Post by Janjoon-Lebanese on Sept 28, 2006 8:40:11 GMT -5
Levski Sofia 1 - 3 Chelsea
Goalscorers: Ognyanov 89
Squad: Petkov, Milanov, Topuzakov, Tomasic, Wagner, Borimirov (Koprivarov 79), Eromoigbe, Telkiiski (Ivanov 66), Angelov, Bardon (Ognyanov 71), Yovov
Unused Substitutes: Mihailov, Hristov, Minev, Ivanov
Booked: Angelov (60)
Chelsea
Goalscorers: Drogba 39, 52, 68
Squad: Cech, Ferreira, Terry, Carvalho, Bridge, Mikel (Kalou 63), Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Shevchenko (Wright-Phillips 82), Drogba (Robben 70)
Unused Substitutes: Hilario, Cole, Boulahrouz, Makelele
Booked: Mikel (54)
Referee: Laurent Duhamel
Didier Drogba scored his first Chelsea hat-trick, Chelsea’s first UEFA Champions League hat-trick, and our first European hat-trick since Gianluca Vialli’s in 1997 for Chelsea in Sofia tonight, Wednesday.
The ground was packed over an hour before kick-off with the home fans flag waving, jeering anything Chelsea and frantically cheering all things Levski. But it wasn’t just the fans’ early presence at the match that felt like football from another age – their favourite song was to the tune of ‘Yellow Submarine’!
The home team set the mood early on with some bright breaks as Chelsea struggled to hold feet on the wet surface following the day’s rain. It was just as well that Carvalho was bright to stop Bardon’s skip into the area with a sliding challenge, using the wet grass, to clear.
Bridge’s sliding challenge on Angelov was similar, but Mikel, making his full debut, was lucky not to receive more than a whistle when he stuck out his leg and brought down Eromoigbe.
Inside ten minutes the game was getting spicy with Carvalho going to ground on the edge of the area as Telkiyski attacked and he went down, but on this occasion the Portuguese’s demonstrations to the referee that it had not been a foul found agreeable ears.
The ball was shooting off the surface, and a well struck cross gave makeshift centre-forward Yovov the chance to strike the first effort on goal, a header which Cech dealt with carefully and comfortably.
Chelsea tried to slow the pace with patient possession whenever possible, but then the moving forward of the ball seemed to be too long on the difficult pitch. One such ball forward resulted in chasing Shevchenko suffering a cut just below the eye and furiously claiming he’d been elbowed. In truth it looked more of an accident.
The crowd wildly whistled at Chelsea’s possession but it began to pay off. In the 13th minute Levski failed to clear a cross and Mikel powered forward to feed Drogba who turned and volleyed against the bar when a goal looked certain.
But Levski with their short passing game were no mugs. They won the first corner. Immediately Shevchenko set up Bridge for a fine cross and Chelsea levelled the corner count. Then Angelov brilliantly turned Ferreira and crossed dangerously, but Terry, slowly adjusting to the pace of the game after his lack of training, headed away.
In the 20th minute Chelsea again struck the woodwork. Ballack found just enough space almost 30 yards out to turn and fire a wonderful right-footed drive that the flying Petkov brilliantly turned against the post.
Levski weren’t affected. Five minutes later, despite some defending, when Ballack underhit a pass on the edge of their area, Bardon broke the length of the pitch with Levski four against three, but as he chose a subtle pass to try and take out Terry the covering Bridge brilliantly intercepted.
Just past the half-hour Yovov took a free-kick harshly given against the strong but seemingly fair challenge of Essien and whipped the ball in from wide which everyone missed and the alert, flying Cech turned away for Levski’s second corner.
Levski’s problem was that Chelsea had much more patient possession in their half than Levski did in Chelsea’s. Lampard won and took a corner after the next spell, and Mikel who was making a sound impression with his one-touch play in his own half and probing in Levski’s, was blocked but then fired over the rebound.
Six minutes before half-time the opening goal came. Another fine spell of possession picked up when Shevchenko made some space and found Ferreira on the right. His cross was poorly headed by Tomašic to Mikel who forced yet another flying save from Petkov, but this time Drogba was on hand to half-volley home for his fifth goal of the season.
The outstanding Chelsea move had begun with some wonderful, delicate trickery by Essien who lobbed a Levski player then headed the ball back past him into space before running round and finding Bridge with his pass. Once again, Essien and Bridge were in top form.
Just before half-time a wonderful Ballack left-footed cross gave Shevchenko the chance to head for goal, but he mis-timed his effort. Levski, however, were not downhearted and won a succession of corners to take their first-half tally to five.
What a lively affair the first 45 minutes had been. Levski two shots on target, Chelsea three including a goal plus two more against the woodwork; Levski one further effort wide, Chelsea five efforts wide; Levski five corners, Chelsea two.
It took just six minutes of the second-half for Drogba to double the lead and his own tally, sneaking behind the defence on to Bridge’s fine ball over the top, turning and quickly despatching the ball with just enough pace under Petkov who half-stopped it and then watched it roll into the net.
A minute later Mikel suffered the game’s first booking when Wagner tried to get the ball off him quickly following a foul and he rolled in agony clutching his head before getting up and claiming to referee Duhamel that he had been stamped on. Drogba saw the trouble coming and tried to calm things down, presumably in French to the referee, but the yellow card was no surprise.
Five minutes later Mikel was rolling around again, but this time he had been caught and Angelov was booked.
Two minutes past the hour Kalou replaced Mikel whose weight of pass had been top class. Kalou operated in the midfield role, but when Georgi Ivanov came on to ecstatic cheers from the home fans for Telkiyski, he took up his central forward duties with Yuvov reverting to his familiar left and the ‘play anywhere’ Angelov going to the right.
All that happened was that Drogba immediately completed his first Chelsea hat-trick, back-heeling Lampard’s cross-shot over the line. He celebrated with a shrug and a jog in front of the now silent Levski fans.
Mourinho sent on Robben to replace the centre-forward who received a massive slap on the back from Shevchenko who had just fired a vicious shot narrowly over. Ognyano replaced Bardon for Levski, and the home team found new gusto. But they also found Petr Cech.
Yovov raced through on goal after Carvalho had slipped and shot: Cech dived and saved. The ball went back to Yovov who found a good angle and fired again: Cech rose from the floor to parry once more. A minute later Ivanov powered in a low 25 yarder: Cech, sprawling full-length, turned it round the post.
Terry forced a save with a header from Shevchenko’s cross before clearing Levski’s fourth shot on target in the second-half. Cech then made another incredible save from Ivanov who had powered a second left-footer through the penalty area crowd following a corner. Robben countered by charging the length of the pitch but shooting into the side-netting.
Seconds later the winger was heading over from Kalou’s cross. Chelsea were now playing 4-3-3 with Kalou at centre-forward, Wright-Phillips having replaced Shevchenko.
But two minutes from time Ognyanov put a dampener on the Chelsea party when he raced on to a delicate flick from Yovov and at last beat Cech on the charge. The celebrations for Levski’s first Champions League Group goal were as flourishing as if it had been the winner.
But Chelsea won a sixth consecutive game and a third consecutive away game. This, along with last season’s 2-0 victory at Anderlecht, was also our biggest away win in Europe since José Mourinho’s first European game for Chelsea, a 3-0 victory at Paris St-Germain. The Marseille supporting Drogba, who scored twice that night, enjoyed that one too.
Levski Sofia (4-2-3-1) Petkov; Milanov, Topuzakov (c), Tomašic, Wagner; Borimov (Koprivarov 79), Eromoigbe; Telkiyski (G Ivanov 66), Bardon (Ognyano 70), S Angelov; Yovov.
Scorer Ognyanov 88.
Booked Angelov 60.
Chelsea (4-1-2-1-2) Cech; Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry (c), Bridge; Essien; Mikel (Kalou 62), Lampard; Ballack; Shevchenko (Wright-Phillips 82), Drogba (Robben 70).
Scorer Drogba 38, 51, 68.
Booked Mikel 54
Goalscorers: Ognyanov 89
Squad: Petkov, Milanov, Topuzakov, Tomasic, Wagner, Borimirov (Koprivarov 79), Eromoigbe, Telkiiski (Ivanov 66), Angelov, Bardon (Ognyanov 71), Yovov
Unused Substitutes: Mihailov, Hristov, Minev, Ivanov
Booked: Angelov (60)
Chelsea
Goalscorers: Drogba 39, 52, 68
Squad: Cech, Ferreira, Terry, Carvalho, Bridge, Mikel (Kalou 63), Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Shevchenko (Wright-Phillips 82), Drogba (Robben 70)
Unused Substitutes: Hilario, Cole, Boulahrouz, Makelele
Booked: Mikel (54)
Referee: Laurent Duhamel
Didier Drogba scored his first Chelsea hat-trick, Chelsea’s first UEFA Champions League hat-trick, and our first European hat-trick since Gianluca Vialli’s in 1997 for Chelsea in Sofia tonight, Wednesday.
The ground was packed over an hour before kick-off with the home fans flag waving, jeering anything Chelsea and frantically cheering all things Levski. But it wasn’t just the fans’ early presence at the match that felt like football from another age – their favourite song was to the tune of ‘Yellow Submarine’!
The home team set the mood early on with some bright breaks as Chelsea struggled to hold feet on the wet surface following the day’s rain. It was just as well that Carvalho was bright to stop Bardon’s skip into the area with a sliding challenge, using the wet grass, to clear.
Bridge’s sliding challenge on Angelov was similar, but Mikel, making his full debut, was lucky not to receive more than a whistle when he stuck out his leg and brought down Eromoigbe.
Inside ten minutes the game was getting spicy with Carvalho going to ground on the edge of the area as Telkiyski attacked and he went down, but on this occasion the Portuguese’s demonstrations to the referee that it had not been a foul found agreeable ears.
The ball was shooting off the surface, and a well struck cross gave makeshift centre-forward Yovov the chance to strike the first effort on goal, a header which Cech dealt with carefully and comfortably.
Chelsea tried to slow the pace with patient possession whenever possible, but then the moving forward of the ball seemed to be too long on the difficult pitch. One such ball forward resulted in chasing Shevchenko suffering a cut just below the eye and furiously claiming he’d been elbowed. In truth it looked more of an accident.
The crowd wildly whistled at Chelsea’s possession but it began to pay off. In the 13th minute Levski failed to clear a cross and Mikel powered forward to feed Drogba who turned and volleyed against the bar when a goal looked certain.
But Levski with their short passing game were no mugs. They won the first corner. Immediately Shevchenko set up Bridge for a fine cross and Chelsea levelled the corner count. Then Angelov brilliantly turned Ferreira and crossed dangerously, but Terry, slowly adjusting to the pace of the game after his lack of training, headed away.
In the 20th minute Chelsea again struck the woodwork. Ballack found just enough space almost 30 yards out to turn and fire a wonderful right-footed drive that the flying Petkov brilliantly turned against the post.
Levski weren’t affected. Five minutes later, despite some defending, when Ballack underhit a pass on the edge of their area, Bardon broke the length of the pitch with Levski four against three, but as he chose a subtle pass to try and take out Terry the covering Bridge brilliantly intercepted.
Just past the half-hour Yovov took a free-kick harshly given against the strong but seemingly fair challenge of Essien and whipped the ball in from wide which everyone missed and the alert, flying Cech turned away for Levski’s second corner.
Levski’s problem was that Chelsea had much more patient possession in their half than Levski did in Chelsea’s. Lampard won and took a corner after the next spell, and Mikel who was making a sound impression with his one-touch play in his own half and probing in Levski’s, was blocked but then fired over the rebound.
Six minutes before half-time the opening goal came. Another fine spell of possession picked up when Shevchenko made some space and found Ferreira on the right. His cross was poorly headed by Tomašic to Mikel who forced yet another flying save from Petkov, but this time Drogba was on hand to half-volley home for his fifth goal of the season.
The outstanding Chelsea move had begun with some wonderful, delicate trickery by Essien who lobbed a Levski player then headed the ball back past him into space before running round and finding Bridge with his pass. Once again, Essien and Bridge were in top form.
Just before half-time a wonderful Ballack left-footed cross gave Shevchenko the chance to head for goal, but he mis-timed his effort. Levski, however, were not downhearted and won a succession of corners to take their first-half tally to five.
What a lively affair the first 45 minutes had been. Levski two shots on target, Chelsea three including a goal plus two more against the woodwork; Levski one further effort wide, Chelsea five efforts wide; Levski five corners, Chelsea two.
It took just six minutes of the second-half for Drogba to double the lead and his own tally, sneaking behind the defence on to Bridge’s fine ball over the top, turning and quickly despatching the ball with just enough pace under Petkov who half-stopped it and then watched it roll into the net.
A minute later Mikel suffered the game’s first booking when Wagner tried to get the ball off him quickly following a foul and he rolled in agony clutching his head before getting up and claiming to referee Duhamel that he had been stamped on. Drogba saw the trouble coming and tried to calm things down, presumably in French to the referee, but the yellow card was no surprise.
Five minutes later Mikel was rolling around again, but this time he had been caught and Angelov was booked.
Two minutes past the hour Kalou replaced Mikel whose weight of pass had been top class. Kalou operated in the midfield role, but when Georgi Ivanov came on to ecstatic cheers from the home fans for Telkiyski, he took up his central forward duties with Yuvov reverting to his familiar left and the ‘play anywhere’ Angelov going to the right.
All that happened was that Drogba immediately completed his first Chelsea hat-trick, back-heeling Lampard’s cross-shot over the line. He celebrated with a shrug and a jog in front of the now silent Levski fans.
Mourinho sent on Robben to replace the centre-forward who received a massive slap on the back from Shevchenko who had just fired a vicious shot narrowly over. Ognyano replaced Bardon for Levski, and the home team found new gusto. But they also found Petr Cech.
Yovov raced through on goal after Carvalho had slipped and shot: Cech dived and saved. The ball went back to Yovov who found a good angle and fired again: Cech rose from the floor to parry once more. A minute later Ivanov powered in a low 25 yarder: Cech, sprawling full-length, turned it round the post.
Terry forced a save with a header from Shevchenko’s cross before clearing Levski’s fourth shot on target in the second-half. Cech then made another incredible save from Ivanov who had powered a second left-footer through the penalty area crowd following a corner. Robben countered by charging the length of the pitch but shooting into the side-netting.
Seconds later the winger was heading over from Kalou’s cross. Chelsea were now playing 4-3-3 with Kalou at centre-forward, Wright-Phillips having replaced Shevchenko.
But two minutes from time Ognyanov put a dampener on the Chelsea party when he raced on to a delicate flick from Yovov and at last beat Cech on the charge. The celebrations for Levski’s first Champions League Group goal were as flourishing as if it had been the winner.
But Chelsea won a sixth consecutive game and a third consecutive away game. This, along with last season’s 2-0 victory at Anderlecht, was also our biggest away win in Europe since José Mourinho’s first European game for Chelsea, a 3-0 victory at Paris St-Germain. The Marseille supporting Drogba, who scored twice that night, enjoyed that one too.
Levski Sofia (4-2-3-1) Petkov; Milanov, Topuzakov (c), Tomašic, Wagner; Borimov (Koprivarov 79), Eromoigbe; Telkiyski (G Ivanov 66), Bardon (Ognyano 70), S Angelov; Yovov.
Scorer Ognyanov 88.
Booked Angelov 60.
Chelsea (4-1-2-1-2) Cech; Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry (c), Bridge; Essien; Mikel (Kalou 62), Lampard; Ballack; Shevchenko (Wright-Phillips 82), Drogba (Robben 70).
Scorer Drogba 38, 51, 68.
Booked Mikel 54
