Frustrated Again : Chelsea 2 APOEL 2

Chelsea were made to pay for more costly mistakes as APOEL Nicosia increased the gloom around Stamford Bridge with a 2-2 draw in the Champions League, reports ninemsn.com.au.
Back to back defeats over the last seven days to Blackburn in the League Cup and Manchester City in the Premier League had brought the Blues crashing down to earth after their much-lauded win at Arsenal.
Carlo Ancelotti's side were hoping for a convincing victory over the Cypriot champions to restore morale, but the Blues were undermined by more of the careless errors that proved so crucial in those recent disappointing results.
John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho were exposed by Marcin Zewlakow's early opener for APOEL and, although Michael Essien and Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead before half-time, the hosts had to settle for a draw when John Obi Mikel's blunder presented Nenad Mirosavljevic with a late equaliser.
While the result does no harm to Chelsea's European prospects as they had already won Group D, Ancelotti will be concerned by another lacklustre display that left them without a win in three matches.
Ancelotti, who rested Nicolas Anelka, Ashley Cole and Petr Cech and gave French midfielder Gael Kakuta and goalkeeper Ross Turnbull their first starts, must have found it hard to understand the slack defending that allowed APOEL to take a shock lead in the sixth minute.
When Constantinos Charalambides slipped a clever pass from the left wing towards the six-yard box, Terry and Carvalho appealed for offside rather than clearing and, with the flag rightly staying down, Zewlakow was able to guide a low shot past Turnbull at his near post.
Joe Cole thought he had equalised when he headed home Florent Malouda's cross, but the midfielder's effort was ruled out for offside.
Chelsea didn't have to wait long to draw level. In the 19th minute, Essien worked a yard of space 25 yards from goal and unleashed a ferocious swerving strike that flashed past APOEL goalkeeper Dionisios Chiotis.
That was Essien's last contribution as he limped off moments later after pulling up in mid-stride. The Ghanian's departure didn't unsettle Chelsea as they moved in front in fine style in the 26th minute.
Signing Kakuta from Lens could cost Chelsea dearly if they are unable to overturn a two-year transfer embargo imposed by FIFA as punishment for inducing the 18-year-old's move.
But the teenager, the youngest Chelsea player ever to feature in the Champions League, is regarded as one of the brightest prospects in Europe and he showed enough flashes of skill to suggest he will be worth the hassle.
He started the move that led to Chelsea's second goal with an incisive run and perfectly weighted pass to Yuri Zhirkov. The Russian cut the ball back to Drogba, who shot low past Chiotis for his 16th goal of the season.
Frank Lampard, on for Essien, went close to increasing Chelsea's lead just before half-time with a skimming shot that went just the wrong side of the post.
It took APOEL some time to recover from Chelsea's two-goal blast but they made a bright start to the second half when Turnbull dived low to his left to keep out a deflected shot from former Blues midfielder Nuno Morais.
Cole almost put the result beyond doubt with a cross that drifted over Chiotis and glanced off the top of the crossbar before Terry had a late effort disallowed for offside.
But Chelsea had lost any sense of urgency by now and they were made to pay for their lethargy in the 87th minute.
Mikel's under-hit pass back to Terry left the England defender with no chance of reaching the ball and Mirosavljevic stole possession, advanced on goal and calmly slotted his shot under Turnbull.

Blues Bruised : Manchester City 2 Chelsea 1

Shay Given emerged a hero on both sides of Manchester by saving a late Frank Lampard penalty to give City a precious 2-1 win over Chelsea and cut their advantage over United to two points, reports sportal.nz.
Carlos Tevez's brilliant free-kick ultimately proved decisive after Emmanuel Adebayor had inadvertently put Chelsea in front, then cancelled out that own goal himself seven minutes before the interval.
However, that hardly told the story as bad tempered Chelsea went down in a hail of yellow cards - six in all - and skipper John Terry went off with a leg injury that will bring a moment of dread to Fabio Capello even if the damage is not too great.
The two first-half goals were certainly not in keeping with a pulsating opening in which City more than matched their highly-rated opponents without ever looking completely secure at the back.
Mark Hughes' men had already been given one warning when Shay Given turned away Drogba's angled drive.
Yet, when he looks at the replay, Hughes will probably conclude the main factor in Chelsea's opener was complete bad luck.
Didier Drogba and Branislav Ivanovic could both have been more closely marked at the start of the scramble but the Blues survived that lapse when Given made his first save.
The ball bounced back to Anelka but Given got behind his shot too.
But the Republic of Ireland star could not legislate for the ball shooting upwards, striking Adebayor on the back and bobbling in.
As Chelsea should not have been awarded the corner which started the whole melee off in the first place, City could have been forgiven for believing it was not to be their day.
Far from it. They poured forward and if their delivery from set pieces had been less persistent in picking out Petr Cech, the equaliser might have come long before it did.
Cech's only mistake had been to come for a Shaun Wright-Phillips' cross and get nowhere near as Richards rose. Ricardo Carvalho read the situation perfectly though and made a splendidly acrobatic clearance.
City kept up their offensive and when Wright-Phillips drove another shot into the Chelsea box it ultimately brought their equaliser.
Terry, who was linked so heavily with a move to Eastlands last summer, was still complaining to referee Howard Webb at halftime that Richards handled Wright-Phillips' shot.
It was difficult to see what the England Under-21 full-back could have done to get out of the way though.
The ball deflected into Adebayor's path and did so again when it bounced back off the England skipper. At the second time of asking Adebayor did not fail to make up for his earlier misfortune.
If Drogba's free-kick in the final minute of the half had been one inch inside Given's left-hand post rather than just outside it, City might have had problems responding.
As it was, they were the ones with the impetus when the sides returned and got their noses in front.
In keeping with the others, there was an element of controversy about the goal.
Ricardo Carvalho did have a point when he claimed he had been looking at the ball as he went for an aerial challenge with Tevez, but he also kept a leg in the air long enough to plant it into the Argentina star's back.
Tevez added insult to the resulting yellow card though, curling a crisp free-kick into the bottom corner.
The loss of Richards and Wayne Bridge to injury hardly assisted City in their efforts to cling on for a win, but Juliano Belletti's studs-first challenge that led to Bridge being carried off could easily have left Chelsea with 10 men.
That bad-tempered tackle led to a few more. At one point Ashley Cole and Deco were booked for offences in the same passage of play.
Prior to that though, Given had emerged the hero when he turned away an admittedly poor Lampard penalty after Onuoha had upended Drogba.
There was still time for Terry to limp off and Drogba to waste a glorious chance to level at the death although City, and Given, deserved their success.

Ballack Ballsup : Blackburn 3 Chelsea 3 (aet. 5-4 on pens.)

Blackburn had keeper Paul Robinson to thank for two penalty saves that sent them into the Carling Cup semi-finals at Chelsea's expense, reports soccernet.espn.go.com.
Rovers will now meet Aston Villa for the right to go to Wembley after former England keeper Robinson saved from Michael Ballack and teenager Gael Kakuta, who took the last kick.
Benni McCarthy, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella and David Hoilett scored Rovers' penalties, with Nikola Kalinic having his saved. Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Yury Zhirkov were successful for Chelsea.
In normal time, Blackburn had taken an early lead through Kalinic but Chelsea hit back after the break, with quick-fire goals from Drogba and Salomon Kalou, before Emerton's cross deceived keeper Henrique Hilario.
But, with Chelsea down to ten men after Kalou picked up an injury and having used all their substitutes at half-time, Rovers went ahead again through a McCarthy penalty, only for Paulo Ferreira to lash home the equaliser and force penalties.
Chelsea made the expected wholesale changes for this quarter-final, taking perhaps too much of a risk by resting seven players from the side that won at Arsenal on Saturday.
John Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Ricardo Carvalho, Nicolas Anelka, Drogba and Ashley Cole all stood down, with Joe Cole getting another run-out, while teenager Kakuta - at the centre of the row that saw a transfer ban imposed on the Stamford Bridge club - was on the bench.
Blackburn, again without manager Sam Allardyce on the sidelines due to his recent heart surgery, made five changes from the side that drew at home with Stoke last time out. But their alterations were primarily enforced, with Keith Andrews and David Dunn injured, while Franco Di Santo - on loan from Chelsea - was ineligible.
Although Chelsea started well, with Deco prompting from midfield, a determined Rovers found themselves ahead after only eight minutes.
Seconds earlier Kalinic had shot wide after taking a return pass from Jason Roberts. But his next opportunity was far more successful. Morten Gamst Pedersen and Pascal Chimbonda combined well down the left and, when the full back's low cross arrowed into the six-yard box, Kalinic finished in style.
Emerton flashed a 20-yarder wide as Rovers kept coming forward and the nearest Chelsea got in the opening exchanges was a diving header from Kalou, following Ferreira's cross, that skidded wide of the far post.
Chelsea's response took a long time to get up any steam, with Cole shooting wide and then Ballack crashing a volley into the side-netting from Malouda's right-wing cross.
But it was Blackburn who continued to look dangerous, and Chris Samba saw a header pulled down by Hilario, the keeper being clattered to the ground by the big defender for his troubles.
The hosts could see their opportunity against a weakened side, with Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti only having Drogba from his front-line troops on the bench.
Ancelotti could hardly have been impressed with Chelsea's first-half efforts and he made three substitutions for the second period. Not surprisingly, on came Drogba as well as Kakuta and Jeffery Bruma, with Cole, Juliano Belletti and Deco making way.
And Chelsea were level within two minutes of the restart. Malouda's cross came in from the left and Drogba rose above Ryan Nelsen to head powerfully past Robinson.
It did not take Chelsea long to go in front, with Blackburn punished for some dreadful defending. Zhirkov found all the time in the world to send Kalou racing into Blackburn's half, without a defender within 20 yards of him, and the striker coolly rolled his shot wide of Robinson after 52 minutes.
Rovers sent on Grella for Pedersen after 61 minutes and were level three minutes later. Emerton's swirling cross came in from the right and, although Kalinic went for it and claimed the goal, the ball looked to sail straight in and past a bemused Hilario.
Roberts was replaced by youngster Hoilett with 20 minutes left. But Chelsea were left with only ten men for the last 19 minutes, having used all their substitutes at the break, when Kalou limped away with a groin injury.
Elrio Van Heerden replaced Steven Nzonzi at the start of the extra half-hour, and Rovers were ahead a minute later. Zhirkov brought down the nippy Hoilett and McCarthy rammed home the penalty.
But, in the second minute of injury-time at the end of 120 minutes, Chelsea were level when Ferreira lashed home after Robinson had fumbled a Malouda free-kick to send the game to penalties.
Ancelotti defended his decision to field a weakened side at Blackburn in the Carling Cup quarter-final, and then to use all three substitutes at half-time. A string of debatable decisions by Ancelotti contributed to Chelsea's demise, including using all three substitutions before injury reduced them to 10 men for almost 50 minutes of the match.
He even chose French teenager Gael Kakuta to take the crucial pressure penalty in the shoot-out, which was saved by Paul Robinson to send Rovers through. Kakuta is the former Lens youngster whose move to Stamford Bridge has seen Chelsea fined and banned from transfer by FIFA, with an appeal pending.
Ancelotti, who rested seven top players including John Terry and Frank Lampard, said: "We had priorities this week with league games against Arsenal and Manchester City. I felt we fielded a strong team. But in the first half they did not play well. That is why I used all three substitutes, it is not something I usually do.
"Then we were unlucky to have Salomon Kalou injured in the second half, and that meant we were left with 10 men. It was just unfortunate, but we still played well with 10 against 11.
"As for using Kakuta for that last penalty, it was my decision. I have seen him take good penalties during training, and I felt he could handle it.''
Blackburn assistant boss Neil McDonald, standing in for Sam Allardyce following the Ewood Park manager's heart surgery, was critical of Ancelotti's decisions.
He said: "I hope they regret making so many changes and not fielding a stronger team. Maybe they should have looked at our home record and realised that we are a decent side here.
"They should have played a stronger side. But I have to praise Paul Robinson for his shoot-out save after making a mistake to give them their equaliser.
"I have spoken to Sam and he is very pleased. He just told us to enjoy the moment and to get ourselves ready for Liverpool on Saturday.''

Gunners Gagged : Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3

Chelsea tightened their grip on top spot in the Premier League and put a massive dent in Arsenal's own title ambitions with a convincing win at Emirates Stadium.
The Blues, then under Guus Hiddink, were the last team to beat the Gunners on their own ground, ripping them apart 4-1 here in May, reports sportal.nz.
While this encounter was nowhere near as much a one-sided affair, it still highlighted the gulf between the two sides' ability to produce a big performance when required.
Chelsea - who restored their lead on Manchester United to five points - grabbed a brace at the end of a first half in which Arsene Wenger's men had enjoyed plenty of possession, but without really troubling Petr Cech.
The Gunners were made to pay when Didier Drogba converted Ashley Cole's low centre, and Thomas Vermaelen's own goal effectively killed off the contest before the interval, with the Ivory Coast striker drilling in a late free-kick to seal matters.
There is, of course, plenty more football to be played before they crown the 2010 champions, but even with a match in hand, it is difficult to see Wenger's young squad - without Robin van Persie until at least April - clawing back what is now an 11-point deficit, and indeed they could still face a battle to secure a top-four finish.
Arsenal may have dedicated this afternoon's match to their charity of the season at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, but there was little compassion shown towards former Gunner Ashley Cole, who was resoundingly booed every time he touched the ball.
It had been a bright start from the hosts, with Bacary Sagna's deep cross flicked back into the penalty area by Andrey Arshavin, but Cesc Fabregas was unable to make decent contact.
Eduardo almost robbed England captain John Terry on the edge of the Chelsea box, but Ricardo Carvalho cleared the loose ball.
Chelsea, though, looked dangerous on the break and were somewhat unfortunate to see Drogba's run clear onto a pass from Joe Cole halted by an offside flag.
Nicolas Anelka, whose big break came at Arsenal, then went down in the penalty area as he got ahead of Sagna, who wrestled him to the ground, but referee Andre Marriner was not interested.
There was a brief stoppage in play when the referee removed an object, which looked like a fake camera, which had been thrown on in the direction of Frank Lampard, the England midfielder fit again following a thigh injury.
Arsenal had plenty of possession, but lacked spark in the final third, with the absence of Dutch forward Van Persie painfully clear.
It was no real surprise when Chelsea went ahead on 41 minutes.
Terry played in Ashley Cole down the left, and he whipped a low centre across the six-yard box, where Drogba got in between the static Arsenal centre-backs to steer the ball into the net off the angle of post and bar.
Before Wenger could regroup his team in the dressing room, it was 2-0.
Cole was again the provider, as this time his ball from the left was deflected into the Arsenal net off Vermaelen's shin.
Wenger had to do something to inject fresh life into his shell-shocked side, and it came in the form of England forward Theo Walcott, defensive midfielder Alex Song the man sacrificed.
Arsenal certainly had more urgency following the restart, and thought they had a goal back when Arshavin smashed home from close range - but the effort was ruled out for a high boot from Eduardo on Cech.
Chelsea almost grabbed a fortunate third goal when Drogba's shot deflected off William Gallas and then Lampard, but Manuel Almunia made a quick change in direction and touched the ball around the post.
Arsenal were getting desperate and called for what would have been a harsh penalty as substitute Carlos Vela went down under a challenge from Branislav Ivanovic.
On 71 minutes, Ashley Cole was replaced by Paulo Ferreira, the England defender clenching his fists towards the travelling Chelsea fans as he left the pitch, before heading straight down the tunnel.

The Blues should have had another penalty wheh JT was swung around by his waist in the lead up to a corner but again Marriner bottled it.
Arsenal threatened, but once again lacked a decisive pass at the key moment.
Drogba wrapped things up for Carlo Ancelotti's men when he smashed in a 25-yard free-kick with four minutes left.

Dragons Defeated : Porto 0 Chelsea 1

Nicolas Anelka stunned Porto for the second time this season as Chelsea finished top of Group D with a 1-0 victory in the Estadio do Dragao, reports SBS The World Game.
Anelka, who scored the winner when the two teams met at Stamford Bridge, stooped to head home a cross from Florent Malouda in the 69th minute.
It was another uninspiring performance from the Blues who had the woodwork to thank in the first half when Fernando Belluschi's 25-yard effort smashed off the crossbar.
But for the third time in Europe this season, Chelsea emerged winners by a solitary goal and in each of those games, Anelka has been the matchwinner.
Chelsea were quickly into their stride against Porto in a surprisingly sparsely populated stadium. There were many empty seats among the Porto sections of the ground and the atmosphere which accompanied the start of the game was hardly intimidating for Chelsea.
In the sixth minute, Malouda, scorer of their wonderful opener against Wolves last Saturday, was off target with a 25-yard low drive which drifted wide of the target.
In the 15th minute, Chelsea won a corner when Didier Drogba's shot was turned over by Beto.
Unfortunately for the English side, Deco floated the flag-kick over everybody in the penalty area.
The Portugal international was given a warm reception by the Porto fans in that part of the ground.
In the 18th minute Michael Ballack almost finished off a neat move by the Blues but his final shot was deflected for another wasted corner.
But the home side almost took the lead in the 20th minute with their first real attack of the game.
Belluschi's 25-yard drive was palmed into the path of Radamel Falcao Garcia by Petr Cech but the Chelsea goalkeeper redeemed himself with another fine save at the feet of the Porto forward. Porto were unlucky not to break the deadlock in the 29th minute when Argentinian Belluschi, playing his first game for a month, again tried his luck from 20-yards.
This time his shot beat Cech in the Chelsea goal but rebounded off the crossbar to safety.
Chelsea were living dangerously but Porto did not appear to have the guile to create anything other than the occasional long-range effort.
A 20-yard drive from Deco flashed past Beto's left-hand upright in the 36th minute.
It was hardly a thrilling spectacle and the stay-away Porto fans clearly made the right decision.
Jesualdo Ferreira's side may have come close to scoring with two long-range shots but Chelsea had coped easily with much of their attacking play.
Time and again Chelsea wasted the ball in good areas, with full-back Branislav Ivanovic one of the main culprits.
Chelsea created nothing in an opening half that was instantly forgettable.
The English outfit made a much better start to the second half and Deco sent a shot flashing beyond the far post in the 52nd minute.
Moments later, Malouda drilled two low crosses into the penalty area but they eluded the Chelsea strikers on each occasion.
At least there was more purpose about Chelsea's play now and Ballack was booked for a challenge on Cristian Rodriguez as the Porto player threatened to run clear.
Porto brought on the Hulk to great cheers from the home fans in the 59th minute. The Brazilian striker replaced Silvestre Varela.
In the 67th minute Chelsea replaced the ineffective Ballack with Michael Essien.
Essien, who scored two goals against Wolves last weekend, was left out of the starting line-up after collecting a minor knock on his knee.
But clearly coach Carlo Ancelotti was anxious to add some drive to a rather lack-lustre midfield.
It brought instant results, although not from Essien. Yuri Zhirkov broke down the left and his pass found Malouda inside the penalty area.
This time the winger's cross found the head of Anelka as the France international stooped to head his third goal of the Euro campaign in the 69th minute.
It was Anelka's sixth goal of the season and his first in eight games for the Blues.
In the 80th minute substitute Ernesto Farias brought a fine save from Cech with a low drive from the edge of the penalty area but Chelsea were home and dry.