Chelsea earn an important away goal but need an excellent performance from Courtois between the sticks in order to leave Paris with the advantage ahead of the return fixture in London on the 11th of next month. Play began rather back and forth between the two as PSG looked to hit Chelsea on the break, concentrating on counter-attacking football. Cavani for PSG had the first real chance, rifling a shot towards the near post that demanded a quality save from Courtois to keep out. At the other end, John Terry crossed a ball in to Gary Cahill, who provided a class flick on with the back of his boot for Ivanovic to head into the corner of the net to put the visitors up 0-1. In the second half, PSG managed to draw the game level as Cavani was left poorly marked off a Maxwell cross, allowing the forward to head the ball against the ground and into the far corner. David Luiz and Cavani then had close chances in the later part of the second half.
Chelsea in all honesty, were poor. The goal was their only shot on target, and only 1 of two total shots in the match. The game was also marred by 40 fouls, which is an unusually high number, but PSG were still able to manage 14 shots, 7 of which were on goal. The possession split was only 54/46, meaning that the quality in PSG’s possession was much more likely of scoring and I think this show throughout the 90. Chelsea will need a more inspired home performance in the second leg in order to see themselves into the quarterfinals, but 1 away goal and no deficit will help their cause certainly.
GIF
