|
|
Change Your Life! |
Wise wins it for Chelsea |
|
News |
March
10 LONDON:
Chelsea edged French side Marseille 1-0 in their European Champions
League Group D rematch at Stamford
Bridge on. Wednesday with England International midfielder Dennis Wise scoring the only goal of the game after 27 minutes, reports AFP. Glanfranco
Zola's header hit Wise on the back and the Chelsea captain reacted
quickest to turn the ball smartly past goalkeeper Stephane Trevisan. Marseille,
however, were unlucky not to leave with a point with substitute Ivan de la
Pena striking a post nine minutes from time and Ivory Coast international
lbrahima Bakayoko shooting inches past the post with seconds remaining. Gianluca
Vialli's side took revenge for their defeat by the same score line at the
Stade Velodrome last Tuesday – when French international midfielder
Robert Pires scored the winner. The
victory extended Chelsea's unbeaten home record in Europe to 33 games
dating back to 1958. Zola
was full of praise for his captain, whose winning goal put Chelsea In a
strong position to qualify for the last eight. When
asked If there is a better English midfielder In the country right now the
Sardinian replied: "No, not-at the moment. He is on top of his game
and Is a big Influence on the team and it Is no surprise that he is
back In the England team. He
(Wise) Is also playing with very good players around him, especially
me!" Frenchman
Frank Leboeuf said, however, that there is still a long way to go. "We
go to Feyeiloord next week and they have beaten both Marseille and Lazio
away from home - and that is a better record than ours so we can take
nothing for granted," he said. "We have got two very hard games
ahead of us." Uruguayan
Gustavo Poyet shot powerfully wide in the first minute as the hosts gave
an early warning to Bernard Casoni's side. But in
their eagerness to get the better of the early exchanges, Chelsea had
French international Didier Deschamps booked after eight minutes for a
late challenge. Four
minutes later Norwegian international Tore Andre Flo broke free on the
right wing and whipped in a low cross for Zola but Trevisan mothered his
strike. Poyet's
goal bound header was turned over by Trevisan after 14 minutes as Chelsea
started to apply the pressure but they dropped their guard a minute later
when Cyrille Pouget shot Inches wide of Ed de Goey's goal after Pires
sliced through tile Chelsea midfield. The
visitors grew in confidence and former Everton striker Bakayoko liad a
shot deflected wide after 23 minutes. Once more the architect was Pires. Chelsea,
however, continued to attack and on 27 minutes Wise made the breakthrough.
Zola
and the ball, bounced, headed Flo’s cross down kindly for wise, who slid
the ball past Trievisan. Tow
minutes later Zola almost put the Blues further ahead when clean through,
but Trevisan came rushing out to save at the Italian's feet. Marseille
went In search of an equalizer and Bakayoko nearly supplied It but his
drive was parried wide by De Goey. A
minute later Jerome Leroy almost levelled but de Goey miraculously palmed
his shot away as the Frenchmen came to life
with Pires behind
every move. After
38 minutes Leboeuf joined Deschamps in the referee's notebook for
overreacting to a challenge from Bakayoko as tempers began to fray. Leboeuf's
free-kick flew
straight at Trevisan four minutes later with Chelsea finishing the half
strongly.
' Pouget
was booked after 50 minutes for fouling Wise as Marseille battled to gain
control of midfield but with the Chelsea captain showing the kind of form
that has taken him back Into the England squad, the French side struggled
to break out of their half. Zola
went close with a drive inside the box and Poyet sent a header over the
bar while at the other end Leroy blasted a shot straight at Leboeuf when
he had had teammates better placed to score. With
Zola in inspirational form and finding plenty of space on the right he was
proving a handful for the Marseille defense - but still Chelsea could not
find a second goal to kill off the visitors. The
Londoners were nearly made to pay 15 minutes from time when Stephane
Dalmat's pass found Jacques Abardonado with a clear run at goal but he
blazed hit shot way over the crossbar. Spanish de la Pena gave
Clielsea
another Scare after 81 minutes when his powerful free-kick creshed
off the left upright and de Goey had to be at his best moments later to
turn Leroy's scissor-kick out for a corner.
Then, with time running out, Bakayoko's shot flashed wide of the post much to the relief of the home supporters. Source : Daily Star |