saved twice, once from Hazard low down and once late on from Torres but the game was dead and buried with the two goals we did score.
There will be plenty said about the visitors and their poor performance but that's not to take anything away from the professional job Chelsea did last night. After a poor performance last weekend, it would have done them the world of good to put on a display like that looking comfortable.
A special mention to Didier Drogba and the Chelsea fans. Presented with Silver Shoe by Ron Gourlay for his outstanding achievements here, paraded around the ground before kick off, it was nice to hear the Chelsea fans sing his name before the game and in the closing minutes. Drogba took his final bow after the final whistle as all four corners of the ground saluted him. Nice touch!
So into the last eight and ALL the big guns are there. We are just waiting to see if United can overturn their deficit to Olympiakos to join Dortmund in Friday's draw.
It's a lottery and I can see us drawing Real Madrid, Bayern or Barcelona in the next round. You have to play these teams eventually if you want to go on and win it as we all know from two seasons ago.
Roll on Fridays draw!