Champions League, Chelsea 2-1 Porto

Ballack finally delivers to send Chelsea into last eight

Michael Ballack's late strike put Chelsea into the last eight of the Champions League after they came from behind to beat Porto.

Chelsea were on their way out after falling behind to Ricardo Quaresma's first half strike, but Ballack capped an impressive fightback as Chelsea scraped through their second round tie 3-2 on aggregate. Arjen Robben cancelled out Quaresma's goal early in the second half and German international Ballack won it with a fine effort 11 minutes from full-time.

Ballack has been well below his best since his pre-season move from Bayern Munich, but he was signed by Mourinho for important European nights like this and finally showed why he is regarded as one of the world's leading midfielders.

Porto took the lead after just 15 minutes when a slick move ended with Quaresma poking the ball under the body of the outstretched Petr Cech after picking up Lucho Gonzalez's pass.

Thereafter, at least for the rest of the half, Porto looked in control and it seemed only a mistake or a moment of brilliance would affect their position.

As it happened, it was a mistake. And what a howler it was at the start of the second half.

Robben, who picked up a yellow card for diving early in the half, received the ball on the right and cut inside before firing in a relatively tame shot that keeper Heldon got a hand to, but not a strong enough one as the ball looped into the net. Chelsea pressed for a winner and sent in a number of teasing crosses testing the Porto shot-stopper, who looked a little jittery after his error.

However, it was not an error that handed Chelsea their much-valued win but a well-worked move that saw Didier Drogba nod Ashley Cole's centre on to the head of Shevchenko who in turn found Ballack.

Ballack steadied himself, swivelled and fired a low volley from six yards past Heldon and into the quarter finals. Chelsea will discover on Friday who they are paired with in the last eight.

Chelsea: Cech, Diarra (Ferreira 65), Essien, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Makelele (Mikel 46), Robben, Ballack, Lampard, Shevchenko (Kalou 84), Drogba.

Subs Not Used: Hilario, Boulahrouz, Bridge, Wright-Phillips.

Booked: Robben, Diarra.

Goals: Robben 48, Ballack 79.

FC Porto: Helton, Fucile, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Cech (Ibson 55), Gonzalez, Ricardo Costa, Paulo Assuncao, Raul Meireles (Adriano 55), Lopez (Bruno Moraes 82), Quaresma.
Subs Not Used: Vitor Baia, Alan, Postiga, Joao Paulo.

Booked: Quaresma, Fucile, Adriano.

Goals: Quaresma 15.

Champions league Chelsea 2-1 Porto extended highlights and goals:

UEFA Champions League, Porto 1-1 Chelsea

Terry Off As Sheva Gives Chelsea Vital Goal Draw

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho faced his old club and came away with a tactically sound 1-1 draw, this after the defending Premiership champions fell behind early and also lost their talismanic defensive captain John Terry through injury. Porto needed just 12 minutes to jump in front, the goal coming while Chelsea played with ten men. Influential Blues defender John Terry had come up lame after an innocuous bit of off the ball contact with Lisandro Lopez. Nevertheless, with Terry on the sidelines seeking consultation the home side took advantage.

Mourinho responded by introducing Arjen Robben, who might have felt aggrieved not to have been selected in the first place after a reasonable performance against Norwich in the 4-0 FA Cup win on Saturday. Arjen Robben's impact was immediate. His first touch came in collecting another weakly headed clearance, this time Pepe's; straight away he drove at Porto. Bosingwa and Pepe were tight to him but failed to intervene, allowing Robben to feed Shevchenko in the area. The Ukrainian was unmarked and remained unchallenged as he took two further steps into the area before sweeping a left-foot shot past Helton for the equaliser.

With Essien settling in impressively at the back, Porto winger Ricardo Quaresma therefore went for the audacious and nearly scored near the end of the first half. The 23-year-old hit a pass first time from outside the area in a wicked, swerving lob of Cech. The ball hammered off the crossbar, however, despite the Chelsea goalkeeper looking like one of the paying spectators on the play.

Half-time brought another Chelsea change, the injured Robben replaced by Mikel John Obi. Porto brought on Marek Cech for Meireles, allowing Quaresma to shift inside. The move was testament to the fetters Diarra had applied to the forward, justifying Mourinho's decision to favour the Frenchman at right-back over Paulo Ferreira and Geremi.

Porto manager Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira, meantime, made three second-half substitutions but none of the players distinguished himself. Adriano—a late replacement for Postiga, in fact, was saved blushes after a dreadful close-range miss with five minutes left when he was ruled—correctly—offside.

LINEUPS
Porto (1): Helton; Fucile (Bruno Moraes), Bruno Alves, Pepe, Bosingwa; Raule Meireles, Assuncao, Gonzalez; Quaresma, Postiga (Adriano), Lopez
Manager: Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira

Chelsea (1): Cech; Bridge, Carvalho, Terry (Robben, Obi Mikel), Diarra; Lampard, Makelele, Ballack, Essien; Drogba, Shevchenko (Kalou)
Manager: Jose Mourinho

Match's Full highlights:

UEFA Champions League, First knockout round schedule.

First knockout round matches that will be played on 20/2/2007 - Match kick-offs are listed in CET:

Celtic VS. A.C Milan, 20:45
PSV VS. Arsenal, 20:45
Lille VS. Manchester united, 20:45
Real Madrid VS. Bayern Munich, 20:45

First knockout round matches that will be played on 21/2/2007 - Match kick-offs are listed in CET:

Roma VS. Lyon, 20:45
Barcelona VS. Liverpool, 20:45
Porto Vs. Chelsea, 20:45
Inter Milan VS. Valencia, 20:45

Full reports and matches' highlights:

PSV VS. Arsenal
Lille VS. Manchester united
Real Madrid VS. Bayern Munich
Inter Milan VS. Valencia
Porto Vs. Chelsea
Barcelona VS. Liverpool

Second leg Schedule