Champions League, Valencia 1-2 Chelsea (agg 2-3)

Chelsea steal it at very death!

A 90th minute strike from Michael Essien stunned Valencia at the Mestalla and secured Chelsea a 2-1 win as they progressed to the Champions League semi-final. The Blues had gone down to a 32nd minute goal from Fernando Morientes, but Andriy Shevchenko equalised seven minutes into the second half.

Chelsea had looked dead and buried in the first half when Fernando Morientes had given Valencia a 2-1 aggregate lead. But Andriy Shevchenko levelled and then Essien's last-gasp winner put Chelsea in dreamland.

Valencia made the better start to the game, but having failed to snatch an early goal they looked happy to sit back and soak up Chelsea pressure. The visitors had chances early on, as Ricardo Carvalho and Shevchenko both nodded wide and Ballack's powerful header was saved by Canizares.

Morientes, who had missed the opening leg in London because of a shoulder injury, was clearly determined to set up a semi-final meeting with his former club Liverpool. He was thwarted from giving the home side the lead in the 31st minute when he smashed a cross from David Silva against Petr Cech's right-hand upright.

But Morientes prevailed a minute later when he escaped his marker to volley home a superbly-delivered right-wing cross from Valencia full-back Luis Miguel. The goal put Valencia ahead on aggregate but Chelsea could still save themselves by getting on the scoresheet.

Chelsea's lack of width was immediately addressed with Mourinho switching to 4-3-3 by moving Essien to right-back and introducing Joe Cole. The impact was instant. Cole and Didier Drogba linked perfectly and Chelsea played much further forward. Seven minutes after half-time Drogba met Essien's cross and, although Luis Miguel and Roberto Ayala crowded out the striker, the ball fell for Shevchenko to stab past Cañizares from close range.
Valencia's back line began to creak, with possession presented back to Drogba in the 66th minute although the Ivorian scuffed his shot and Cañizares made a comfortable save.

Valencia substitute Miguel Angel Angulo wasted a good chance when he shot wide of the target as the Spanish side pressed for the goal that would give them victory. The Spanish side had Canizares to thank for keeping them in the game in the 84th minute when he produced a sensational one-handed save to keep out a header from Ballack.

But Essien put Chelsea into the semi-finals with a glorious angled drive in the 91st minute.

Valencia: Canizares, Miguel, Ayala, Moretti, Del Horno, Joaquin, Albelda, Albiol (Hugo Viana 72), Silva, Morientes (Angulo 65), Villa.
Subs Not Used: Butelle, Jorge Lopez, Curro Torres, Nacho Insa, Pallardo.

Booked: Del Horno, Albelda, Ayala, Moretti.

Goals: Morientes 32.

Chelsea: Cech, Diarra (Joe Cole 46), Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Essien, Lampard (Makelele 90), Ballack, Shevchenko (Kalou 90), Drogba.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Bridge, Ferreira, Wright-Phillips.

Booked: Essien, Ballack.

Goals: Shevchenko 52, Essien 90.

Champions league, Valencia 1-2 Chelsea full highlights:

FA Cup, Chelsea 3-3 Tottenham

Chelsea Comeback In Thriller

Chelsea and Tottenham have treated everyone watching to an unforgetable FA Cup tie and they will have to do it all again after it finished 3-3 at Stamford Bridge in 90 minutes of pure football madness!!



Chelsea had looked down and out at half-time after they trailed 3-1 to a vibrant Tottenham side.But second-half goals from Frank Lampard and substitute Salomon Kalou earned them a 3-3 draw and a replay at White Hart Lane against the odds.



First half:



Dimitar Berbatov shocked Chelsea by putting Spurs in front in the fifth minute but that was cancelled out by Lampard 17 minutes later. But an own goal by Michael Essien in the 28th minute restored Tottenham's advantage and Spurs cemented a terrific opening 45 minutes with a third goal through Hossam Ghaly eight minutes later.


Chelsea were given a wake-up call within five minutes when Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon linked up on the edge of the penalty area.The England winger slipped the ball to Dimitar Berbatov and the Spurs striker hammered a volley beyond Petr Cech for the opener.While Chelsea threatened to get back into the game, it was Spurs who remained more of a threat.They almost bagged a second when Paul Stalteri robbed Arjen Robben and set up Berbatov. However, the Bulgarian chose to cross for Defoe instead of shooting himself and the chance went begging.


Tottenham paid for the failure to take that opportunity when Lampard equalised in the 22nd minute. Tottenham were, for the first time in the game, caught out by a neat move from the English champions. Didier Drogba's cross was chested down by Andriy Shevchenko and when Michael Ballack sent the ball back towards the six-yard box, Lampard pounced to turn it past Radek Cerny.


But Spurs shocked Chelsea with a second goal a minute later when the unfortunately Essien turned a cross from Lennon past Cech and into his own net. The goal was completely against the run of play but it put the north London side back in control. The game was turning into a classic FA Cup tie and Stalteri had to clear off the line in the 32nd minute to prevent Chelsea from equalising for a second time.



Second Half:

After the break Chelsea, perhaps sensibly, opted to pile everyone forward - they did not seem to have anyone at the back anyway. A trio of chances came in quick succession but Ballack spurned two with his head and Lampard shot weakly.

And Spurs should have made them pay when Lennon burst through on goal but Cech produced a superb save to deny him and then Defoe made a mess of a free header from three yards out.

Instead, it was the visitors who were punished when a goalmouth scramble ensued after a corner and the ball broke to Lampard, who clipped the ball low into the corner.

Suddenly, a rejigged Chelsea were in the ascendancy and for the first time in the game Spurs were on the back foot. Chelsea, who had made a host of substitutions, appeared to be playing with only two defenders.

Yet the changes paid off when substitute Kalou connected sweetly after Drogba headed the ball across goal and Chelsea were level.

But then, in injury time, Defoe had a chance to give Tottenham their first win at Stamford Bridge for 17 years but his fizzing drive cannoned back off the bar.

Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira (Wright-Phillips 34), Essien, Carvalho, Ashley Cole (Kalou 64), Diarra (Boulahrouz 57), Lampard, Robben, Ballack, Drogba, Shevchenko.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Bridge.

Booked: Diarra, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Kalou.

Goals: Lampard 22, 71, Kalou 86.

Tottenham: Cerny, Stalteri, Dawson, Rocha, Young-Pyo Lee, Ghaly (Gardner 81), Tainio, Zokora, Lennon (Malbranque 76), Berbatov (Mido 66), Defoe.
Subs Not Used: Burch, Huddlestone.

Booked: Ghaly, Zokora, Young-Pyo Lee, Stalteri, Cerny.

Goals: Berbatov 5, Essien 28 og, Ghaly 36.

FA Cup, Chelsea 3-3 Tottenham goals video:

Michael Essien is a product of Ghana’s renowned junior system, which frequently sees talented young players thrown in at the deep end and exposed to the rigours of international competition while still in their teens. The midfielder, who first represented his country at U-12 level after being spotted playing on the streets of Accra by his first club, Liberty Professionals, was among those to benefit from this policy. His European odyssey began in 1999, following the FIFA U-17 World Championship, where Essien, then 16, caught the eye of scores of on-looking talent scouts. A trial at Manchester United followed but when the offer came to join their feeder club, Royal Antwerp, he declined.

Instead in 2000, and after several months living in his agent’s flat in Monaco, Essien signed for French club Bastia. He broke into the first team as a defender but only after a slot in midfield became available did the true extent of his potential become clear. Essien’s increasingly impressive performances for Bastia inevitably attracted the attention of wealthier clubs and Lyon made their move in summer 2003. Although there was a small element of risk in the fee of 7.8 million euros, the faith of Lyon manager Paul Le Guen was repaid tenfold as Essien blossomed into exactly the player his raw ability suggested he would become.

Two successive league titles followed while on the European stage, Essien performed imperiously as Lyon reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in both the 2003/04 and 2004/05 campaigns. His fellow professionals in France voted Essien their Player of the Year for 2005, an award which, ironically, had gone the previous year to Didier Drogba, whose own move to Chelsea from Olympique Marseille had set a record transfer fee for an African footballer. Now, even more exorbitant sums were being discussed in relation to Lyon’s dynamic Ghanaian and, after some tense negotiations with Lyon officials, Chelsea won the battle for his signature, with Essien getting his wish and Jose Mourinho getting his man.


Now watch Essien's supurb equaliser against Arsenal in the premier league.

Essien Shows Skill! powered by Metacafe