Chelsea 2-0 Galatasaray (Agg 3-1): Etoo & Cahill send Blues through It was not a happy homecoming for Didier Drogba as the hosts comfortably dispatched of their lacklustre visitors to march into the Champions League quarter-finals Chelsea booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a comfortable 2-0 win over Galatasaray on Tuesday evening. First-half goals from Samuel Etoo and Gary Cahill - on his 100th Chelsea appearance - sealed a comfortable 3-1 aggregate success, with the long-awaited Stamford Bridge return of Didier Drogba proving an anti-climax. MATCH VIEW The pre-match talk was all about Didier Drogba, but this was a brutal reminder that football is a team game. Chelsea are through to the last eight with barely a bead of sweat, their progress assured from the moment Samuel Etoo fired low past Fernando Muslera only four minutes in. Gary Cahill put the Turkish champions well and truly out of their misery just before half-time. Watching Drogba, it was clear the effort was there but support and inspiration were lacking, and the Ivorian instead found himself upstaged by the other great African striker of the past 20 years. Samuel Etoo may not have been an emphatic success at Chelsea but he still possesses the nous required to make a difference on big nights like this, and his input will be crucial if the Blues are to be a genuine threat against much better sides in this competition.Etoo opened the scoring with the first attack of the game, controlling Oscars pass before firing low into the corner and Chelsea made their dominance count shortly before the break when Cahill converted the rebound from a John Terry header. Former Chelsea striker Drogba had very little impact on the game, his most notable contribution coming in the first half when he blasted a free-kick over the crossbar and into a banner bearing his own name. Mourinhos spiky relationship with opposite number Roberto Mancini was well documented in the build-up, but it was the Portuguese who had the last laugh as Chelsea secured an untroubled passage into the quarter-finals. Etoo, back in the side in place of Fernando Torres from the first leg, had scored all of his previous nine Chelsea goals at home and that trend continued in the fourth minute. Eden Hazard played a pivotal role, spinning away from Felipe Melo before feeding Oscar, who slipped the ball into the path of the striker, the Cameroonian taking a touch before firing low beyond Fernando Muslera. Hazard and Oscar combined to great effect once again midway through the half to set up Frank Lampard, who stabbed his effort wide. Chelsea went close again in the 33rd minute, Lampard whipping in a free-kick from the left that Terry volleyed narrowly over the crossbar from 10 yards. The hosts continued to press with Hazard at the centre of everything, this time bursting down the left to allow Etoo to set up Willian, but the Brazilians tame effort was comfortable for Muslera. All Chelseas pressure paid off three minutes before the break, Cahill smashing home from close range after Muslera had parried Terrys powerful downward header from a Lampard corner. Willian tested Muslera with a powerful drive five minutes after the interval, while the Uruguayan also denied Lampard and substitute Torres towards the end. In stoppage time, Drogba fluffed a chance to trouble Petr Cech on the goalkeepers 100th Champions League appearance as Chelsea reached the quarter-finals for the eighth time in the last 11 seasons. Samuel Etoo gave the hosts an early advantage after slotting the ball past Fernando Muslera after just four minutes before Gary Cahill reacted quickest from a corner just before the break to double their lead.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 22:12:53 +0000
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