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CHELSEA 1-0 Juventus: Still Work To Do

CHELSEA 1-0 JUVENTUS

Pretty much as expected, Claudio Ranieri received a warm welcome from the home crowd,  with the crowd almost as pleased to see him as they were to see Drogba and Anelka starting together for this one.  Ok, so it wasn’t quite the formation we’ve been waiting to see, with Anelka again on the left but we’ll have to make do with it.

I think it’s fair to say we bossed the first half, with our reward coming after 12 minutes when Kalou’s clever pass found Didier Drogba, who subsequently found the back of the net.  In fact, the Ivorian was so lively, causing Juve problems all night that I fully expect he was asked to provide a sample for testing after the game. Salomon Kalou likewise, did a good job hugging the touchline on the right and for me, had one of his better games.

We certainly had our chances to put the game to bed in the first half and might end up regretting it in Turin but it wasn’t a first-half performance I’d have that many complaints about either as far as Champions League ties go.

I have to say though, it was funny how the end of the first half could’ve seen Del Piero given the chance to equalise when Drogba’s shoulder was judged to have ‘handled’ the ball and yet when Nedved put a lace in it in the second half, the officials seemed somewhat less picky. Fortunately though, the equaliser didn’t come and we went in with a deserved lead at the break.

Our high tempo continued after the break although Juve definitely improved, piling on the pressure as the game wore on. We looked a bit dodgy again on set-pieces and the more we gave away, the more I could see Juve – who had the better second half – getting an away goal. Fair play to our defence though, they stuck to the job and kept the Italians out, with Nicolas Anelka unlucky not to get us a second late on. Nice touch by the new manager to bring Mancienne on by the way.

So, the 1-0 win gives us a marginal advantage to take to Turin in a couple of weeks and Guus Hiddink clearly still has a bit of work to do with the squad before then.

 

TEAMS

CHELSEA: Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Alex, Cole, Kalou (Malouda 62), Ballack (Mancienne 81), Lampard, Mikel, Drogba, Anelka.

JUVENTUS: Buffon, Chiellini, Mellberg, Legrottaglie, Molinaro, Nedved, Camoranesi (Marchionni, 51), Sissoko (Trezeguet, 86), Tiago (Marchisio, 62), Del Piero, Amauri.

 

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