How did PSG beat Chelsea?
Benches came into play
The substitutes’ bench proved to be vital, as Edinson Cavani was sent on and extended his good record against Chelsea. The Uruguayan has been in poor form for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, but he enjoys facing the Blues and his strike through the legs of Thibaut Courtois meant he has been involved in five goals (three goals and two assists) in seven Champions League games against the Stamford Bridge club.
Chelsea are still very much in the tie, as they go back to England with an away goal and only a one-goal deficit to make up. But they will not want to see the sight of Cavani again, no matter how poor he might be in between time. Interim manager Guus Hiddink will not be too worried that his unbeaten run was broken, as long as the Blues can win the second leg and progress. It will be tough, but it is not beyond them.
• PSG vs Chelsea: as it happened
Chelsea’s patched up defence almost held firm... almost
The opening stages looked ominous for a Chelsea defence without captain John Terry, Kurt Zouma or the suspended Nemanja Matic to protect them. Lucas Moura, Angel Di Maria and Zlatan Ibrahimovic clearly sensed an opportunity to kill the tie in the first leg, but Chelsea’s makeshift backline, through some good defending and good fortune, managed to keep the scoreline down.
Cesar Azpilicueta, switched to the right side, made a crucial tackle in the first half, while Gary Cahill stretched to cut out a Maxwell cross that looked set to produce a goal and threw himself in front of a Blaise Matuidi shot. Baba Rahman looked more comfortable going forwards than tracking back on the left and the Ghana international put over one perfect cross that Diego Costa should have scored with his head.
Instead, PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp pushed the ball on to the crossbar. Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois could count himself unfortunate to be beaten by Ibrahimovic’s free-kick that deflected off John Obi Mikel and was not at fault for Cavani’s winner.
Zlatan proved he could still shine in the Premier League
Despite the fact he is now aged 34 and covers even less ground than he used to, Zlatan Ibrahimovic would still be a welcome addition in the Premier League if he does not renew his PSG contract at the end of the season. The striker will be offered huge money to go to China, the USA or the Middle East but it would be great to see him in England – even as he comes towards the end of his colourful career.
His deflected free-kick goal against Chelsea was not one for the Ibrahimovic showreel, but it was his 24th of the season for PSG. The Sweden international remains a mesmerising sight and his touch and awareness remain second only to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He could still hold down a place in the teams of any of England’s biggest and richest clubs, and we can only hope that one enters the auction.
By Matt Law
Possession stats at Parc des Princes
How they reacted
Branislav Ivanovic: "It was a very difficult game - but we keep going we keep fighting, we will do everything we can at home to go through. It was a very difficult for the whole team - but we came here with courage and we had a couple of chances to win the game. We lose a little bit of concentration at the end and the top strikers take every single chance. We need to be more careful in London.
Gary Cahill: "We pushed for the goal, and we're obviously disappointed 1-1 would have been a great result. We defended really well throughout the game and dug in. We go onto the home leg, we know what we have to do. We know how hard it is here - it's very difficult to get a result here. it's well poised."
Who was the man of the match?
Gary Cahill
Produced his best John Terry impression without Chelsea’s captain next to him, as the central defender threw himself in front of every shot and cross that came into the six-yard box – and there were a lot of them.
Cahill's touch map:
What Chelsea and PSG must work on this week
Chelsea
Chelsea will benefit from having Nemanja Matic back from suspension and will hope John Terry is fit again. But they must keep the ball for longer periods at Stamford Bridge as they will have to get on to the front foot to turn the tie around. Eden Hazard was substituted after an ineffectual 74 minutes and nobody could blame Guus Hiddink if he decided to start with Oscar in the second leg.
Chelsea attacking stats
PSG
Better finishing. Despite winning the first leg, Paris Saint-Germain created enough opportunities to leave Chelsea a mountain to climb, but failed to kill them off. A similar performance in the second leg will cause Chelsea more problems, as Marco Verratti is capable of dominating the midfield while Lucas Moura was everything Hazard was not for Chelsea, as he ran with the ball and beat his markers. PSG will fancy their chances of catching the Blues out as they look to attack more.
PSG attacking stats
How things stand
Chelsea scored the crucial away goal, but will need to ensure PSG don't manage one of their own at Stamford Bridge in the second leg. Still, a 2-1 defeat away in a first leg of a Champions League tie is rarely a disaster.
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