Chelsea 0 Besiktas 2
Besiktas had about 4 shots on goal during yesterday's game, 3 of which were on target. Chelsea had around 15, with only 2 hitting the target. That was the difference between the sides....
After a bright opening to the game, when Veron and Crespo both squandered great opportunites, Besiktas took the lead around the half hour mark. Ilhan Mansiz (the Turkish David Beckham) played a neat free kick down the left flank, catching Geremi and Gallas completely off guard. Ibrahim centred the ball to Sergen who's shot found the back of the net, courtesy of a deflection by JT.
Five minutes later and we are 2-0 down! A long punt up field by Besiktas keeper Oscar Cordoba was misjudged by Desailly, who lost his footing. Carlo came to rescue the situation but, uncharacteristically, missed the ball completely, giving Sergen the simplest of chances to make it 2-0. He didn't miss!
Half time came with Chelsea failing to test the goalkeeper and Claudio Ranieri came up with an absolute masterstroke. You're 2-0 down at home in the Champions League, what do you do? I know, take off two strikers- Mutu and Crespo- and replace them with Jimmy and Duffman!
Unsurprisingly, Claudio's plan came back to haunt him just minutes into the second half. With three substitutions already made (Bridge replaced the injured Baba in the first half) William Gallas went down hurt and was limping on for the rest of the game.
The odds were evened up moments later as Ilhan Mansiz saw red for two bookable offences. The offences? Kicking the ball away twice after the referee had blown his whistle.
Despite the numerical advantage (as the official Chelsea site put it, we had ten and a half players) and a bombardment on the Besiktas goal, we never really looked like scoring.
The one positive to take away from last night? Man United lost as well! But it's back to the drawing board for the Tinkerman....