Galatasaray 1-1

Independent:

Galatasaray 1 Chelsea 1  Fernando Torres goal halts collapse of the English
 
Striker gave the Blues an early lead but John Chedjou ensured the Turkish side will head to Stamford Bridge level on the scoresheet

Sam Wallace

The great English collapse in the Champions League has finally been halted, although even Jose Mourinho's team will have some work to do to go through when Galatasaray return to Stamford Bridge.
 
There is every chance that come the quarter-final draw next month, Mourinho's Chelsea will be the last men standing from the richest league in world football. They escaped Istanbul with a draw and that precious away goal from Fernando Torres and in three weeks' time they will be favourites to finish the job against Roberto Mancini's team in London.
Even so, as Real Madrid demolished Schalke in their first leg tie in Germany, there was a reminder that some of the other powerhouses in this competition are finding life much easier. Mourinho's former club were 6-1 winners at the Turk Telecom Arena when they played here in the group stages in September, although that was the only time that Galatasaray have lost at home in any competition so far this season.
Chelsea had the chances to put this tie beyond the reach of Galatasaray, whose defensive weaknesses were exposed in the first half. At times even the tumultuous noise created by the home fans was quelled if not silenced. With the tie Chelsea's to win, they allowed Mancini's team back into the game and tie.
Galatasaray's Italian coach rectified an imbalance in midfield and the Cameroon international John Chedjou came up with the equaliser. In that moment, Chelsea could be accused of letting their concentration slip. Otherwise this was a creditable performance. Much more astute than their opponents in the first half, Chelsea were then forced to rely on all their defensive doggedness after the break.
Mourinho admitted as much when he said that his team remain unable “to kill opponents”. They had their chance, especially with Torres eight minutes after the break, but Mourinho lamented that “the last decision, the correct pass, the right movement is something that is not right at the moment.” For Torres there was only faint praise for the “very acceptable season” Mourinho says he is having.
There was to be no goal for Galatasaray from Didier Drogba to spark the conflicting emotions in the former Chelsea man. But then, he always was a lot more lethal at Stamford Bridge. The striker was substituted by Mancini before the end, and if Galatasaray are to do anything in London, then he will be crucial. Mancini said that his players now believe they can do it, doubling his side's chances of progressing from his pre-match prediction to “40%”
It was a first half masterclass from Chelsea complete with the early goal to unsettle their opponents and then a high-tempo hustle in midfield that closed down the options for Galatasaray at every turn.
Mourinho picked a team with a few surprises in it. Torres was starting his first game since 11 January and his first since his return from the knee ligament injury picked up in the home win over Manchester United. He has not been trusted in a game of this magnitude for a while.
There was no risk taken with David Luiz who was not on the bench. Andre Schurrle started in the three behind Torres. The German has started just two games in the FA Cup since before Christmas. In midfield, Frank Lampard was given the place alongside Ramires with Nemanja Matic cup-tied and John Obi Mikel on the bench.
 
The first thing to say about Chelsea was that they looked hungry. They were ready to chase down every Galatasaray break-out from midfield and close down relentlessly. No-one more so than Willian who is becoming Mourinho's favourite soldier and the Brazilian helped to shut down the threat that Wesley Sneijder posed on Chelsea's right side.
The creation of the goal came chiefly from the impressive Cesar Azpilicueta who won the ball in his own half and fed it inside where it went from Eden Hazard to Schurrle and back to the overlapping Azpilicueta who had made up some distance down the left. He picked out the run of Torres who had far too much space in the area and rolled the ball into the goal nicely.
Mancini's team had been leaving gaps through their defence for the whole half and Chelsea ran through them at will. They counter-attacked with pace and, despite having just 43 per cent of the possession in the first half, managed easily more attempts on goal than their opponents. They almost scored in the fourth minute when Fernando Muslera, the Galatasaray goalkeeper cleared the ball straight to Willian and only just managed to head the resulting attempted lob clear.
For much of the first half, Mancini's team just defended too high. As for Drogba, he was forced to survive on very little with John Terry paying him close attention. That was an intriguing battle between the two old team-mates and Terry certainly won the first half. He did get lucky just before the interval when the Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo disallowed a Galatasaray equaliser.

It is possible that Petr Cech had already stopped before Burak Yilmaz blasted the ball past him from the right channel. Either way, Carballo stopped the match and Terry was booked for delaying play by holding onto the ball when another had been thrown onto the pitch to restart the game.
Mancini had switched to 4-5-1 after half an hour of the game. Yilmaz was brought back into midfield and Yekta Kurtulus on for Izet Hajrovic which had a more stabilising effect in his side. They came back into the game after the break although there was one scare when Torres burst through the middle on 52 minutes.
He did not score his second of the game but it was not one of those moments of Torres despair. Rather it showcased almost everything that was good about him, once at least. Taking Hazard's pass he burst between two defenders, stayed on his feet as one tried to bounce him off the ball and got his shot on target. It would have been a brilliant goal were it not for Muslera's excellent save.
At the other end, Galatasaray were asking more pertinent questions of their opponents. Drogba urged his side on, and at times he seemed to have little patience for his former Chelsea team-mates, telling Petr Cech not to delay a free-kick at one point.
Drogba's header on 63 minutes should have been nudged in by the Galatasaray captain Selcuk Inan but somehow he managed to strike the post. Within a minute, they had their equaliser. A corner from the left from Sneijder eluded both Azpilicueta and Terry and the centre-back Aurélien Chedjou met the ball from a few yards out.
It had the effect of getting the home crowd back on side. Cech had to throw himself at a strike from the Brazilian Alex Telles. In the end, Galatasaray ran into that old Chelsea determination not to give in that has served them so well in Europe. It certainly has been missing of late in their three fellow English competitors in the Champions League.

Galatasaray (4-4-2): Muslera; Eboue, Chedjou, Balta (Kaya, 45), Telles; Hajrovic (Kurtulus, 30), Melo, Inan, Sneijder; Yilmaz, Drogba (Bulut, 80).
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Lampard; Hazard (Oscar, 90), Willian Schurrle (Mikel, 66), Torres (Eto'O, 68).

Referee: C Verlasco Carballo (Spain)
Booked: Galatasaray Inan Chelsea Terry, Schurrle, Ramires, Cech

Man of the match: Azpilicueta

Petr Cech - 6/10
Branislav Ivanovic - 7
Gary Cahill - 6
John Terry - 7
Cesar Azpilicueta - 7
Ramires - 6
Frank Lampard - 6
Willian - 6
Andre Schurrle - 6
Eden Hazard - 6
Fernando Torres - 7
Samuel Eto'o - 5


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Guardian:

Chelsea's draw at Galatasaray shows their Champions League limitations

Dominic Fifield at the Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi

This tie lacks the dread that will accompany the other three English clubs going into their respective return legs and Chelsea have retained a sense of authority with Stamford Bridge to come. But events in Istanbul probably exposed their challenge for what it is. José Mourinho publicly considers his team outsiders to win this competition and, in failing to kill off Galatasaray at the first attempt, his players probably proved him right.
Profligacy, not for the first time this season, cost them on the banks of the Bosphorus and a tie that should have been settled early remains on edge. Aurelien Chedjou's equaliser just after the hour, bundled in at a corner as Chelsea's defence momentarily froze in the face of the first real hint of concerted home pressure, has offered the Turks unlikely hope.

Chelsea may have departed with a draw, the like of which Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United could only dream of, but this still seemed like a missed opportunity.
The worry is that it also had a familiar ring. The wastefulness conjured up memories of The Hawthorns earlier this month or the Britannia stadium in December. West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City had rallied to recover points from those games and Chelsea have had near-misses in other games where dominance did not yield a healthy advantage. Gala should have been buried in the opening exchanges, so open and vulnerable were they as the visitors poured through their ranks on the break, but they were able to revive themselves once the Chelsea boot had been removed from their throat. John Obi Mikel and Samuel Eto'o even had to be summoned from the bench in the latter stages to help Chelsea cling on to what they had.

Chedjou's volley from close-range had whipped the locals into a frenzy, the centre-half untracked at a corner with Gary Cahill distracted by Didier Drogba and indecision gripping John Terry and, for once, Petr Cech. Seconds earlier Chelsea had creaked just as alarmingly when Drogba was allowed to nod down and across goal, where Selciuk Inan darted in at the far post and prodded on to the woodwork from a yard out.
In that respect Chelsea could be grateful for a draw, with Cech denying Emmanuel Eboué and Alex Telles before the end, and the rather frenzied finale suggested that the momentum was all Turkish. "After our second half, the players probably understand we can go through," said Roberto Mancini. "It will be difficult but that second half was really important for us."
Galatasaray's late injection of hope was deceptive, however. Chelsea need only remind themselves of how comfortable they had been for the first hour to give themselves heart. A certain trepidation had prompted Hakan Balta and Chedjou to push far too high up the pitch early on, leaving tantalisingly wide open spaces at their back. With Eboué and Telles also too eager to gallop upfield, almost blindly at times, Chelsea could nick possession deep and spring at will. Headed clearances by their centre-halves suddenly became penetrative through-balls, and the visiting trio of creative midfielders relished the regular opportunities to burst into space on the counter.

Mourinho's selection had made that possible, the decision to pick Fernando Torres for a first start since 11 January justified by his slippery running where Eto'o might not have prospered so readily. André Schürrle, too, appeared fresh and eager on only his second start since New Year's Day. Eboué had been hopelessly out of position when the German collected from César Azpilicueta nine minutes in and, having glided into the Turkish half, liberated the marauding full-back inside his marker. The Spaniard charged towards the byline and drew out Fernando Muslera before pulling back for Torres to convert first-time into a gaping net. It was his sixth goal in his last five Champions League starts and a reminder that this team do have striking options.
It still felt like a novelty given the scoreless performances endured by the other English clubs in their respective first leg defeats. Indeed, it was the first goal scored by a Premier League club in any European competition since 12 December, when Roberto Soldado scored against Anzhi Makhachkala. But Chelsea should have had others. Willian might have capitalised on Muslera's scuffed clearance but saw his lob deflected over the bar by the goalkeeper's leap and header. Ramires, too, should have scored but lifted a shot from Schürrle's pull-back high and wide. Then an Eden Hazard pass sent Torres beyond Chedjou and the substitute Semih Kaya but his low shot was turned aside by Muslera.
That save seemed to increase in significance, given that it would have been hard to envisage Galatasaray coming back from two goals down. A draw, therefore, was frustrating and Mourinho wore that seen-it-all-before expression through his post-match duties. He warned that an awkward second leg awaits next month, yet Chelsea remain the most likely of the English contingent still in this competition to progress into the last eight. Whether they can progress much further while still letting opponents off the hook remains to be seen.

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Telegraph:

Galatasaray 1 Chelsea 1

By  Henry Winter, Football Correspondent, Istanbul

Chelsea recorded a first for a Premier League team in 2014, a goal in Europe, but they left the deafening Turk Telecom Arena with a sense of frustration as well as reverberating eardrums.
Chelsea should really have built on Fernando Torres’s early goal but they suffered a lapse in concentration, a rare mistake by John Terry, and yielded to pressure from a Galatasaray side who responded well to Roberto Mancini’s tactical tweaks.
Jose Mourinho admitted afterwards that he was vexed that his team had failed to kill Galatasaray off. Torres had an excellent chance to make it 2-0 but the well-established fact remains that Mourinho’s team lack a prolific striker, leaving them vulnerable to any defensive errors.
These are infrequent, such has been the excellence of Terry and Gary Cahill, but Terry failed to react to Aurélien Chedjou’s run to meet Wesley Sneijder’s inswinging corner and Galatasaray had their deserved equaliser.
For all Chelsea’s annoyance, they still look well placed to progress to the quarter-finals, certainly far better placed than the Premier League’s other representatives, none of whom managed to score in their first legs.
Chelsea secured an away goal, take Galatasaray to their Bridge fortress, although Mourinho called on Chelsea fans to try to make it as noisy as Galatasaray’s gleaming new home. There was one point during the second half, during an extended spell of Chelsea possession, that the whistling of the Galatasaray fans was so piercing that one observer resorted to earplugs.
Mancini again played down Galatasaray’s chances but this was a success for him. His team were initially playing with fear, far too open defensively, and clearly the former Manchester City manager should take responsibility for that but he reacted astutely, changing personnel and the balance of the team.
He had hoped for a heavyweight performance from Didier Drogba against his old team-mates but the striker was largely subdued, perhaps overwhelmed by emotion but also well-marshalled by Terry and Cahill.
Branislav Ivanovic seemed to have responsibility for Drogba at corners and executed the role with occasional wrestling tricks.
Chelsea fans present spread out a huge banner of Drogba on adjacent seats and joined in the applause when the player who won them the 2012 Champions League was taken off by Mancini. The fear, of course, is that Drogba is saving up all his emotion and energy for an outpouring on his homecoming to the Bridge on March 18 but Terry and Cahill will be ready.
They knew their roles, their parts in Mourinho’s tactical design. In many ways this was a classic Chelsea away performance; they had 44 per cent possession, committed 18 fouls, and managed only 360 passes (to Galatasaray’s 490). They managed only one attempt on target in the second half.
Their occasional gamesmanship tested the patience of referee Carlos Velasco Carballo. Terry’s ball-throwing stunt to stymie a quick Galatasaray attack was particularly cynical and worthy of the ensuing yellow card. But Chelsea still came away with a good result which could have been even better.
For an hour it had all been reasonably comfortable for Chelsea.
After all the love-in for Drogba, and all the inquest into Mourinho’s comments about his present strikers, Torres seemed in the mood to seize the headlines. He was in quick on Galatasaray’s centre-halves, Chedjou and Hakan Balta, often tracking back, even dropping into midfield at one point to cover after Chelsea’s medical staff conducted some running repairs on Ramires’s nose.
Torres has endured much criticism since his £50?million move to the Bridge but he has contributed some important goals and this was his sixth in his last five starts in the Champions League.
The goal after eight minutes came via a classic Chelsea counter, pressing hard, winning the ball, and then striking quickly into raggedly-defended territory. André Schürrle was starting because of his pace and hunger for closing down opponents, fouling occasionally, earning a booking eventually, but his physicality and energy clearly unsettling the Turks.
Schürrle collected the ball on the left and released César Azpilicueta behind Emmanuel Eboué. Azpilicueta, again keeping Ashley Cole on the bench, ran into the box and cut the ball back for Torres, opening up his body, to side-foot home. They must have been tempted to unleash some fireworks over 30 Gloucester Place. The last Premier League player to score in Europe had been Roberto Soldado for Tottenham Hotspur on Dec 12.
It was a fine Chelsea attack, and nerveless finish from Torres, but it was naive defending from Galatasaray, who gave the visitors so much inviting space to run into behind their brittle back four.
Eboué’s positional nous has not improved since moving to Turkey. Galatasaray’s high line was dangerous enough; what made such tactics almost suicidal was Mancini’s decision to play almost four up at times, leaving Felipe Melo and Selcuk Inan overrun in midfield.
This was vintage Mourinho Chelsea; stifle and counter, absorb the punches and hit back hard and fast. Schürrle was everywhere, driving down the left and then the right, putting in a cross that the battered Ramires swept over.
So open at the back, Galatasaray looked better going forward. At times.
Sneijder, shimmying in from the left, combined with Burak Yilmaz but the inexperienced Izet Hajrovic shot over. Mancini had seen enough, withdrawing the largely anonymous Hajrovic for Yekta Kurtulus, a central midfielder replacing a winger, so stiffening midfield. Galatasaray now had better shape and more belief.
Terry cut out an Eboué cross. Petr Cech pushed away an Alex Telles shot. Terry then tried to stop that quick Galatasaray throw-in by lobbing a ball which he had caught rebounding back off the “Respect” hoarding after making a clearance. Galatasaray had been getting on with the game, even putting the ball in the net through Burak Yilmaz. Cech had raised his hands, noting that the referee was stopping the game.
Chelsea could easily have added to their lead. Willian and Schürrle set up Torres, who was thwarted at the last moment by Balta.
Shortly after the restart, Torres ran through, bringing a good save from Fernando Muslera.
Chelsea were running up a series of bookings for Ramires, Schürrle and Cech for time-wasting. They almost conceded a goal when Drogba headed back across from Sneijder’s delivery, and Selcuk Inan somehow hit the post rather than the back of the net.
Galatasaray’s increasing enterprise was rewarded when Chedjou made the most of Terry’s diffidence. It could have been worse for Chelsea but Cech saved from Telles. Chelsea, though, rightly remain favourites to reach the last eight.

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Mail:
Galatasaray 1-1 Chelsea: Slack defending costs Mourinho's men victory as Chedjou cancels out Torres' first-half opener

By Martin Samuel

It is five goals in five Champions League matches for Fernando Torres. It should have been six, though. That’s the problem.
Never satisfied, some people. Give the guy a break. Isn’t his record in Europe alone evidence of his quality? Scored against Bayern Munich earlier in the season, scored in the Europa League final against Benfica last year.
Put Torres on a plane and he comes alive. The player who has often appeared so ineffectual in the Premier League since arriving at Stamford Bridge finds his confidence again at the sniff of a passport.
And, yes, some of that is true. Inescapably, though, Chelsea paid £50million for Torres’s services. And what they had hoped to get for that outlay was a striker who made nights like this a formality, who turned one into two and uncertainty into inevitability. Torres failed to do that in Galatasaray’s Turk Telekom Arena. Given the perfect opportunity to take the match, and the tie, beyond Galatasaray’s reach, he blew it.
Chelsea will now return to Stamford Bridge, if not on a knife-edge, then certainly vulnerable. An away goal could turn the occasion on its head, just as this evening would have shifted calamitously had Petr Cech not made an outstanding late save from a shot by Alex Telles with 15 minutes remaining. That would have given Galatasaray the win, but would they have recovered to even score had Torres put them two behind? We will never know.
What we can say, however, is that after Torres missed in the 52nd minute, the home side threw themselves at the challenge with renewed vigour and the final 35 minutes belonged to them. By the end, Chelsea were the likelier losers. They will be wary next match, even if they might have taken 1-1 before kick-off.
The modern Galatasaray is certainly not hell. More like heck. No trials by fire, more skirmishes and inconveniences. The crowd still make a big noise, and Chelsea had more players booked than is helpful — including John Terry — but heck hath no fury like the old ground, where visitors were as likely to get a beating from the local constabulary as the starting XI, as Manchester United discovered.
Chelsea are the only English team to win a Champions League tie here, so they would have known the value of clinging to the early lead, or adding to it. They had enough chances, at least, particularly in the first half when several strong counter-attacks should have amounted to more. Needing a 1-0 home win to progress, they should still do it, of course. There is expected to be English representation in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but this match now has tension that few expected after Chelsea took the lead on nine minutes.

This team may be built from the back in the tradition of Jose Mourinho’s best, but they are perhaps the most European of the Premier League clubs in the way they break. Not even Liverpool counter as fast as Chelsea.
Galatasaray’s new home is vast and a seat near its top affords the perfect view of Chelsea’s strength on the rebound. Back to front, box to box, they are startlingly fast, in the manner of the best continentals. The absence of Oscar, whose form has dipped of late, made no difference. Eden Hazard and Willian — in particular — are the key to this, with an able supporting cast of Ramires, Andre Schurrle and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Considering he is playing out of position, the importance of Azpilicueta’s excellence to Chelsea’s season cannot be overlooked. Without him, Mourinho would have Ashley Cole on the left and while that is no great hardship, the manager must have seen something in him this season that represents a slight dip in standards.
Azpilicueta, a right back, provided the solution and has arguably been the player of the season in that position. He was crucial to Chelsea’s early goal here — the one that momentarily sucked the noise from the throats of the voluble locals.
Emmanuel Eboue, late of Arsenal, made the mistake that set up the counter-attack, but after that it was down to Azpilicueta’s sheer pace and presence of thought having won the ball, going straight at Galatasaray and continuing his run almost to the byline.
Mystifyingly, this act of invasion drew Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera — Roy Hodgson can only hope he is as flaky against England for Uruguay at the World Cup — meaning that Azpilicueta had simply to square the ball for Torres, who slotted it expertly past two defenders.
As if sensing the worth of this reprieve, Galatasaray regrouped and hit Chelsea with a sustained assault, which grew in intensity, forcing a goal.
In the 54th minute, in winning a challenge with Burak Yilmaz, Gary Cahill almost struck the ball into his own goal, but it was from set-pieces that Galatasaray most threatened — unsurprisingly with Didier Drogba in the attack.

It was Drogba’s presence that forced their second best chance of the game, his header from a short corner finding Selcuk Inan at the far post, yet somehow he contrived to hit woodwork when so much net beckoned.
But a goal was coming and from the next corner, taken by Wesley Sneijder, central defender Aurelien Chedjou found Terry and Cech in strangely docile mood, and headed the ball home. It was just the sort of goal Chelsea so rarely concede.
The first goal scored by an English club in European competition in 2014 — at the sixth attempt, incredibly — could have been accompanied by two more before half-time. Muslera was again the culprit, with a mistimed clearance that flew straight to Willian and left him stranded on the edge of the penalty area. Willian chipped but the Uruguayan improvised, a header deflecting the ball just wide of the far post. An impressively unconventional resolution, even if the chaos was of his making.
Then, in the 27th minute, another break — Schurrle on the right this time, beating his man and finding Ramires, who should have done better with a shot that flew over the bar. In his defence, Ramires had just returned to the field having sustained a blow to the face in an aerial challenge. A large white plaster was stuck horizontally across his nose. Maybe his eyes were still watering.
It was between then, and Galatasaray’s 64th-minute equaliser, that Chelsea let the advantage slip. There were a few culprits but Torres was the main one. In the 52nd minute, he was put through by Eden  Hazard, chasing clear with two Galatasaray men in pursuit. They applied pressure, but, even so, his finish was ordinary and tipped round by Muslera.
Football — bloody heck, as Sir Alex Ferguson did not say.

Galatasaray (4-3-1-2): Muslera 6; Eboue 6.5, Chedjou 7, Balta 7 (Kaya 46min, 6), Telles 7;
Selcuk Inan 6, Melo 6.5, Hajrovic 5 (Kurtulus 31, 6.5); Sneijder 7; Drogba 7 (Bulut 80), Yilmaz 6.
Subs not used: Ceylan, Gulselam, Colak, Sarioglu.
Goal: Chedjou 64

Booked: Inan

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech 6, Azpilicueta 7.5, Cahill 6, Terry 6, Ivanovic 6.5, Hazard (Oscar 90), Lampard 5.5, Ramires 6, Willian 7, Schurrle 7 (Mikel 67, 6), Torres 7 (Eto'o 68, 6).

Subs not used: Schwarzer, Cole, Ba, Kalas.
Goal: Torres 9
Booked: Terry, Schurrle, Ramires, Cech

Man of the Match: Azpilicueta

Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain) 7
Attendance: 51,000
Ratings by SAM CUNNINGHAM

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Times:

Galatasaray 1 Chelsea 1
Chelsea in driving seat despite missed chances to finish tie against Galatasaray

Matt Hughes Deputy Football Correspondent, Istanbul

José Mourinho has been promoting himself — shock, horror — as a defender of English values all season, so it would be fitting if he were left as the Barclays Premier League’s sole flag-waver in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Chelsea manager was left frustrated last night as his side squandered a hard-fought lead after spurning several chances, but will still expect to overcome Galatasaray .
Mourinho would have been happy with this outcome beforehand, as he demonstrated by going on the defensive after Aurélien Chedjou’s 67th-minute equaliser, but should have returned to London with one foot in the last eight. The Portuguese has also been telling anyone willing to listen that his developing side should be regarded as outsiders for the biggest prizes, and on a night when his former club, Real Madrid, scored six away from home against Schalke, his new charges demonstrated precisely why.
This game was Chelsea’s for the taking after Fernando Torres had given them the lead in the ninth minute, but they paid the price for their profligacy and some poor defending that John Terry, in particular, will want to forget. There is a slightly soft underbelly about this Chelsea side that they may get away with domestically, because of the transitional state of the Premier League, but which will be punished in the Champions League with a ruthlessness that they seem incapable of mustering at present.
Mourinho’s first Chelsea team a decade ago would have finished off the job, particularly with Didier Drogba in prime form, although that comment should not be seen as a slight on Torres, who looked surprisingly sharp on his first start since January 11.
The Spain forward seemed determined to prove a point after Mourinho’s complaints about his strikers and shaded his personal duel with the former team-mate who so overshadowed him at Chelsea, although the turning point of the game came with the chance he missed at the start of the second half that would have put the visiting side two goals ahead, when he shot tamely at Fernando Muslera, the goalkeeper.
In the first half, Chelsea looked capable of scoring every time they attacked as Willian, Andrea Schürrle and Eden Hazard stretched the Galatasaray defence. Roberto Mancini admitted that his players were overwhelmed by fear in the opening period, but the Italian was also culpable, setting out with a high defensive line that Chelsea cannot have witnessed since André Villas-Boas was their manager. As a result, Galatasaray often resembled sitting ducks in the face of Chelsea’s inevitable counter-attacks and were repeatedly exposed.
Chelsea’s opening goal was a case in point, and its genesis will not have surprised any watching Arsenal fans, as it resulted from Emmanuel Eboué giving the ball away after recklessly venturing too far forward. The Ivory Coast defender was caught in possession by César Azpilicueta and Schürrle took full advantage, showing the presence of mind to give the ball back to his team-mate down the left rather than carrying the ball forward himself. The Spain full back also kept his head, as he has done since supplanting Ashley Cole , by advancing into the penalty area before calmly picking out Torres, who timed his run to perfection to shoot into an unguarded net.
Torres’s goal was the first by an English club in Europe since Roberto Soldado scored for Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League on December 12, but for all his travails in the Premier League he remains potent at this level, and has scored six goals in his past five Champions League appearances.
Chelsea could have taken the lead even earlier, the industrious Willian chipping the ball over the bar in the fifth minute , and created enough chances to have put the game to bed before half-time. Ramires shot over the bar after Schürrle had played him in from the right and Azpilicueta found himself in a dangerous position on the edge of the penalty area after being released by Hazard. Galatasaray created plenty of chances themselves, however, with Selcuk Inan striking the far post at close range from Drogba’s header , and they equalised two minutes later. Chedjou was left unmarked to volley in Wesley Sneijder’s corner. Gary Cahill had his hands full with Drogba, but Terry should have followed the run of the Cameroon international.
Mourinho reacted immediately by replacing Schürrle with John Obi Mikel in a clear statement of defensive intent, which paid off as Chelsea saw out the final 20 minutes . While Mourinho’s claims to support fair play and the sanctity of officialdom should be taken with a pinch of salt, he can be relied upon to take his remaining responsibilities in the Champions League with extreme seriousness.

Galatasaray (4-4-2): F Muslera — E Eboué, A Chedjou, H Balta (sub: S  Kaya, 46min), A Telles — I Hajrovic (sub: Y Kurtulus, 31), Felipe Melo, Selcuk Inan, W Sneijder — Burak, D Drogba (sub: U Bulut, 80). Substitutes not used: U Ceylan, C Gulselam, Emre, S Sarioglu. Booked: Inan.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): P Cech — B Ivanovic, G Cahill, J Terry, C Azpilicueta — Ramires, F Lampard — E Hazard (sub: Oscar, 90), Willian, A Schürrle (sub: J Obi Mikel, 66) — F Torres (sub: S Eto’o, 68). Substitutes not used: M Schwarzer, A Cole, D Ba, T Kalas. Booked: Terry, Schürrle, Ramires, Cech.
Referee: C Velasco Carballo (Spain).

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Mirror:

Galatasaray 1-1 Chelsea: Fernando Torres scores away goal but Turkish giants claw back Blues
 
By Martin Lipton

Jose Mourinho's side took an early lead in Istanbul, but their Champions League last-16 tie remains in the balance
He warned everyone, even if it upset the men he diminished.
But Jose Mourinho knows the biggest threat to Chelsea’s ambitions is contained within their own ranks.
The Portuguese does, indeed, have a team but not a striker, lacks the sort of man who makes the difference. And in the final analysis, it is that shortcoming, that absence of quality, that could deny Chelsea the silverware they crave.
As he was caught admitting by that eavesdropping French camera crew in Switzerland last week, Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba are not good enough.
Any remaining doubt, surely, was ended amid the fervent ferment of the Turk Telekom Arena, as Chelsea conspired to breathe life into a tie that should have been over already.
A goal up inside nine minutes, as Torres converted a simple chance, impossible for any striker to miss, Chelsea were shredding Roberto Mancini’s men on the counter.
But chances went begging, time and again, Torres, on his first start in seven weeks, missing the best of them. Breaks with four and five against short-handed defences were not converted, as the final pass was missing – perhaps because the Spaniard was not making the right runs.
Those are the runs top strikers, the likes of Edinson Cavani, Radomel Falcao, Robert Lewandowski, Diego Costa, Sergio Aguero or Wayne Rooney make as a matter of course. Chelsea, as Mourinho inadvertently revealed in Nyon, do not have that quality, or anything like it.
They are like a bird with an injured wing, have been all season, in those defeats at Everton, Newcastle and Stoke, the draw at West Brom, even the win at Norwich. And after Didier Drogba finally broke free from the shackles locked on him by John Terry to awaken the storm winds of the Bosphorus, Chelsea were made to pay by defender Aurelien Chedjou.
Leaving the Cameroonian a virtually open goal six yards out from a Wesley Sneijder corner was an act of almost criminal negligence by Mourinho’s men.
Then again, as Mourinho did his best not to mention Roberto Mancini’s name, he rued his team’s failure to capitalise on their classic counter-attacking dominance. Mancini said his side had played with "too much fear" in the opening phase but that, surely, was a consequence of Chelsea’s start.
Willian, otherwise excellent both off the ball and on it, should have scored inside four minutes when a hurried clearance by Uruguayan World Cup keeper Fernando Muslera landed at his feet 35 yards out, the Brazilian failing to loft the ball over the stranded gloveman.
Five minutes later, though, that seemed unlikely to matter, the goal developing with a remorseless inevitability from the instant Cesar Azpilicueta robbed former Arsenal man Emmanuel Eboue on half-way.
Galatasaray, with no answer to Chelsea’s poise, were chasing shadows as Azplicueta slipped to Eden Hazard, kept running to meet the recalled Andre Schuerrle’s ball into the hole Eboue had vacated, and pulled back for Torres to slide home.
Evidence, too, of why Ashley Cole has become the forgotten man of SW6, his future clouded in doubt. Azpilicueta has been exceptional.
With Drogba dropping deep to try and influence proceedings, Sneijder peripheral, the home fans loud but fearful, Chelsea should have taken advantage. Ramires shot over but too often there was a failure to convert brilliant positions into a decisive attempt on goal. Torres, played in by Hazard at the start of the second half, should have finished it but having shaken off his marker, allowed Muslera to turn behind.
Galatasaray, still unhappy that a Bukan Yilmaz "equaliser" - with the second ball on the pitch after some Terry cynicism – had been rightly chalked off, began to believe. Skipper Selcuk Inan, three paces out, nudged against the outside of Petr Cech’s right-hand upright from Drogba’s nod down.
The warning was unheeded, the Blues absent without leave from the next corner, delivered into the danger area by Sneijder, with Chedjou barely believing the space he had to volley home.
Cech’s fine late save from left-back Alex Telles ensured Chelsea remain the favourites to go through. But compared to the goal threats that Barcelona, Bayern and Real Madrid have at their disposal, Chelsea are well short. And that may prove telling.

======================

Express:

Galatasaray 1 - Chelsea 1: Fernando Torres flies the Blues' flag

CHELSEA kept the Champions League flag flying for English football as they snatched a precious draw in the hotbed of Istanbul – but they knew it should have been more.
By: Tony Banks

After three first-leg defeats for England’s other clubs in the round of the last 16, Chelsea at least ground out a result and are strong favourites to make it into the quarter-finals – probably on their own as far as the Premier League is concerned.
But after Fernando Torres, one of the strikers manager Jose Mourinho was bemoaning this week, gave them an early lead with his sixth goal in five Champions League starts, Chelsea wasted a hatful of good opportunities to bury this tie.
They were punished when Aurelien Chedjou capitalised on sloppy marking at a corner to equalise after 64 minutes. But Mourinho will surely feel this should be enough to take into the second leg.
The rest of the round as far as English football has been concerned had been pure carnage. Three games played by three of the Premier League’s finest, three defeats, no goals scored, six conceded.
So virtually anything bar a disaster that Chelsea could manage in the Turk Telecom Arena last night was bound to be an improvement.
And with Galatasaray going into the tie with manager Roberto Mancini saying that Chelsea had an 80 per cent chance of progressing, home hopes hardly seemed high on the Bosphorus.
Mourinho is bidding to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs. Old rival Mancini has never made it past the quarter finals.
It was far from the old, infamous Ali Sami Yen stadium, the renowned “Welcome to Hell” arena. The Telecom Arena is a modern, gleaming edifice on the outskirts of Istanbul – but there was still plenty of noise, plenty of the usual fanaticism.
And there was 35-year-old Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s hero of that epic night when they won the trophy in 2012 and now up against them in the orange and red of Turkey’s champions – and with 10 goals in 27 games this season.
In contrast, into Mourinho’s team for his first start since January 11 came Torres, one of the goal-shy strikers he embarrassingly and inadvertently bemoaned in public this week. Eight goals to his name.
The Turks almost gifted Chelsea a goal in the third minute, as goalkeeper Fernando Muslera’s kick dropped straight to Willian, but his effort towards an empty net was deflected just wide.
But six minutes later they were ahead as Cesar Azpilicueta galloped onto Andre Schurrle’s pass and squared for Torres to stab home.
English’s football’s first goal of the round – in fact the first in Europe for seven hours 58 minutes.
The Drogba-John Terry battle between the two old friends was a no-quarter-given, bare-knuckle contest. But there was no question who was winning.
Chelsea should have added to their score when Schurrle broke down the right and crossed, but Ramires lifted his shot over the bar.
Galatasaray replied as Izet Hajrovic shot, but Petr Cech saved comfortably. But the Chelsea keeper then had to move smartly to tip Alex Telles’ low cross round the post.
Burak Yilmaz then had the ball in the net, but the Galatasaray players and crowd were furious as referee Carlos Velasco disallowed it having stopped play to book John Terry for throwing the ball away at a throw-in.
Chelsea’s sheer pace on the counter attack was catching the Turks out, but all too often the final ball was the wrong one, and while it was only 1-0 there was always an edge to the game.
Another chance on the break went begging as Uruguayan keeper Muslera tipped Torres’ shot round the post.
Felipe Melo headed over as Galatasaray tried to impose some control, although Chelsea, driven on by Terry, looked in command. But then Drogba for once won the battle in the air and nodded down, and somehow Melo manged to hit a post from point-blank range.
Then from a corner carelessly given away, Wesley Sneijder curled the ball into the area and centre-back Chedjou was totally unmarked as he scored.
Now the nerves showed, as Willian lost the ball on the edge of his own area and Telles forced Cech to superbly tip his shot over the bar.
Mourinho threw John Obi Mikel on to shore things up, but it was a tight and tense last 20 minutes, when it should all have been calmness and serenity.

GALATASARAY: (4-4-1-1): Muslera; Eboue, Chedjou, Balta (Kaya 46), Telles; Hajrovic (Kurtulus 31), Melo, Inan, Sneijder; Yilmaz, Drogba (Bulut 80).
Booked: Inan. Goal: Chedjou 64.
CHELSEA: (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Lampard; Schurrle (Mikel 67), Willian, Hazard (Oscar 90); Torres (Eto’o 68).
Booked: Terry, Schurrle, Cech, Ramires. Goal: Torres 9.
Referee: C Velasco (Spain).

=============

Star:

Galatasaray 1 - Chelsea 1: Fernando Torres puts the Blues in pole position
FERNANDO TORRES edged Chelsea closer to the Champions League quarterfinals last night.

By Scott Coleman

The Spaniard struck after just nine minutes, steering home a right-foot shot from a fine cut-back by Cesar Azpilicueta.
And despite a 64th-minute equaliser from Aurelien Chedjou, after some slack defending, Jose Mourinho’s men will fancy their chances of reaching the last eight in the second leg.
Before last night, English clubs had suffered carnage in the round of 16.
Three games played by three of the Premier League star teams, three defeats, no goals scored, six conceded.
So Chelsea were trying to end the embarrassment in the Turk Telecom Arena in Istanbul.
“Five minutes later Mourinho’s side were ahead anyway, as Azpilicueta galloped on to Andre Schurrle’s pass and squared for Torres to score”
And with Galatasaray going into this tie with manager Robert Mancini insisting that the Blues had an 80 per cent chance of progressing, home hopes hardly seemed high on the Bosphorus.
Mourinho has his heart set on making it to the semis for the eighth time in 10 seasons, and to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs.
Galatasaray chief Mancini, an old rival, had never made it past the quarter-finals.
But also lurking in wait was Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s hero of that epic night when they won the trophy in 2012, but now up against them for the first time.
Despite his veteran status at the age of 35, he still went into this match with 10 goals in 27 starts this season.
In stark contrast, Mourinho opted to give goal-shy Torres his first start since January 11 after netting just eight times in all competitions.
The Turks almost gifted Chelsea a goal in only the third minute, as goalkeeper Fernando Muslera’s raced from his area but his kick dropped straight to Willian.
But the Muslera redeemed himself with a superb leap to deflect the Brazilian’s chip towards the gaping net with his head.
Five minutes later Mourinho’s side were ahead anyway, as Azpilicueta galloped on to Andre Schurrle’s pass and squared for Torres to score. It was English’s football’s first goal of the round – in fact, their first in Europe for seven hours 58 minutes.
There were no holds barred in the Drogba versus John Terry battle at the centre of the Chelsea defence. And it was the centre-back who was clearly coming out on top.
Chelsea should have added to their score when Schurrle broke down the right and crossed, but Ramires then lifted his shot over.
Galatasaray replied as Izet Hajrovic shot, but Petr Cech saved comfortably.
But the Czech international then had to react smartly to tip a low effort from Alex Telles round the post.
Burak Yilmaz thought he had fired in an equaliser from a narrow angle after a quick throw.
But the goal was disallowed because Terry was still holding the original ball, which he threw down as he tried to get back to defend. The decision was made even more strange when the Chelsea star was booked. he home fans.
The Turks pressed in the second half and Selcuk Inan somehow hit the post from point-blank range after Drogba had knocked it down.
But they did level in the 64th minute.
A Wesley Sneijder corner was swung in from the left and it dropped over Terry, leaving Chedjou with a simple side-footed volley from six yards.
And Galatasaray almost won it when Willian was robbed 25 yards out and Cech had to stretch to turn over a piledriver from Telles.

=====================

Everton 1-0

Independent:

Chelsea 1 Everton 0 John Terry’s injury-time stretch keeps Chelsea on course for ‘destiny’
 
Miguel Delaney 

There may be many questions about the manner of Chelsea’s winning goal, not to mention its actual scorer, but there can be absolutely no doubting its importance.
 
Destiny wanted it,” Jose Mourinho said, and these type of 93rd-minute winners certainly tend to inspire feelings of fate – if not just outright win titles.
That may be premature to say right now and could well be proven wrong in a season as tight as this, but the present reality is it keeps Chelsea top of the table. They remain on course.
Typically, as has been his wont lately, Mourinho was only willing to speak about it in those kinds of terms thereafter. He deflected any questions about defining moments or whether this is the sign of champions, instead merely pointing to the facts.
“It’s simple,” the Portuguese said. “If today we have only one point, if the teams that are behind us they win, we lose that position. The difference is very small.”
As such, this was a big goal for the League leaders – especially because it was so belated.
“Every victory keeps us there, every defeat or draw we lose a position,” Mourinho stated. “The feeling when you lose points in the last minute, like we lose two points at West Bromwich, is obviously a bad feeling. You have three points in your hand and lose two. When you win in the last minute, it’s the opposite so it’s basically compensation for the two points we lost against West Bromwich.”
Mention of a fixture against the midlands side is pointed but, when the final goal went in, it wasn’t the  11 February 1-1 draw at the Hawthorns that felt the most relevant. Instead, these final minutes had more common with November’s  2-2 draw.
On that occasion, an all-too-easy Ramires fall forced the incident that secured Chelsea a positive result. Here, it was much the same.
Deep into stoppage time, and deep into Everton’s half, the Brazilian midfielder went down under what seemed to be a fair challenge from Phil Jagielka. That allowed Frank Lampard the opportunity to curl the ball towards goal from the resulting free-kick, and John Terry to throw his body towards it.
It was unclear whether the Chelsea captain or Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard got the final touch, but it finally put clear daylight between the teams.
The Everton manager Roberto Martinez was admirably graceful about it afterwards, describing it as simply the kind of thing that happens “everywhere in football”, but he did state it was “soft”. This, by contrast, was a hard-fought game.
In truth, Ramires had a significant input long before his late surge. Mourinho even described his introduction as the match’s turning point.
It’s difficult to dispute. For virtually all of the first half, and with the Brazilian on the bench, Everton were the dominant team.
The most striking aspect of that, however, was that it was not just in terms of possession but also power. Martinez’s team were simply outmuscling Chelsea.
Around the 20th minute, James McCarthy went through Terry and came out with the ball. In various other incidents around that, other than one nutmeg, the Irish midfielder cowed an unusually quiet Eden Hazard.
“I think it’s a very unfair result for us not to get anything after that performance that we’ve had. From a tactical and technical point of view, we were the better team,” Martinez fairly stated. In terms of the lack of a prime striker, though, they were identical. It was the one area in which both sides lacked force, and the fact Mourinho ended up playing two forwards – in Samuel Eto’o and Fernando Torres – only served to highlight that issue further.
The obvious reference is the injured and ineligible on-loan Romelu Lukaku but, for the Chelsea manager, it meant an obvious change.
“Normally my change would be a different one, but I felt I needed to control the game because my team is not a team that scores a lot of goals so, if they score before us, we are not a team in normal conditions able to score two goals and win the game, so I prefer to put Ramires on. That gave much more consistency to our midfield.
“They were in control for parts of the second half but, for the last 20 minutes – 15 minutes plus the five extra-time, we were strong, we create, we press, we dominate.
“Of course, when you win minute 90-something you can speak about lucky, but the reality is the boys chase that, they chase a lot.”
It means everyone else is still chasing Chelsea.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Lampard; Hazard, Oscar (Ramires 45), Willian (Torres 62); Eto;o (Schurrle 69).

Everton (4-2-3-1): Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; McCarthy, Barry; Mirallas (Deulofeu 75), Osman IBarkley 63), Pienaar (McGeady 80); Naismith.

Referee: Lee Probert.

Man of the match: Terry (Chelsea)
Match rating: 7/10

=======================

Observer:
Chelsea's John Terry breaks Everton at the death to boost leaders
Paul Wilson at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea have drawn at West Bromwich Albion and gone out of the FA Cup since taking over the leadership of the Premier League so impressively at Manchester City, and José Mourinho insisted a win here would be vital to keep the pressure on their title rivals. They achieved it without managing to be convincing, only going ahead in the 93rd minute when John Terry claimed a goal after turning in Frank Lampard's disputed free-kick.
That was hard on Everton, whose tidy and composed performance had kept Chelsea at bay quite comfortably for the first 90 minutes. If it turns out that the last touch for the goal is credited to Tim Howard rather than Terry it will be even harder. The winner was a long time coming, though one way or the other it was no surprise to see it scored by a defender.

This was a game in need of a striker. The one Everton borrowed from Chelsea was ineligible and Lacina Traoré, the loan signing they brought in as cover for Romelu Lukaku, injured himself in the warm-up. The home side could have done with either of them. Mourinho went with Samuel Eto'o, with Fernando Torres and Demba Ba left on the bench, though as has happened on a few occasions this season Chelsea lacked a cutting edge.
"We have our limitations, that's obvious," Mourinho admitted. "It was never going to be one of those days where we score three or four goals. I feel a bit sorry for Everton, because a point would have been fair for a good performance. They played well, they controlled parts of the game and they were very comfortable on the ball. They don't create many chances but their quality in possession is equal to anyone else in the Premier League. We were strong at the end, though. In those added five minutes, only one team was dominant."

That was true, though Roberto Martínez rather naughtily suggested there is a reason why Mourinho's Chelsea stay unbeaten for so long at home. "Ramires was not fouled for the free-kick that led to the goal, it was a soft free-kick but Chelsea know every trick in the book when it comes to winning set pieces and profiting from them," the Everton manager said.
"I'm not complaining really, they are very good at what they do, but I couldn't see them scoring a goal from open play. We were magnificent in the first half, it was a great performance generally, but the scoreline at the end is what matters. We need to make sure that when we play well we end up with the points we deserve," he added.
Eto'o did bring a save from Howard in a closely contested yet uneventful first half, though the shot was straight at the goalkeeper and the Cameroonian should probably have done better. Petr Cech had to work harder to keep out a snap shot from Leon Osman that would have crept under his bar without a touch yet the clearest chance of the half came right at the end and fell to another midfielder, Kevin Mirallas, who miscued and sent the ball horribly wide.

Apart from that small amount of excitement the most notable feature of the game had been a highly unusual clearance from Phil Jagielka, an airborne back heel or scorpion kick that appeared improvised rather than rehearsed, before Osman tested Cech again on the hour with a low drive from the edge of the area. The goalkeeper kept out despite it picking up an unhelpful deflection along the way from James McCarthy. Howard bettered that within seconds with an extraordinary double save, first a one-handed stop to deny Eden Hazard when he looked to be diving the wrong way, then an acrobatic block to prevent Branislav Ivanovic hammering home the rebound from close range.
Mourinho made attacking subsitutions, though none that seemed likely to work, and in fairness when Everton sent Ross Barkley on for the last half hour he too had an afternoon he would prefer to forget.

André Schürrle volleyed too high with what appeared might be Chelsea's last chance of the game, and Torres' only attempt at goal ended up hitting Hazard on the backside rather than the target.
It was that sort of day for the league leaders until the fourth official indicated five minutes of stoppage time and Everton's resolve appeared to drain away.
The visitors were worth a point, though never seriously attempted to gain more than that, and ultimately paid the price.
Jagielka complained bitterly about the free kick that Ramires won, and Chelsea packed the box so effectively it was impossible to tell whether Ivanovich got his head to the ball before Terry reached it or whether it was Howard who diverted it over the line, but the three points were a relief to Mourinho.
"We needed to stay top," the Chelsea manager said. "If we had drawn we might have been back to third in a few more hours."

==================

Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Everton 0
Jim White

Never mind Jose Mourinho’s young horses, it was a pair of old nags that won Chelsea the game at the death and kept them at the top of the Premier League table. With three minutes of stoppage time already elapsed and the score at 0-0, Frank Lampard swung in a free kick from the edge of the Everton area which appeared to be floating beyond the visitors’ obdurate back line. But John Terry is not one to surrender lost causes and he hared after the ball, galloping from an onside position to stab it home past Tim Howard. Cue delirium among a Stamford Bridge crowd that had largely given up hope of securing three points.
“We can talk about lucky, but the boys chased that,” said a clearly relieved Jose Mourinho. “I feel sorry for them [Everton], but we were the team which was trying to win.”
It was a lesson in staying the course. For 90 minutes it had looked as if Roberto Martínez’s shrewd tactics had negated the strengths which have been Chelsea’s hallmark under Mourinho. Across the course of normal time, Everton had matched everything the home side could deliver. Their vaunted midfield three, the wellspring of so much initiative this season, were kept in check by the muscular presence of Gareth Barry and James McCarthy. Up front Samuel Eto’o and then Fernando Torres demonstrated quite how urgent is the need for Mourinho to find a more potent attacking force. But the good news for the manager is that behind them, the old boys kept on pressing, kept on believing, kept on trying. And eventually they got their reward when the captain arrived in the right place at the right time.
“I don’t want to say it’s just John, it’s the team,” said Mourinho. “It’s John and [César] Azpilicueta, [Gary] Cahill, Frank, all of them.”
For Martínez, the disappointment was tempered by the manner in which his side played.
“That’s where we are,” he said. “But I’m excited about what’s ahead of us. In the short term, the scoreline is what matters, but looking ahead the performance is exactly what we needed.”
His measured response was at odds with that of his captain Phil Jagielka. The England man, who had capped a superb game by clearing the ball with a René Higuita-style scorpion kick during the first half, heatedly complained to the referee Lee Probert about the award of the free kick which led to the goal. He was insistent that the substitute Ramires had been artful in its pursuit. And slow-motion replays suggested the Brazilian had gone down with an ease which was eerily reminiscent of his tumble in the last second to win a face-saving penalty against West Bromwich Albion at the Bridge in November.
“It is very soft,” said Martínez of the award. “But that happens in the game. It is a free kick for a home team with an incredible know-how of how to get these decisions. You look at the record Chelsea has at home, it is more than just playing well every week.”
The match had begun with disappointment. The home crowd were precluded from the sight of the tallest player in Premier League history stepping out on the Bridge pitch as Everton’s 6ft 7in Lacina Traoré pulled his hamstring in the warm-up. His replacement Steven Naismith provided a more mobile if less immediately identifiable target.
The absence of the giant forward did not seem to diminish Everton ambitions. With everything creative as always coming down their left hand side, the visitors spent much of the first half in the ascendancy. Leighton Baines and Steven Pienaar exchanged quick, incisive passing before the England man produced a swirling cross which Terry headed away just as Seamus Coleman arrived unnoticed ready to pounce. Then Leon Osman made Petr Cech stretch with a searing shot from the edge of the area.
At half time Jose Mourinho brought on Ramires for Oscar, determined to counter Everton’s midfield power. And his players, who he sent out onto the pitch well before their opponents, had clearly listened to his orders to attack with more conviction. A couple of corners in quick succession were scrambled away before Cahill was brought down on the edge of the area by Barry. As the crowd chanted Lampard’s name in anticipation of a trademark shot, Willian stepped in and put the ball well over Howard’s bar.
But Chelsea were, slowly, inevitably, gaining more of the territory. Lampard and the strong running Nemanja Matic began to attack the heart of the Everton defence. And Howard kept his side in the game with an athletic double save from Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic.
Then Mourinho brought Torres on for Willian. The crowd appeared to think this might be the breakthrough tactical switch, chanting the substitute’s name with an enthusiasm at variance with his performance this season. Indeed, the Spaniard’s principal contribution to memory was playing the fall guy, being haplessly dummied by a delicious Baines dragback. Certainly he would rather forget a couple of shots which both went so far wide they were practically in Earl’s Court.
His team-mates were not to be easily diverted, however. Throughout the last ten minutes, Chelsea pounded away for a winner. André Schürrle, on as substitute for Eto’o, put the ball over the bar; a Lampard free kick was scrambled clear; Ramires drilled a promising shot just wide. And then, just as Everton’s backline, bravely led by Jagielka, looked as if it might hold out, the old boys took control.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Cech 7; Ivanovic 6, Cahill 7, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 8; Matic 7, Lampard 7; Willian 6 (Torres 62), Oscar 5 (Ramires 46), Hazard 6; Eto’o 5 (Schürrle 69)
Subs Schwarzer, Cole, Salah, Ba.
Booked Oscar.

Everton (4-2-3-1) Howard 7; Coleman 6, Distin 7, Jagielka 8, Baines 7; Barry 7, McCarthy 7; Mirallas 5 (Deulofeu 75), Osman 6 (Barkley 63), Pienaar 6 (McGeady 80); Naismith 5
Subs Robles, Hibbert, Garbutt, Stones.
Booked Barry, Baines.

Referee Lee Probert (Gloucs)

=============

Times:

Chelsea 1 Everton 0
Chelsea’s happy ending could be the start of something special
   
Rory Smith 

It took 93 minutes, and even then it owed as much to accident as to design. For all the world this looked like the day when Jose Mourinho’s doom-mongering proved prescient, when Chelsea dropped two more points in the race for the Barclays Premier League title that nobody wants to win.
Then Tim Howard deflected Frank Lampard’s free kick into his own goal, and everything changed.
Chelsea – temporarily, anyway – extended their lead at the top of the table to four points. However Arsenal and Manchester City do this weekend, though, Mourinho’s side have done something more: they have turned the screw a little. They offered their rivals a glimmer of hope, then they snatched it away.
Quite how they did it left Everton, battling and brave, shaking their heads in bewildered disbelief. Lampard drove in a free-kick. John Terry raced on to it, but could not quite extend his leg enough. No matter; he had done enough to distract the diving Howard. The ball nicked off the American and into the net.
It was harsh on Roberto Martinez’s team, their bid for a Champions League place faltering, who had spent long periods as the better side and then, when their legs tired, defended so valiantly in the second half.
But it felt like a significant blow struck by their hosts. That knack of never giving up, of never accepting anything but victory, that has always characterised Mourinho’s teams? They have that. The rest of the league has been warned.
The hosts started with more purpose – a succession of corners, a snapshot from Willian, Eden Hazard as elusive as ever – but the better chances fell to Martinez’s side.
Leon Osman, teed up by Steven Naismith, drew a fine save from Petr Cech with a volley from the edge of the area, Gary Cahill threw himself in the way of Kevin Mirallas’s shot, Phil Jagielka headed wide. Chelsea, by contrast, required more than half an hour to draw Tim Howard into meaningful action, the American turning away an effort from Samuel Eto’o.
The overall impression, though, was of two teams entirely lacking in teeth. Everton had some excuse, in their defence: not only could Romelu Lukaku not feature against his parent club, but Martinez lost his replacement, the Ivorian Lacina Traore, to a hamstring injury in the warm-up. Naismith, scorer of the winning goal when these two teams met at Goodison Park, replaced him.
The Scot had scored four in his last five games – a record not to be sniffed at – but it is fair to say that Cahill and John Terry, restored to Mourinho’s side, would probably have preferred to find themselves confronted with his energy and industry, rather than deal with the raw physicality presented by Lukaku or Traore.
Chelsea, though, had a similar issue. Eto’o shows flashes, glimpses, of what he once was, but all too often they are followed immediately by a reminder of the remorseless march of time. With their attack blunted, the hosts looked to the midfield to provide a breakthrough.
First, Lampard was denied, superbly, first by Howard and then by Sylvain Distin, after Hazard had slipped him through. Then – after Cech had turned Osman’s shot, deflected off Mirallas’s heels, wide – came the best chance of them all, Howard flipping away Hazard’s effort. Eto’o headed the rebound to Ivanovic, beyond Distin, but Howard flew at the Serb, blocking his shot with his chest.
Mourinho, the greater burden on him to seek victory, sought a solution. On came Fernando Torres, then Andre Schurrle, for the subdued Willian and the ineffective Eto’o. As Everton tired, they retreated, ceding more and more territory, more and more possession.
The siege began, seven, eight Chelsea players camped out in the visitors’ half. The hosts peppered their penalty area with set-pieces. Ramires fizzed an effort wide. And then, three minutes into injury time, Lampard sent in his free-kick, the final throw of the dice, and Terry loomed over Howard, and Stamford Bridge rejoiced.
They had won it at the end, but this could just be the beginning.

=================



Mail:

Chelsea 1-0 Everton: Terry bundles home stoppage-time winner as Blues open up daylight at the top of the table

By Mark Ryan

Jose Mourinho admitted just how much Chelsea have missed John Terry — the man he calls his ‘voice’ on the field.
Terry was more than a voice, however, he was the defensive willpower, the driving force and, just before it was too late, the face-saving goalscorer, too.
Without a ‘brave’ winner from his returning captain deep into added time, Mourinho would have been left with some tough questions about his team’s inability to puncture Everton’s spirited resistance.
As it was, he still faced accusations — from his opposite number Roberto Martinez, who effectively claimed Mourinho’s players were masters in the dark art of pulling the wool over a referee’s eyes.
Martinez said that Chelsea had used ‘every trick in the book to get advantageous situations’, that ‘it wasn’t a free-kick at all’ for the last-gasp goal, because Ramires had ‘looked for contact’ with defender Phil Jagielka.
The Everton manager added that Chelsea’s 74-match unbeaten home run ‘must be down to more than football’ and that referees such as Lee Probert faced ‘an impossible job’.
It was scathing stuff, all delivered with a knowing smile. Yet for all that, Martinez still knew that Kevin Mirallas had squandered a glorious first-half chance and Leon Osman had twice gone close.
He also acknowledged that Tim Howard had needed to be at his best to make a double second-half save from Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic.
And luck had not been on Everton’s side, because striker Lacina Traore had pulled a hamstring during the warm-up. Given that understated tension, it was not Mourinho but Martinez who saluted Terry’s courage in the one moment that really mattered.
‘He throws himself [at the ball], he is brave and he gets the luck of the bounce,’ said Martinez of the free-kick.
The touch was so faint that BT Sport were reluctant to award the goal to anyone. Had Lampard’s  free-kick found its way through a crowded penalty area and over the line all on its own? Had Howard somehow turned the ball into his own net under all that pressure?
Terry cleared up the mystery. ‘Great ball from Lamps, I just managed to get a touch on it and I think it came off Tim Howard in the end as well,’ he said.
Ironic that after what amounted to a tactical chess match, it took an old-fashioned combination of Lampard and Terry to beat Everton. Chelsea showed how to win ugly.
And although he was never going to give all the credit to Terry, Mourinho at least acknowledged his captain’s influence.
‘In periods one team were dominant and the other had to play very well defensively. When you see a performance like the one from Cesar Azpilicueta, the only thing he didn’t do was put the ball under his arm like a rugby player and run into a wall.
‘It wasn’t John, it was the team. But with John, the team are more confident. When you have your captain, your voice, the stability, the complete understanding he has with Gary Cahill — we missed him. He didn’t play three matches and we clearly missed him.’
Yet Mourinho was willing to pat himself on the back, too.
 ‘At half-time with the score 0-0, normally my change would be a different one but I felt I had to control the game. My team are not one to score a lot of goals so if Everton had scored before us, maybe we weren’t in a position to score two. So I sent on Ramires and he gave much more consistency to our midfield.
‘I could not go with instinct and put on an attacking player. I had to be pragmatic and go with balance. We have some limitations, but the team wanted to win. Of course, when you score after more than 90 minutes, you can say luck is on the side of your team. The reality is that we chased a lot. I feel sorry for them because maybe a point for them was fair. But we tried to win, so in general maybe we deserved it.’
Chelsea had switched from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3. Oscar came off and Mourinho claimed later that he had started the match injured and had thought he could cope with the pain — but discovered it was not the case. So where was the injury?
‘That’s what the opponents want to know,’ smiled Mourinho.
Terry added: ‘We’re top of the League and sitting well. It’s down to the others to catch us.’
After all his efforts to take the pressure off Chelsea, Mourinho will wince when he hears that. Given his colossal display, however, Terry might just be forgiven this once.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Cech 7: Ivanovic 7, Terry 8, Cahill 8, Azpilicueta 7: Matic 7, Lampard 7: Willian 5 (Torres 62, 4.5), Hazard 5.5, Oscar 5 (Ramires 46, 6): Eto’o 6 (Schurrle 69, 6). Subs not used: Schwarzer, Cole, Salah, Ba.
Booked: Oscar.
Goal: Howard (OG 90+3mins)

EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Howard 7: Coleman 7, Jagielka 7, Distin 8.5, Baines 7.5: Barry 7, McCarthy 7: Osman 7.5 (Barkley 60, 5.5), Naismith 7, Pienaar 6.5 (McGeady 80, 5): Mirallas 7.5 (Deulofeu 75, 6). Subs not used: Robles, Hibbert, McGeady, Deulofeu, Garbutt, Stones.
Booked: Barry, Jagielka.

Attendance: 41,850

Referee: Lee Probert

Man of the Match: Sylvain Distin

Player ratings by DOMINIC KING at Stamford Bridge

=============

Mirror:

Chelsea 1-0 Everton: John Terry claims injury-time winner as Mourinho's men edge sleepy encounter

Chances were few and far between in west London, but the home side dug deep to keep up the pressure at the top of the Premier League
Roberto Martinez was implying the use of dark arts when he spoke of Chelsea’s ‘incredible know-how’, after this gut-wrenching defeat.
The Everton boss was referring to the home side’s know-how in winning free-kicks around the opposition area.
But the west Londoners have know-how in abundance.
They have a manager who knows how to win titles better than most. And they have Frank Lampard and John Terry, who know how to win titles for Jose Mourinho.
It was no coincidence that, with 93 minutes on the clock, and with Chelsea crying out for an unlikely winner to keep them on top of the table, that Lampard should whip in a killer ­free-kick and Terry should settle this tense affair with the slightest of touches.
The captain’s contact was almost inconsequential.
Indeed, the winner was credited to Lampard and as an own goal by Everton keeper Tim Howard before it was finally awarded to Terry some time after the final whistle.
Yet, Terry’s influence over the course of this campaign has been anything but inconsequential.
Used as a squad player by Rafa Benitez last season, with serious doubts over his fitness and his supposedly waning powers, Terry has been utterly immense for Mourinho all season.
Terry led Chelsea to ­back-to-back titles under the Special One in 2005 and 2006.
He knows Mourinho’s methods, his insistence on defensive organisation, on bravery and on workrate above all else. In fact, he epitomises these qualities.
Terry missed Chelsea’s previous three matches and they failed to win two of them.
“We missed him in those three games,” admitted Mourinho, whose silence on external matters – such as Arsene Wenger, Champions League red cards and Wayne Rooney – on Friday was duly noted by everyone.
“But it was not just about John Terry. All of our defence was outstanding. Cesar Azpilicueta did everything but pick up the ball like a rugby player and score a try.”
Azpilicueta has been absolutely exceptional too.
It takes a bold, and astute, manager to ditch England’s first-choice left-back Ashley Cole and play a specialist right-back in his place. But the Spaniard has been so good, Cole can have few complaints.
This was a match to admire defenders – many of them English, such as Terry, Cahill, Jagielka and Leighton Baines. As well as Gareth Barry in the defensive midfield role for the visitors.
It was a match to admire the defensively inclined because this was a case of two decent, well-organised sides who simply lacked a quality striker.
Samuel Eto’o and then Fernando Torres were ­hopeless for Chelsea.
Everton’s new frontman Lacina Traore didn’t make it to kick-off, crying off after “feeling his hamstring”.
Both clubs missed Romelu Lukaku. Chelsea, who had loaned out the Belgian, and Everton, who were without him through injury and ineligibility.
Everton were the better side for long periods.
Petr Cech tipped a Leon Osman long-ranger over the bar and Kevin Mirallas squandered two decent chances.
Chelsea lacked any cutting edge – Eto’o shot embarrassingly against his own heel and Lampard headed meekly wide at the back post.
Howard, though, had to get busy either side of the break, pushing away a shot on the turn from Eto’o – then denying Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic with a gob-smacking double save.
Everton rarely looked like conceding until the 93rd minute and the old one-two from the two golden oldies.
Ramires won a questionable free-kick from Phil Jagielka, Lampard whipped in the dead ball, before a touch from Terry beat Howard three yards out.
How Roy Hodgson would love to recreate Terry’s ­partnership with Gary Cahill at the World Cup – although Jagielka was in fine form too.
He knows Terry has ­considered making himself available and it would be difficult to imagine Hodgson turning him away.
For now, though, ­Mourinho can cherish sole custody of his skipper.
Terry is a man who knows how titles are won. They are won like this, in the 93rd minute, when lesser men would have expended all hope.

============

Star:

Chelsea 1 - Everton 0: Tim Howard's blunder hands the Blues victory

CHELSEA players hugged and kissed at the end of this game as if they had won the World Cup, not just sneaked a last-gasp added-time winner

By Tony Stenson

The relief was evident as they finally wore down an Everton side that had stood firm throughout.
It seemed like Jose Mourinho’s league leaders had run out of ideas and at one stage even tried two strikers.
And it was ironic that Everton’s two best players, defender Phil Jagielka and keeper Tim Howard, combined to fluff their lines late on.
Jagielka needlessly felled Chelsea substitute Ramires two minutes into added time and collected a booking.
Frank Lampard then whipped in the resulting free-kick, skipper John Terry lunged at it and the ball bounced off Howard’s body and into the net.
It had the Dubious Goals Committee scratching their heads until Terry claimed he got the most delicate touch.
So Chelsea stay top, to stretch boss Mourinho’s unbeaten home league record to 74 games – but it was hard work.
And how they could have desperately used a player who could come back to haunt them next week.
How the Blues could have done with old favourite Didier Drogba as they wasted chance after chance.
They go up against their former goal-scoring powerhouse when they face his latest club Galatasaray, in their Champions League knockout tie on Wednesday in Turkey.
Even Mourinho admitted: “It was a difficult match. Everton deserved something, they had quality and they pass the ball as well as anyone.
“I feel sorry for them because they put in a fine performance.
Everyone knows we have trouble scoring but they also know we never give up.
“We were storming the last five minutes. Some could say we were lucky but I think it was down to determination.
“Everton deserved something, they had quality and they pass the ball as well as anyone ,I feel sorry for them because they put in a fine performance”
Jose Mourinho
“Players like Cesar Azpilicueta did not deserve to lose. He did everything.
“The only thing missing was him picking up the ball and running over the line, like a rugby player.”
Everton manager Roberto Martinez bowed to Chelsea’s street-wise qualities.
He said: “They use every trick in the book to get free-kicks that are not free-kicks. I felt for the referee, he had a difficult job.
“Just look at the record Chelsea have at home, unbeaten in 74 matches under Jose, so it must happen frequently here.
“I am disappointed we lost but I thought we were magnificent, our discipline was fine and it shows how far we have come.
“We came to the league leaders and gave them a game.”
Chelsea, though, looked onedimensional at times.
Oscar was carrying an injury but convinced Mourinho he could play, although he looked lost for long periods and it was no surprise when he was substituted at half-time, while Eden Hazard continually ran down blind alleys.
No player stood back from tackles and there were a few juicy, although never malicious, clatterings with Jagielka superb in Everton’s defence and rarely putting a foot wrong.
Ramires replaced Oscar and immediately added bite to Chelsea’s midfield – possibly a bit too much at times – but his arrival sparked the Blues into life and only Howard and brave defending kept them at bay.
The American keeper produced two stunning late saves, first to deny Hazard and then a great effort to block Branislav Ivanovic’s power drive.
But then, at the death, he lost sight of both Terry and the ball to concede and spark the Chelsea celebrations.

Man City 0-2

Independent:

Manchester City 2 Chelsea 0
Stevan Jovetic and Samir Nasri grab the reins to lead City gallop
Pellegrini’s men make smart response to rival’s jibes as they leave Mourinho with a long face
Tim Rich  

The debate, initiated by Jose Mourinho last week, was all about what kind of horses the clubs jostling for the championship were. Manchester City were “the rich horse”, Chelsea were, in the improbable words of their manager, “the little white horse”. Brendan Rodgers retorted that his Liverpool side were “the foal”.
 
In terms of the FA Cup, Chelsea are the Galloway pony that used to roam southern Scotland. They are extinct.
Manuel Pellegrini has grown weary of Mourinho's jibes, arguing that he would prefer his team to talk for him. This performance was more eloquent than Manchester City's manager could ever be. Their goals, from Stevan Jovetic and Samir Nasri, were superbly crafted; a vulnerable defence was never seriously threatened.
The teams were as strong as expected. Barcelona may be coming to Manchester, but there were few concessions to future contests.
As his team waited for the 1974 FA Cup final to kick off, Bill Shankly pinned up an article by Malcolm Macdonald boasting how the Newcastle striker would tear Liverpool apart. "There is no need to say anything, lads," said Shankly. "It's all been said." Here, too, much had been said, mostly by Mourinho.
Afterwards, the Chelsea manager was unusually downbeat, afflicted by a rare dose of humility: "City played much better than us and deserved to win," he reflected. "When the best team wins, I think football is at peace."
This was the reverse of the League game in that Pellegrini's hunches worked and Mourinho's did not. James Milner was stationed on the right flank with possibly the most difficult brief on the pitch: to keep Eden Hazard in check.
A lot of what the Chelsea manager says is like the ticker tape that floated in the wind during the tribute to Sir Tom Finney – insubstantial and designed just to catch the eye. But his assertion that Hazard was the "best young player in the world" looks as if it might have substance. The moments when he ran at the City defence were the only ones in which there was a sense of electricity about Chelsea's play.
During the interval Mourinho decided to bring off Samuel Eto'o for his newest acquisition, Mohamed Salah. It was an admission that his tactics had been toothless, although afterwards he refused to explain the reasoning behind it.
City's 1-0 defeat by Chelsea in the League had exposed Pellegrini's experiment of employing Martin Demichelis as a makeshift midfielder for the flimsy idea it was. With Fernandinho still unfit, Pellegrini deployed Yaya Touré alongside Javi Garcia to screen the back four.
The big Ivorian is, however, happiest marauding forward, preferably in a big game. It was Touré's opening shot that suggested how this tie might pan out. He chested the ball down before muscling his way past Nemanja Matic, and when his drive spilled out of Petr Cech's gloves Jov-etic reacted faster than Gary Cahill. But his flick struck the intersection of bar and post, and the striker flung his hands to his mouth in shock.
Moments later, his fingers were pressed to his lips to silence the raucous contingent who had travelled up from London. It was a beautifully worked goal, featuring interplay from David Silva and Edin Dzeko. Too late, Cesar Azpilicueta moved across to block Jovetic's shot.
After the goalless draw at Norwich that had taken City's total of dropped points to five in a week, Pellegrini had surveyed his list of injured and not fully-fit forwards and remarked: "It is time for Stevan Jovetic". That time was about 5.32pm on a windswept Saturday evening.
A little over an hour later and Chelsea's time was up. As it had been for the opening goal, the passing was too good. Here it was between Silva and Nasri and it opened up an inadequate back four. Silva's pass cut through the screening defenders and the boy from Marseilles severed Chelsea's connection to this season's FA Cup.
As the game died, the stadium began filling with abuse for Mourinho. It will not, however, be the last word between these clubs.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Pantilimon; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Touré, Garcia; Milner, Jovetic (Nasri, 61), Silva (Navas, 69); Dzeko (Negredo, 81).
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Azpilicueta; Mikel, Matic; Ramires (Torres, 61), Willian (Oscar, 71), Hazard; Eto’o (Salah, h-t).

Referee: Phil Dowd.
Man of the match: Touré (Manchester City)
Match rating: 7/10

===============

Observer:

Manchester City ease past Chelsea to give Manuel Pellegrini revenge
Daniel Taylor at the Etihad

The furthest Manuel Pellegrini pushed it was when he pointed out afterwards that he still thought Chelsea's success here 12 days earlier had been overplayed. "Tactically, we didn't have any problems," he said. Otherwise, there was no gloating, or even the subtlest of putdowns, and it was a wise strategy from the Manchester City manager. He is never going to outdo José Mourinho when it comes to confrontation, brittle one-liners and media positioning – the Chelsea manager is simply too well-practised – but his team reminded everyone here why they are such formidable opponents, and that is always the best way to win these arguments.
They won with almost surprising ease, courtesy of a goal in each half from Stevan Jovetic and the fit-again Samir Nasri, and it was an ideal way to start a week in which the next assignment will be Tuesday's Champions League tie against Barcelona. Mourinho can still look back on Chelsea's two visits to Manchester and reflect they had the better of the deal, having already dismantled City's previously immaculate home record, but his team plodded through this defeat. They fell way short, particularly in attack, and it was perplexing to see Mourinho's players offer so little when the memories were still vivid of their outstanding performance of the season.
Chelsea tend to give everything in the FA Cup. On this occasion, they simply put on their coats and showed themselves to the door.
Mourinho talked afterwards about weariness and used Nemanja Matic's performances over the two games as an example of how it had caught up with them. Matic was superb in the first, over-run in the second. Yet Mourinho could have picked out others, too. Samuel Eto'o suffered the ignominy of being removed at half-time and there was a telling moment when Mourinho was asked whether he could put into words his frustrations about the contribution of Chelsea's strikers this season. "There are things I cannot say," he said. "I can just think things and keep them to myself."
In fairness to Eto'o, there was no real improvement for Chelsea after his withdrawal. Pellegrini had worked out a way to stifle Eden Hazard, with James Milner doubling up to help out Pablo Zabaleta. Willian was an elusive opponent but faded in the second half and Fernando Torres made little difference when he came on. Chelsea barely managed a single noteworthy attempt to establish whether Costel Pantilimon, deputising for Joe Hart, might be suspect.
They really ought to have done more, bearing in mind Pantilimon had needed three attempts to clasp a low cross from Chelsea's first attack of any real threat, 21 minutes into the game.
Nasri, returning from a month out with a knee injury, was a second-half substitute and had been on the pitch for only six minutes when he exchanged passes with David Silva to score the goal that effectively ended the game two-thirds of the way in. His return is timed well given the challenges that lie ahead in the next few days and Jovetic's input is also encouraging for Pellegrini, even if the Montenegrin did pick up a yellow card for a dive. Jovetic's luckless run with injuries has badly disrupted his first season in English football but here was the evidence that the £22.9m signing from Fiorentina can still play a considerable part.
Pellegrini had resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes and his main players, most notably Yaya Touré and Silva, created plenty of problems for Chelsea. Vincent Kompany looked like he had taken the last defeat as a personal affront and Hazard was contained so well that, after half an hour, Mourinho ordered him to swap places with Willian in a more central role.
Hazard had menaced City barely a fortnight ago. Now, there were only flashes of his excellence. Milner was excellent for City and Javi García, another player who seldom gets acclaim, coped much better in the defensive midfield role than Martín Demichelis had in the first game.
Mourinho was not on one of his elaborate wind-ups either when he talked about City being fresher. Pellegrini also noted it was "important" they had not played in midweek, because of the postponed match against Sunderland.
His team set off with the greater spark, taking the lead after 16 minutes with a move that began with their left-back, Gaël Clichy, and went across the pitch in a diagonal line, via Silva and Edin Dzeko, before the ball reached Jovetic. A minute earlier, Jovetic had flicked the crossbar with a follow-up shot to Touré's effort which Petr Cech could only spill. Now he took advantage of César Azpilicueta not being close enough and drove his shot in off the post.
The most startling aspect from a Chelsea perspective was their inability to respond. They were ponderous with both their thoughts and their movement and far too obliging when Nasri turned away from Mikel John Obi, played the ball into Silva and then darted between David Luiz and Gary Cahill to turn in the return pass. Silva had been marginally offside but, even then, Mourinho's complaints were measured. "Was the referee poor in the second half? Yes, but even with a perfect referee we would have lost one-nil."

==================

Telegraph:

Manchester City 2 Chelsea 0, FA Cup fifth round
Jason Burt, Etihad Stadium

Horses for courses, or so it seems. Having lost twice to Chelsea in the Premier League, Manchester City on Saturday night dumped Jose Mourinho’s side out of the FA Cup.
For Mourinho that will have hurt. This is a competition he has eulogised about – the last trophy he won as Chelsea manager first time round before being sacked in 2007 – but he will not ‘retain’ it.
For both these clubs the league and Champions League remain the bigger prizes but there will be rich satisfaction from Manuel Pellegrini in proving that Mourinho does not have some kind of hold on him.
That ‘little horse’, or so Mourinho argued Chelsea were in triumphing at the Etihad just under two weeks ago, ran out of legs. They were pony. They were not at the races, strangely muted, subdued and sterile as City were dominant. City will believe this was a watershed moment – not least with Barcelona to come as European competition resumes in midweek – to banish the doubts that they may not be tough enough to compete with Mourinho.
No-one would accuse him of being a specialist in failure but this was one that went badly wrongly for him and Chelsea who threatened little and appeared jaded as they were over-run at times by their wounded opponents.
The word was that Chelsea had put as much work into devising a tactical plan for this encounter as they had in overcoming City in the Premier League 12 days earlier. That may have also partly been through Mourinho’s concern at the continued absence of John Terry, through injury, while with the meeting with Barcelona to come in midweek he will also have a keen interest in Pellegrini’s team-sheet.
As ever with City, there were few concessions, few players were rested even if theabsence of Sergio Agüero and Fernandinho was hurting them. This was again a strong line-up.
It was also one keen to take a control of proceedings and surged into the lead with the simplest of strikes. City broke down the left through Gaël Clichy and quickly ferried the ball cross-field – through David Silva and then Edin Dzeko who picked out the over-lapping Stevan Jovetic. He took the ball in his stride and struck a first-time right-footed shot low across Petr Cech. It kissed the post on its way into the net.
The goal owed much to City’s movement and maybe Chelsea’s failure to re-adjust quickly enough to deal with that. Maybe Mourinho would have to re-think?
Moments earlier and Jovetic had also struck the woodwork as he seized onto the ball after Cech had fumbled a powerful drive by Yaya Touré from distance. With the angle acute, Jovetic’s rising shot clipped the top off the cross-bar before Toure again shot from distance. His effort veered wide.
City’s movement was causing problems. It may have been 4-4-2 but it was fluid. Silva was given licence to roam, Jovetic was dropping in between midfield and attack and the pair combined to tee up Dzeko whose curling shot was beaten out by a diving Cech.
The goal had certainly provided Mourinho with a problem. Chelsea were still being pressed back; they still counter-attack – and Willian ballooned over after Eden Hazard wriggled free – but City also were urgent without being desperate. They had the advantage and they were far more fluent with Toure, dominant and powerful and ‘up for it’ and Silva knitting the play together and Jovetic bright and eager to gain possession.
Hazard, inevitably, was Chelsea’s major weapon and he cleverly drew a yellow card for Vincent Kompany by shielding the ball away from his fellow Belgian while James Milner was also deployed to try and nullify his growing threat. Unsurprisingly Mourinho shifted Hazard in-field to try and increase his influence further and escape the shackles.
No quarter was given. Both sides closed each other down quickly; time on the ball was a luxury and, inevitably, it quickly made the contest more disjointed even if the pace remained unrelenting. Finally another opportunity arrived with Milner, after David Luiz rashly bundled over Jovetic, running free down the right before measuring a cross for Dzeko who mis-timed when he should have side-footed the ball home inside the six-yard area. A let-off for Chelsea with Mourinho walking down the tunnel before the half-time whistle had been blown. It was a sign of his displeasure.
Mourinho sprang a surprise. Off came the ineffective Samuel Eto’o and on came Mohamed Salah to play furthest forward and privide, perhaps, more pace. It was a bold move although, again, Fernando Torres must have been left wondering where this leaves him. Apart from again remaining on the bench.
But it was City who continued to show with Gary Cahill blocking Milner’s cross-cum-shot and Jovetic, who was later booked for an appalling dive as he ran into Luiz, skying after a cut-back from the over-lapping Clichy.
Finally Torres was given his chance, leading to another re-jig and Salah pushed back out to his favoured position on the wing while City re-introduced Samir Nasri, fit again after his knee ligament injury.
He made an immediate impact as he collected possession inside the Chelsea defence and ran at Gary Cahill. Four Chelsea defenders back-pedalled and Silva cleverly ran across for Nasri to slip the ball to him. Silva squared – and there was Nasri, with Cahill caught out and Cech stranded, to tap the ball into the unguarded net and double City’s advantage.
Chelsea appeared increasingly disjointed; demoralized even. They badly missed Terry and City were dominant as a marginal offside decision denied Joleon Lescott the third goal after Cech failed to hold Dzeko’s header.
In fairness to Chelsea Cahill had made a surprise return from injury although Nemanja Matic was not the significant presence he was in midfield in the last meeting.
Finally Chelsea found a response and, at last, created some pressure as Cesar Azpilicueta blasted over and Lescott alertly hooked the ball away as Matic shaped to shoot from close-range. But there would be no way back for Chelsea. The horse had bolted.

================

Times:

Manuel Pellegrini lets scoreline do the talking  
James Ducker 
Manchester City 2 Chelsea 0

José Mourinho has aimed plenty of barbs at Manchester City in recent weeks. Perhaps after this, the Chelsea manager will quieten down for a while.
Manuel Pellegrini must have afforded himself a wry chuckle at Mourinho’s assertion this week that Arsène Wenger “loves to look” at Chelsea. The City manager could accuse the Portuguese of doing just that with City of late.
From branding City “lucky” to questioning their long-term development plans, Mourinho has been blabbing on continuously about the Manchester club in recent weeks. Pellegrini, of course, prefers to let the football do the talking. At the Etihad Stadium, City did just that, goals in either half from Stefan Jovetic and Samir Nasri easing them into the FA Cup quarter-finals with plenty to spare.
For Pellegrini, this must have felt like a vindication as his tactics had been called into question after the 1-0 defeat by Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League ten days earlier. It was also the perfect warm up for the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie at home to Barcelona on Tuesday.
City were better in every department: stronger in the tackle, quicker to the ball, faster and more fluid with their movement. If the league match had been a masterclass from Mourinho and his players, this was anything but.
The Chelsea manager could have no complaints about the result but he will have had plenty about the haphazard nature of his side’s defending. Seldom does a Mourinho team defend as poorly as this.
All told, it was one of Chelsea’s most disappointing displays on the road this season. City, by contrast, remain firmly in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple.
Pellegrini said he was “absolutely sure” that City’s defeat by Chelsea in the league had not been a “problem with tactics” but rather a result of personnel issues. Injuries had forced the City manager to move Martin Demichelis, a defender, into central midfield for the game, a decision that played straight into Chelsea’s hands.
With a recognised central midfielder in Javi García alongside Yaya Touré this time out, City certainly had a more robust look as they took a 1-0 lead into the interval. Whether Pellegrini wishes to admit he erred tactically or not in that previous encounter, it was clear during a first half in which City were the better team by far that the Chilean had learnt some lessons from it.
Eden Hazard had tormented City throughout in the league fixture but it was telling that every time the Belgium player got the ball, the home team moved quickly to close him down. Vincent Kompany was positively straining at the leash to get close to Hazard and while he did that exceptionally well for the most part, over-exuberance did cost him a booking in the 38th minute when he manhandled Hazard to the ground.
If City were much improved, Chelsea struggled to match the exceedingly high standards they set on the last visit to the Etihad. They had ganged up on Touré, harassing and haranguing him at every turn, but the Ivory Coast player had more freedom here and, when García won a header in the fifteenth minute, City’s midfield talisman was able to hold off Nemanja Matic and unleash a powerfully hit drive. Petr Cech should have smothered the ball but when the Chelsea goalkeeper spilled it, Jovetic collected the rebound only for his first-time shot to skim off the crossbar and over.
It was a warning that Chelsea failed to heed as, within a minute, City had taken the lead. On this occasion, Jovetic would not be denied. Gaël Clichy surged forward down the left and played the ball inside to David Silva who quickly released it to Edin Dzeko. With Chelsea’s defenders not nearly close enough, the Bosnian was able to play the ball into the path of Jovetic, racing in from the right. An angled shot sailed through the legs of César Azpilicueta and past the outstretched hand of Cech before bouncing in off the far post. It was very well-taken goal but a cheap one to concede from Chelsea’s perspective.
Chelsea had delivered a masterclass in counter-attacking football the previous week but they were short of ideas here. A cross by Branislav Ivanovic was saved by Costel Pantilimon at the second attempt, before Samuel Eto’o could get a firm connection with the ball, and Willian ballooned an effort over but that was about it during the opening 45 minutes. Indeed, City should really have been two goals to the good at the break.
Just before the interval, David Luiz flattened Jovetic and was subsequently booked for the challenge but Phil Dowd sensibly played the advantage as James Milner collected the loose ball and charged down the right channel towards goal. His cross was low, hard and measured and had Dzeko showed an ounce more courage and conviction he would doubtless have got on the end of it with the goal at his mercy. Instead, the chance went begging.
Mourinho has never been afraid to change things around when necessary and at half-time he withdrew Eto’o, put on Mohamed Salah, moved Willian to the left and Hazard into a more central position. Fifteen minutes later, with City still relatively untroubled, Ramires was replaced by Fernando Torres, with Hazard asked to try to pull the strings behind or occasionally alongside the Spaniard.
Imagine Mourinho’s frustration then - with his changes failing to create the slightest chink in City’s armour - as he watched Pellegrini’s first substitution reap an almost instantaneous reward. Nasri, making his first appearance for over a month due to a knee injury, had only been on the pitch six minutes when he fashioned and finished City’s second goal. Again, Chelsea’s defending left much to be desired.
Kompany fired a ball to Nasri who had acres of space to roam forward, with John Obi Mikel guilty of switching off. Mikel’s Chelsea team-mates were no quicker in closing down Nasri, though, enabling the France midfielder to play a one-two with Silva that bypassed Gary Cahill with almost embarrassing ease before he walked the ball into an empty net.


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Mail:

Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea:
Pellegrini gets two over Mourinho as Jovetic and Nasri put City into the FA Cup quarters
By Rob Draper

It felt like the restoration of the natural order.
Manchester City had failed 12 days ago when Jose Mourinho seemed to have reasserted his tactical supremacy in England. The all-powerful, unstoppable City of the previous few months had been stifled and suddenly no longer seemed invincible.
Yet that result had clearly stung both the City players and their manager, Manuel Pellegrini. So good were City in the rematch that you were left wondering whether that earlier defeat was just an illusory moment; that the hard reality of the season is that City are overwhelmingly the dominant team in England.
The scoreline suggested a reasonable contest but it massaged the truth. Other than the injured John Terry, Chelsea lined up full strength whereas City, with Barcelona in mind, made five changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Chelsea.
Yet City were dominant from start to finish. In fact, it was difficult to recall a decent chance created by the visitors over the 90 minutes.
City not only buzzed with creativity, with David Silva and James Milner both excellent, but also overpowered Chelsea.
Mourinho may have won the previous tactical battle but this was a stark reminder that systems will only ever take you so far. With a squad like Manchester City’s, you can make 4-4-2 look progressive.
But Pellegrini is a man who dislikes fuss. ‘It was not revenge,’ he said, as Vincent Kompany was speaking of just that. ‘It wasn’t a masterclass in tactics,’ he said, puncturing the fuss of the last game.
‘For me, the important thing was to beat a great team. And also there were a lot of questions after the Chelsea game: are we going to change our way of playing? I always said we will not change our way of playing.’
Both managers drew attention to City’s postponed game on Wednesday leaving them in better condition. ‘It was very important we didn’t play,’ said Pellegrini.
‘The team were not fresh and that is why we had a little down in our performances against Chelsea and Norwich. But working again with the team on Thursday and Friday, I was absolutely sure that today we were going to have a very good game.
‘Today we saw again the team that were playing before the last two games. It was very important to have the performance that we had. I don’t think Chelsea had a chance to shoot.’
So good were City that they muted Mourinho. Not literally, of course, but there was a more demure tone to his analysis. ‘They played much better than us, they deserved much more than us to win,’ said Mourinho. ‘I think today is simple to analyse: they were the best team; they won.’
Being Mourinho, he had a gripe about the referee and his assistants in the second half, but with some cause concerning the second goal, in which Silva appeared just offside.
He did add though: ‘But would we have won the game with a perfect referee team? No. They were better than us. The second goal was offside but they would win 1-0 because we were never close to score or to scare them.’
First to the ball and pressing manically, City never allowed Chelsea time to settle. The poise of Nemanja Matic was disrupted and John Obi Mikel struggled as Yaya Toure asserted his usual dominance, ably helped by Javi Garcia.
This was the powerful agile City, so quick to move the ball that even accomplished opponents struggle. After only 16 minutes they had gone close when Toure smashed a shot which Petr Cech fumbled, allowing Stevan Jovetic to chip over the goalkeeper but off the crossbar.
The relief was brief. A minute later Silva found Edin Dzeko, who played a superb ball to open up space for Jovetic. The Montenegro striker finished delightfully in what would turn out to be his best performance since he arrived last July.
Chelsea briefly threatened a response when Branislav Ivanovic charged down the right wing and pulled back a cross that Costel Pantilimon fumbled, almost allowing in Samuel Eto’o. But Dzeko missed a glorious opportunity to consolidate City’s dominance just on half-time, failing to connect with Milner’s excellent cross.
Chelsea were suddenly uncertain and Mourinho reacted. Off came Eto’o at half-time and on went Mohamed Salah to play the central striking role. It was a dramatic move and recognition that something needed to change.
It made no impact. Nasri, who has been out for a month with knee injury, arrived on 61 minutes and he took just another seven to announce his return. City’s dominance was stretching Chelsea and when Kompany found Nasri 40 yards from goal, he was completely unmarked in a sea of space. The Frenchman simply turned and drove on, releasing Silva, who looked just offside.
Still, the Spaniard then produced the pass of the match, an exquisitely deft cutback that fell directly into the path of Nasri, who had not stopped running and who had the easiest of close-range chances to make it 2-0.
The Etihad Stadium was awash with appreciation — and derision for Mourinho. When Joleon Lescott headed in on 76 minutes an even more humiliating scoreline beckoned, but Chelsea were saved by the offside flag. Still, the result was never in doubt. This was City at their emphatic best

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Mirror:

Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea: Jovetic and Nasri on target as hosts keep Quadruple dream alive
 
By Dave Kidd

After 10 years as a manager in European football, Manuel Pellegrini has only ever won the Intertoto Cup – a fact Jose Mourinho has not failed to notice.
The Chelsea boss will not be able to sneer for long, though. The Chilean may not be shouting from the rooftops about a possible Quadruple, but City are still rumbling along on all four fronts with few weaknesses in their mighty squad.
They handed Mourinho’s men a convincing FA Cup defeat, thanks to goals from Stevan Jovetic and Samir Nasri, leaving the mouthy Chelsea boss in the unusual position of admitting that the best team had won.
City, who will face Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday without any sort of inferiority complex, are now one win away from securing another Wembley date, with a Capital One Cup Final against Sunderland to come in a fortnight.
City were the fresher side after a midweek breather. Even without their
first-choice strike partnership and midfield pendulum Fernandinho, they left a strong Chelsea side well beaten.
It meant that Pellegrini had won an ‘Oil Firm Derby’ at the third attempt – handing the Abu Dhabi Sheikhs a victory over the Siberian JR, Roman Abramovich, after a league double for Chelsea.
City captain Vincent Kompany said: “We love the FA Cup and this was a great game for the competition. Twelve days ago we had a really bad game here against Chelsea and gave chances away. Today we adapted. We were comfortable. We wanted revenge.
“From the word go we were hard in challenges, created a lot of chances and didn’t give much away.”
The result at least quietened down Mourinho.
On Friday he had countered a gentle thrust of the stiletto from Arsene Wenger with a sustained barrage of verbal machine-gun fire – calling the Arsenal manager a “specialist in failure”. Ouch.
Yesterday, Mourinho was all injured feelings and messenger-shooting – ‘woe is me, I’m always the bad guy’ – as he stopped just short of donning one of Mario Balotelli’s ‘Why Always Me?’ T-shirts.
Pellegrini has also been injured by a few of the Special One’s barbs but nothing will have hurt him as much as the display which brought Chelsea a 1-0 Premier League victory here two weeks ago.
Mourinho had won seven of his nine previous duels with Pellegrini – and both men sent out near full-strength teams, a show of respect for the Cup as well as their mutual emnity.
Jovetic was afforded a clear-sighter early on when Yaya Toure had a long-range effort spilled by Petr Cech only for the Montenegro striker to shoot over.
But within a minute City were in front, with one of their trademark slalom passing moves. David Silva slipped one to Edin Dzeko – who can play on the rare occasions he decides to stay on his feet – and the Bosnian sent in Jovetic to drill home off the far post.
David Luiz then collided with Jovetic, allowing James Milner to drive in a low cross with which Dzeko should have connected.
Chelsea’s rare attacking forays were generally snuffed out by Kompany, with Eden Hazard bearing the brunt of his fellow Belgian’s muscularity.
Mourinho stormed back to the dressing-room early before half-time, preparing to replace Samuel Eto’o with Egyptian new boy Mohamed Salah. When that made no difference, Fernando Torres was sent on.
Jovetic was booked for a shocking dive as he deliberately bounced off Luiz and fell like an extra from Saving Private Ryan.
But when Nasri made his comeback from injury as a sub on the hour, he killed the tie within eight minutes.
The Frenchman’s through-ball found Silva – perhaps marginally offside – but the flag stayed down and he cut back for Nasri to tap in.
Pellegrini could afford himself a cheeky grin. He is in the mood for trophies – and plenty of them.

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Express:

Man City 2 - Chelsea 0: Pellegrini's men ease past sorry Blues

LABELLED by Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho as “big horses” it was Manchester City’s ‘‘Shergar’’ who helped to ease Manuel Pellegrini’s side into the FA Cup quarter-finals.
By: John Richardson

Stevan Jovetic has barely been seen since his big summer move from Fiorentina, the £22million striker ravaged by injuries.
But City’s invisible man came to the plate to help avenge the 1-0 Premier League defeat here 12 days ago.
He finished splendidly to give a dominant City the lead – one which was endorsed with another well crafted goal from Samir Nasri.
It was a personal triumph for Pellegrini, who previously had won only one of nine games against Mourinho.
It was also the right response in the cool Chilean’s eyes to the torrent of psychological barbs which have come his way with a Stamford Bridge postmark all over them.
Mourinho had tried to put pressure on Pellegrini and his team by making them favourites for the league title. “Big horses” he called them. Today he should start a steward’s inquiry into his “little horses”, which decidedly went lame.
“Your team is a load of s***e,” mocked the City fans. A bit harsh but they were certainly well below their usual best.
Revenge affairs are usually better conducted without the shadow of one of the greatest teams in world football hovering over you.
But a quick glance at the team sheet showed that City were up for the task three days ahead of the visit of Barcelona.
The problem for Pellegrini and his players was that Chelsea, even with a week’s rest coming up, were also in the mood for a Saturday night dust-up – at least judging by the team sheet.
So it was a case of lighting the touch paper, sky blue or royal blue depending on your persuasion, and sitting back.
It took only 15 minutes for the game to explode into life with Jovetic announcing his presence, nipping in on a Petr Cech spill from Yaya Toure’s attempt, to crack the rebound against the top of the bar.
Within 60 seconds the woodwork was struck again by the Montenegro international, but this time with gleeful consequences for City.
A sharp flowing move involving Gael Clichy, David Silva and Edin Dzeko ended with a clinical angled finish from Jovetic, which beat Cech via the inside of the post.
Chelsea looked rattled, especially after their game plan in the Premier League win here earlier in the month hadn’t caused them too many defensive flutters.
Jovetic was clearly enjoying the trust placed in him by his manager after so many injuries and forced Cech into a smart save. Toure fired wide and Dzeko saw a blast from outside the area palmed away by the Chelsea keeper.
Mourinho prowled the technical area looking for a response from his “little horses”, especially from his top jockey Eden Hazard.
The going certainly looked tough as Chelsea made their way to what was certain to be a half-time grilling from their anxious manager.
David Luiz had been fortunate to even make it to the break, continuing to argue with referee Phil Dowd after being yellow-carded for a cynical foul on Jovetic. Dowd ushered skipper Cech to him before handing out a final warning to the temperamental Brazilian.
Strangely Mourinho ditched Samuel Eto’o in favour of his £11m January window signing Mohamed Salah, starting the second half without a conventional through-the-middle striker.
James Milner’s presence had given City’s midfield, which had been overrun in the Etihad league encounter, plenty of energy to go alongside David Silva’s invention – something this time around Chelsea had struggled to come to terms with.
Sadly, Jovetic joined the army of divers besmirching the game when he fell to the ground spectacularly as he tried to round Luiz. Thankfully referee Dowd got it right and yellow-carded Jovetic and not Luiz, who would have had to go off.
Mourinho brought Fernando Torres on to give a so far impotent attack some direction and purpose.
But it was City who still carried the greater danger and only six minutes after coming on as a substitute Nasri, making his return following injury, made it 2-0.
It was a brilliant one-two between Nasri and the slick Silva which carved Chelsea open, leaving the Frenchman with an easy side-footed finish.
So after a quick handshake with his one time nemesis, for Pellegrini it was off to prepare for Barcelona. For Mourinho it was a darkened room.

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Star:

Manchester City 2 - Chelsea 0: Manuel Pellegrini gets his first victory over Jose Mourinho

IF Jose Mourinho this he has only a little horse running in the Premier League title race then he was watching FA Cup donkeys last night.

By Paul Hetherington

The Chelsea boss saw his side make an unusually feeble exit from the competition as City deservedly triumphed through goals from Stevan Jovetic and substitute Samir Nasri.
For City, whose quadruple hopes are still very much alive, it was revenge for their defeat here against a totally different Chelsea 12 days earlier.
And the result gave City boss Manuel Pellegrini only his second win against Mourinho in ten meetings. Both managers went for strong line-ups, despite their other commitments.
And Chelsea’s team was especially powerful, with only injured skipper John Terry missing, while Oscar started on the bench.
But it was City who surged into the lead as Jovetic hit the woodwork twice in the 16th minute – the second time bringing that early goal.
On the first occasion, the attacking midfielder’s effort hit the top of the bar and flew behind after Chelsea keeper Petr Cech had failed to hold Yaya Toure’s drive.
But City were straight back at the visitors, with a sweeping move involving Gael Clichy, David Silva and Edin Dzeko.
The attack ended with Jovetic striking a right-foot shot across Cech and in off the far post.
It was previously free-scoring City’s first goal in three matches.
Cech then had to beat away a curling effort by Dzeko after the busy Jovetic had supplied the cross.
Chelsea’s slow start made it a comfortable opening to the tie for City.
But there was a moment of alarm when keeper Costel Pantilimon, deputising as usual in the cup for Joe Hart, only gathered Branislav Ivanovic’s cross at the second attempt.
Ivanovic, the match winner at the Etihad 12 days earlier, had driven the ball in hard and low from the right and Pantilimon initially fumbled, before claiming the ball with Samuel Eto’o waiting to pounce.
Mourinho responded to a surprisingly-subdued performance from his side by withdrawing Eto’o at half time and replacing him with Mohamed Salah.
Eden Hazard was also pushed further forward as the Chelsea boss sought a greater threat from his side.
Eto’o had been starved of service and almost a spectator as Toure, Silva and Jovetic – later booked for a blatant dive – controlled the match.
And City could have made it 2-0 when a James Milner cross flew across the face of the goal with Dzeko unable to get a touch.
But they did finally grab a vital second goal in the 67th minute through Nasri, who had come on for Jovetic just six minutes earlier.
The Frenchman worked a delightful one-two with Silva before side-footing into an empty net.
Joleon Lescott also forced the ball into the Chelsea net 14 minutes from time but that was ruled offside.
It was always City’s night, though, with Spanish playmaker Silva giving an outstanding performance.
And it puts Pellegrini’s side in good heart for Tuesday night’s mouth-watering Champions League clash here against Barcelona.
Skipper Vincent Kompany said: “We wanted revenge and that’s a big win for us against a strong team. We love this competition and we love the FA Cup.
“We are really happy with the result. We had a really bad game twelve days ago against Chelsea and gave them a lot of chances.
“We just adapted today. We were comfortable, hard in the opening challenges and didn’t give any chances away.”
Mourinho said: “City played much better than us. The situation is simple to analyse. They were the best team and they won.
“The second goal was an offside but we would still have lost one-nil as we were never close to scaring City.”



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