chelsea celebrate despite defeat published: wednesday 13 april 2005, 0.50cet
fc bayern münchen 3-2 chelsea fc (agg: 5-6) bayern revival comes too late to avoid elimination.
by mark bennett at olympiastadion chelsea fc reached the semi-finals of the uefa champions league despite last-gasp goals from josé paolo guerrero and mehmet scholl that earned fc bayern münchen victory in germany.
timely goals leading 4-2 from the first leg, frank lampard's deflected strike put chelsea in front on the half-hour. claudio pizarro levelled midway through the second half, but didier drogba effectively sealed the visitors' progress with ten minutes remaining, although late strikes from bayern substitutes guerrero and scholl gave the german side victory on the night.
hosts reshuffled bayern coach felix magath made four changes from the side that lost at stamford bridge, first-choice strikers pizarro and roy makaay returning after injury while first-leg goalscorer bastian schweinsteiger and martin demichelis came into midfield. chelsea, meanwhile, made only one change, english international glen johnson losing his spot at right-back to german counterpart robert huth.
early opportunities the visitors might have extended their advantage within 180 seconds, drogba racing clear only to be denied by a superb intervention from bayern goalkeeper oliver kahn. the bundesliga leaders quickly recovered their poise, however, and two minutes later john terry had to make a vital block from michael ballack's strike after pizarro’s teasing run. seconds later zé roberto danced past huth and squared for pizarro, but the peruvian's shot was palmed away by petr cech.
gallas beaten the home side continued to enjoy more possession and attempted to stretch chelsea's defence by making full use of zé roberto and schweinsteiger on either wing. the german international made a promising run on 18 minutes but screwed his shot wide after beating william gallas.
lampard joy chelsea held firm, however, and stunned the olympiastadion into silence on the half-hour. joe cole shook off schweinsteiger before finding lampard 25 metres out and, in almost a carbon copy of cole's goal in the first match, the english international midfield player unleashed a shot that took a deflection off lucio and completely wrong-footed kahn.
missed chances bayern refused to lose faith and both schweinsteiger and ballack had chances to equalise before half-time, but neither was able to find the target from in front of goal. seven minutes into the second half scholl replaced demichelis but chelsea comfortably dealt with the new threat as they defended deep and, at times, had all eleven players protecting their lead.
duff denied the visitors did venture forward occasionally and looked extremely dangerous on each occasion. on the hour lampard's free-kick eluded the bayern defence but damian duff missed the chance to put the game out of the bundesliga leaders' reach as kahn reacted smartly to turn his point-blank effort around the post.
pizarro pounces only four minutes later pizarro gave bayern hope again. ballack met willy sagnol's right-wing cross with a powerful header and, although cech produced a fine stop to touch his effort against the left-hand post, the ball rebounded perfectly for the peruvian to tap in. chelsea's lead was almost cut further within four minutes as huth sliced bixente lizarazu's centre against his own crossbar, before eidur gudjohnsen cleared lucio's header off the line.
drogba seals progress bayern threw everything forward but were caught on the break with ten minutes remaining, drogba guiding a pinpoint cole cross inside kahn's far post to effectively ensure overall success. the german outfit refused to concede defeat on the night, however, and levelled in the 90th minute as guerrero tapped in schweinsteiger's low cross before scholl snatched victory deep into added time. but chelsea had already secured their place in the semi-finals, where they will meet liverpool fc or juventus fc.
