Burnley 1-1

Independent:
Ben Mee earns Clarets shock draw at league leading Blues after Nemanja Matic was sent off
 
Chelsea 1 Burnley 1
Miguel Delaney  

In the end, Burnley took Chelsea’s “game for equality” rather literally, although Jose Mourinho was again left furious over perceived unfair treatment of his side as they slipped to a shock draw following Nemanja Matic’s red card and a series of penalty calls.

The Serbia midfielder will receive a three-game and miss next Sunday’s League Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur following his dismissal for a furious reaction to Ashley Barnes’ 69th-minute challenge. Thereafter, Burnley pressed on and claimed an equaliser to Branislav Ivanovic’s opener through Ben Mee’s late header.
The frustration was all the greater for the league leaders because they had seemed in such control during a match in which little was happening beyond the penalty calls. That was reflected in Mourinho’s comments, even if they were intended to describe the drab nature of the game.
“This game had four crucial moments,” he said. “Minute 30, minute 33, minute 43 and minute 69. This is the story of the game.”
Mourinho was referring to, in order, a shove by Barnes, a handball in the box by Michael Kightly, a push from Michael Keane on Diego Costa in the area and the Matic red card, which proved pivotal.
The Chelsea midfielder had challenged Barnes, only for the Burnley player to leave his studs up. Matic was caught and immediately jumped to his feet before shoving Barnes.  Branislav Ivanovic headed Chelsea into an early lead after good work from Eden Hazard 
Burnley manager Sean Dyche called it a “coming together”, although he admitted he’d still seen the incident only once. Mourinho had far stronger words about the incident as well as Barnes and referee Martin Atkinson.
“Minute 69 has a big relation with minute 30 because normally the player, if I can call him a player, was involved in minute 30 and minute 31 should be in the shower.
“No minute 69 if the man in charge does his job in minute 30.”
When asked if Chelsea would appeal against Matic’s dismissal, Mourinho responded sarcastically.
“Have you ever seen Chelsea win an appeal? I don’t remember.”
He also stated he couldn’t remember “a run like this” when asked about a series of perceived incorrect calls going against Chelsea.
Dyche responded with laughter when asked about the 30th-minute incident Barnes was involved in.
“Involved in what, playing football?” Have they anything else [to complain about]? Is the grass too short?
“C’est la vie,” the Burnley manager quipped. “Over a season, we all know, we hope, it brings balance.”  Chelsea were cruising until Nemanja Matic reacted badly to a terrible Ashley Barnes tackle 
“There was more to the game than that. I thought we were excellent. I felt we deserved a point.”
There could be no disputing Burnley’s grit and bravery, even if Mourinho did have justifiable complaints against the decisions that went against his team.
The league leaders should still have put the game out of sight and this was a poor two points dropped, especially since they started well.
Chelsea were ahead after 14 minutes, with Juan Cuadrado heavily involved on what was a productive first start. He fed Eden Hazard, who danced through the Burnley defence to set up Ivanovic for what seemed yet another key goal.
He stabbed it past Tom Heaton, and Chelsea proceeded to control the game. Mourinho would say they would have been out of sight had it not been for the Kightly and Keane decisions, but Cuadrado could have added a second in the second half, only for Mee to divert the ball away.
At that point, it didn’t seem like it would be costly. Then, as a result of one challenge, chaos ensued.
If Atkinson can be criticised for the decision, however, Burnley must be praised for taking full advantage. They quickly went for Chelsea.  Benn Mee powered home a late header to give Burnley a shock point 
On 81 minutes, they had their reward as Mee got above the home back line to head past Thibaut Courtois.
“We want to attack the game,” Dyche said. “Whatever happens in a season, you don’t want to regret anything. We’ve had a go in every game bar Arsenal away but it doesn’t suit us.”
They could have won it as Danny Ings blazed over a late chance.
“Let’s not get greedy,” Dyche laughed, in reference to that. Mourinho was not smiling, as he felt his side deserved to get a lot more.

Chelsea: (4-2-3-1) Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Filipe Luis (Drogba, 86); Matic, Fabregas; Cuadrado (Willian, 63), Oscar (Ramires, 72), Hazard; Costas.
Burnley: (4-5-1) Heateon; Trippier, Keane Shackell, Mee; Boyd, Arfield, Barnes, Jones, Kightly (Vokes, 79); Ings.

Referee: Martin Atkinson.
Man of the match: Hazard (Chelsea).
Match rating: 5/10

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Observer:

Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic sent off as Ben Mee earns Burnley a draw
Chelsea 1 - 1 Burnley

Paul Doyle

Perhaps Chelsea should have expected a deviation from their script. After all, the week had begun with the club revealing they had chosen this match to mark their second annual equality day but that announcement was soon drowned out by howls of disgust after a handful of their fans exposed themselves as racist oafs on the Paris Métro before Tuesday’s Champions League game with Paris Saint-Germain. An uneventful return to action on the pitch would have been welcome but instead Chelsea were denied two points by Burnley in a game that ended in ugly recriminations.
It would be a stretch to say that Chelsea’s title charge came off the rails here but it did stall, at least. José Mourinho’s side lost not only points but also a key player, with Nemanja Matic being sent off in the second half for reacting violently to a dangerous challenge by Ashley Barnes. Chelsea were leading at that point thanks to Branislav Ivanovic’s goal in the first half but Burnley equalised against the 10 men when Ben Mee headed in from a corner nine minutes from time.
Both sides sought a decisive goal in a frenetic finish but ultimately the league leaders and the side fighting relegation shared the points and Mourinho wound up making dark allusions to the influence of officials.
 
Chelsea had wanted to send out positive messages – first to society, as, in the match programme and on giant screens at Stamford Bridge, various senior figures, including John Terry, condemned the idiocy of the fans on the Métro, and a group of supporters in the Shed End held aloft a home-made banner declaring “Black or white, we’re all Blue”; and second to Manchester City, who would have kicked off their evening match against Newcastle United 10 points adrift if Chelsea registered the expected victory.
Events on the pitch began promisingly for the hosts. The Burnley goalkeeper, Tom Heaton, was forced into a one-handed save in the fifth minute when Juan Cuadrado sent a header towards goal from 15 yards after meeting a cross from Filipe Luís. But all season Burnley have been on a mission to subvert the established order and Sean Dyche’s gallant band of rebels soon showed their teeth in the sixth minute when Barnes’s fine volley was well saved by Thibault Courtois.
For all their laudable attributes, Burnley do not have a player of Eden Hazard’s ingenuity. Few teams do. In the 14th minute the dazzling Belgian showcased his rare skills by skedaddling past three defenders in the penalty area before pulling the ball back for Ivanovic to tuck into the net from close range. That was a repetition of one Parisian event Chelsea did not mind seeing again, with this goal taking the defender’s tally for the season to six.
 
Burnley continued to pose problems but were kept mostly at arm’s length by Chelsea. Courtois made another stop from a long-range effort from Barnes. Barnes was then involved in a challenge with Ivanovic that Mourinho suggested should have resulted in a dismissal for the visitor but the referee saw nothing wrong.
Diego Costa, as in Paris, was struggling to rediscover the form he showed before his three-game suspension but in the 32nd minute he did well to find Cuadrado, who set up Ivanovic for another shot, this time from 20 yards. The Serb’s drive was blocked by Michael Kightly’s flailing arm and Chelsea demanded a penalty, but Martin Atkinson seemingly deemed it accidental.
Chelsea appealed in the 43rd minute when Costa collapsed in the box following contact from Jason Shackell. Mourinho, who claims his striker gets a raw deal from officials, threw his arms to the skies in supposed disbelief when the referee waved play on, but the decision seemed fair – Shackell’s hands did touch Costa but it was hardly the sort of shove that would, for example, prevent a commuter from boarding a train.
Chelsea improved at the start of the second half, though Burnley were the first to threaten a goal. In the 50th minute Barnes brought Courtois’s best save so far with a deflected drive from 18 yards, the keeper diverting it over with one hand.
Chelsea immediately went close at the other end as Ivanovic sent a header towards goal from a corner. Burnley scrambled the ball away despite Matic’s attempt to help it over the line. Hazard then sent Costa scampering towards the box but the striker’s shot weakly at Heaton.
 
Ivanovic was ubiquitous. In the 58th minute he clipped an inviting cross from the right towards Costa, but the forward failed to apply a decisive touch from close range.
Chelsea seemed to be tightening their grip but Matic lost his head. The midfielder was angered by Barnes’s dangerous follow-through in a tackle and showed his fury by charging at the player and pushing him to the ground. The referee issued a red card and Matic briefly had to be held back by team-mates before accepting the decision and jogging down the tunnel.
Mourinho sought to shore up midfield and was intending to introduce Gary Cahill for Costa in the 81st minute as Burnley lined up a corner following a fine save by Courtois from another Barnes shot, but he could not make the change in time and had to watch aghast as Mee rose above Ramires and headed Trippier’s delivery into the net. Both managers made attacking changes in search of a winner and Burnley came closest to snatching it, Ings firing over after a swift counter-ttack in stoppage time.

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Burnley 1
Difficult week for west Londoners ends in controversy as Nemanja Matic is sent off before Burnley grab late equaliser at Stamford Bridge

By Ben Findon, Stamford Bridge

Chelsea crave, more than anything else, for this season’s legacy not to be disciplinary furores, conspiracy theories or, worst of all, the deep scar of racism, but the beauty of exhilarating football and the glitter of silverware in the May sunshine.
Yet after a grim week in which the club’s reputation was dragged through the dirt by the actions of a group of supporters in Paris, Saturday’s spectacular implosion, triggered by a moment of madness by midfielder Nemanja Matic, was just what Jose Mourinho’s League leaders needed least.
What should have been a routine victory over second-from-bottom Burnley, built on Branislav Ivanovic’s early goal, disintegrated in front of Chelsea’s eyes after Matic was sent off 20 minutes from time by referee Martin Atkinson for shoving Ashley Barnes to the ground in retaliation for an ugly challenge.
Nine minutes from the end, Burnley inflicted a stunning blow when central defender Ben Mee climbed highest at a corner to head home and grab a deserved point for the visitors.
Mourinho, who will now be without his influential midfielder for Sunday’s Capital One Cup final with Tottenham, was upset with Barnes’s challenge on Matic, and several other decisions that went against his side.
Recalling the controversy over Diego Costa’s stamp on Emre Can during the recent Capital One Cup semi-final, he said: “I am not going to call it anything because if I do I am going to use some words... a couple of weeks ago after the Liverpool game I knew already what was running on television, saying 'Diego crimes’. So compare 'Diego crimes’ with what happened today.”
Mourinho claimed the match turned on a series of key moments in which Chelsea failed to get decisions they wanted from Atkinson. Apparently referring to two rejected penalty appeals, a perceived foul by Barnes on Ivanovic and Matic’s red card, he said: “Minutes 30, 33, 43 and 69. I cannot comment on that story. It is difficult for me to say the truth. I make it easy for you. You go home and you look at these moments and you know what I think.”
“Minute 69 has a big relation with minute 30 because normally, the player, if I can call him a player, who was involved in minute 69 and minute 30, normally he would have been in the shower. So I prefer to finish here and say minute 30, 33, 43 and 69 - the story of the day.”
Sean Dyche, the Burnley manager deflected criticisms of Barnes, who may face retrospective action. “I will look back at it at some point, I haven’t seen it but if that’s the big talking point, I think there’s more to the game than that. I thought we were excellent today,” he said.
Yet it had been so different at the outset. Chelsea weaved their passing patterns with dangerous intent from the start, and when Juan Cuadrado lost possession just outside the visitors’ penalty it was simply the cue for Eden Hazard to collect the ball, dodge past three challenges and pull back a pass for Ivanovic to roll home from eight yards after just 14 minutes.
Burnley’s task had suddenly become even steeper but Sean Dyche’s men refused to be overawed. Strugglers they may be but this is still the resilient side who recovered a two-goal deficit to draw at Chelsea’s main title rivals, Manchester City over Christmas.
Chelsea dominated possession and dictated the tempo and Burnley had to survive two penalty scares, firstly when Michael Kightly’s raised arm blocked a fierce shot from Ivanovic, then when Jason Shackell’s nudge on Diego Costa sent the Chelsea striker, back after a three-match domestic ban, spinning. Both appeals were waved away by Atkinson.
Reduced to 10 men by Matic’s moment of madness, it became a different game, although Chelsea substitute Ramires got forward to thunder a shot wide with 12 minutes remaining. Now Burnley sensed their chance. Thibaut Courtois pushed Barnes’s low shot away for a corner, and from Kieran Trippier’s kick, Mee rose high to head powerfully home.

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

Mail:

Chelsea 1-1 Burnley: Ben Mee cancels out Branislav Ivanovic strike after Nemanja Matic sees red as Blues are dealt title blow
By Matt Barlow

Two points dropped at home to relegation threatened Burnley and midfield keystone Nemanja Matic banned for three games and, surprise, surprise, it is all down to the decisions which went against Chelsea.

'Minute 30, minute 33, minute 43 and minute 69,' was pretty much all Jose Mourinho wanted to say after the game, pointing everyone towards incidents which might have twice produced a red card for Ashley Barnes and twice earned the home team a penalty.
He had a point. Barnes was certainly fortunate to get away with the tackle on Matic, which sparked a retaliatory shove which earned the Serb a red card which will rule him out of the Capital One Cup final and Barclays Premier League games against West Ham and Southampton.
With his side leading the Chelsea midfielder is given his marching orders from referee Martin Atkinson in the 70th minute of the match
Barnes also got away with a first-half challenge on the airborne Branislav Ivanovic, which might have been punished but wasn't with anything more than a free-kick to Chelsea.
The penalty claims might have gone Mourinho's way on another day but still his team must shoulder the blame. They cannot hide behind the campaign imagined by their manager.
Chelsea were rattled by the loss of Matic, 11 minutes from time, and appeared to be still seething at the injustice of it all when Barnes was allowed to turn, in Matic territory, on the edge of the penalty area, and unleash a low drive which was turned wide by Thibaut Courtois.
From the corner, taken as Gary Cahill was prepared to come on as a substitute, Ben Mee climbed above Ramires to head Kieran Trippier's cross into the net and equalise. If the referee lost his focus and made mistakes, then so did Mourinho's players. Cahill returned to the bench and Didier Drogba came on instead.
The flash of temper from Matic was most out of character and understandable when you see replays of the high challenge by Barnes, well above the ankle, but he must know you cannot react by sprinting 10 yards and throwing him to the floor.
Ivanovic, still aggrieved from his skirmish with Barnes, could not help getting involved and was booked for trying to stop Martin Atkinson brandishing his red card.
John Terry seemed to be the coolest head. If there were others, Chelsea might have defended their 1-0 lead and would not be lamenting Burnley's fighting spirit and two lost points. And to think it had all started so well for Chelsea.
Five days after his vital 'away goal' in Paris, Ivanovic struck with a goal made by Eden Hazard, and featuring Juan Cuadrado, the Colombian making only his second start but who seems to have struck an instant chemistry with those around him.
Cuadrado forced an early save from Tom Heaton with a header and his pass launched Hazard into the penalty box, where the Belgian jinked to his right, skipped past three defenders, had the vision to spot Ivanovic and cut a cross short to his feet.
Perhaps Mourinho's complaints about the tackles Hazard has been enduring had an effect on Burnley's defenders as they failed to get close to him.
Ivanovic tucked the chance away at the near post, his third goal of the month, his sixth of the season and his 31st for the club. Not bad for a defender, although there have been times this season when the thundering right-back is more of an attacker.
 He was on the rampage once again before half-time to unleash a fierce drive which crashed into Michael Kightly's arm as the Burnley winger turned his back on the ball. This was the first of Mourinho's phantom penalties.
On another day it would have been given. Kightly's arm was extended away from his body and the ball had travelled some distance towards him, albeit at incredible speed. Ivanovic was unimpressed, especially as this was only three minutes after he had been booted from behind by Barnes.
The other phantom penalty came two minutes before half-time when Jason Shackell seemed to give Diego Costa a nudge from behind as the striker wriggled free. Costa exaggerated his tumble to the turf and was appalled when referee Martin Atkinson played on.
Costa and Atkinson have history from the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final at Liverpool.
Heaton saved from Oscar soon after conceding, but the visitors readjusted and there were flashes of encouragement for Sean Dyche before half-time, underlining how far his team have come since they were swept away by Chelsea at Turf Moor on the opening day of the campaign.
Barnes caught a volley sweetly from the edge of the penalty box but it was too near the goalkeeper, Shackell headed over when free at a corner. Courtois beat away a deflected effort from Barnes after the break, but Chelsea slowly regained control, creating a cluster of second-half chances with Hazard influential.
Matic almost smuggled in a second from a messy corner and Costa released by Hazard had a left-footer saved. Chelsea's top scorer then beat the ground with his fist as he came within inches of reaching crosses from either full-back.
Then the red card rocked the home team. Without Matic, they are not the same team, losing the midfield balance, which will concern Mourinho as he looks at the next three games.
Matic's dismissal is unlikely to be overturned as Barnes' provocation is not sufficient enough as a defence. The Burnley forward however could face an FA charge for his part in the incident.
Mee levelled from the corner to earn the point Dyche thought his battling team deserved, and they might have had more. As Chelsea pressed forward in search of a late winner, Danny Ings broke clear in the fourth minute of stoppage time and almost won it for Burnley.

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

Mirror:

Chelsea 1-1 Burnley: Ten-man Blues throw away lead after Matic sees red
 
By Adrian Kajumba
 
Burnley put in a great second half and could even have grabbed a winner after Matic was sent off

Ben Mee was the unlikely Burnley hero as he earned them a shock point against ten-man Chelsea.
Sean Dyche's Clarets stunned the league leaders at Stamford Bridge when defender Mee headed home Kieran Trippier’s 81st minute corner to cancel out Branislav Ivanovic’s opener.
Mee struck 11 minutes after the incident that turned the match when Nemanja Matic saw red for reacting furiously to Ashley Barnes’s challenge and shoved over the Burnley striker.
The draw meant Jose Mourinho’s men missed the chance to go 10 points clear and handed Manchester City fresh hope in the title race ahead of their evening kick off against Newcastle while Burnley climbed up a place to third bottom.
The result, only the second time Chelsea have dropped league points at home this season, meant a disappointing end to another controversial week for the club.
They were back in action for the first time since a racist attack on a black man by a small group of their fans ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League tie at Paris Saint-Germain.
The positive response from the club to the incident was continued by the supporters inside Stamford Bridge.
One banner declaring ‘black or white, we’re all blue’ was unfurled while other fans held up posters with the slogan ‘no racism at the Bridge, that’s the way we like it.'
Chelsea made a great start on the pitch when they took the lead after 14 minutes.
Twinkle-toed Belgian Eden Hazard did brilliantly to jink his way to the byline after Juan Cuadrado regained possession and cut the ball back for Ivanovic who turned in his fourth goal in the last six games.
Ivanovic felt Chelsea should have had a penalty in the 32nd minute when his shot was blocked by Michael Kightly.
They had an even better shout just before half-time when Diego Costa appeared to be pushed over by Jason Shackell but again referee Martin Atkinson waved away Chelsea’s appeals.
Burnley threatened first after the break when Ashley Barnes's rising volley was helped over at full stretch by Thibaut Courtois.
But Costa could have doubled Chelsea’s lead 10 minutes after the restart when he raced clear onto Hazard’s pass but his shot was comfortably saved by Heaton.
Then the game exploded into life in the 70th minute when Matic saw red - literally.
He exploded after being caught by Ashley Barnes’s follow through, leaping to his feet and charging at the Burnley striker.
Barnes’ challenge was high, as he raked his studs down Matic’s leg after getting to the ball first. But referee Martin Atkinson had no choice but to show the Serbian midfielder a red card.
Burnley took full advantage 11 minutes later when they levelled. Their equaliser might have come seconds earlier when Courtois produced an excellent fingertip stop to keep out a Barnes snapshot.
But Burnley didn’t have to wait much longer for their goal as Mee climbed above Ramires to power home Trippier’s corner and make it 1-1.
That was how it stayed as Burnley held on for a brilliant result.
And there was another flashpoint to come after the full-time whistle as Chelsea coach Rui Faria was involved in a furious confrontation with Burnley goalkeeping coach Billy Mercer.

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

Express:

Chelsea 1 - Burnley 1
Nemanja Matic’s red mist shove so costly for Blues
THE tackle was shocking. The reaction was stupid. The consequence was that Nemanja Matic’s loss of control threw away victory for Chelsea.
By Jim Holden

Maybe the lost points won’t matter at the end of the season and Chelsea will stay on course to win the Premier League.
But these can also be the kind of moments which change the momentum of a campaign.
Even before the flashpoint incident in the 69th minute, the reality was that Chelsea were struggling to maintain superiority over opponents who lie in the relegation zone.
Then came the reckless, dangerous and horribly late tackle by Ashley Barnes which caught Matic high on the shin.
It should have meant a straight red card for the Burnley striker, who otherwise had a fine match, forcing several saves from Thibaut Courtois.
Instead, it was missed by referee Martin Atkinson and his officials.
Matic took retribution into his own hands, angrily shoving Barnes to the ground – and when the ref saw this he had no option but to send off the Chelsea midfielder.
Such is the way of football sometimes. You could sympathise with Chelsea’s fury, but not with the folly of Matic himself, who will now miss the Capital One Cup Final.
Chelsea had been leading 1-0 up to that point thanks to Branislav Ivanovic’s goal, but now faced a Burnley side with fresh optimism.
Ten minutes from time the visitors equalised with a goal headed in at a corner by defender Ben Mee.
Burnley might even have snatched victory with the last kick of the game on a counter attack but Danny Ings fired the chance high over the bar.
Defeat would have been unjust on Chelsea, but their perception of conspiracy is overstated.
Atkinson didn’t miss seeing the bad tackle by Barnes on purpose and you wonder if manager Jose Mourinho is wise to keep on seeing demons everywhere.
The referee also missed a couple of good penalty claims for handball, one for each side, and was probably correct to rule out a spot-kick after Diego Costa tumbled easily in the box when shoulder-to-shoulder with Burnley skipper Jason Shackell.
Nevertheless, it was a game Chelsea should have won on the back of the brilliance in the first half of Eden Hazard.
Modern football is filled with a blizzard of statistics, but among the most revealing this season is that more players (20) have been booked for fouling Hazard than anyone in the Premier League.
It illustrates the extent to which Chelsea prosper from the creative genius of the Belgian international; his jinking runs, sniper passes and occasional goals.
Hazard shone brightest again here against a well-drilled and determined Burnley side.
A swivel of the hips, a side-step, a quick dart through the gap and Hazard had fashioned the opening goal in the 14th minute, reaching the byline and then delivering a perfect pass for Ivanovic to tap home from close range.
No wonder Chelsea are so pleased to have signed up Hazard on a new five-and-a-year contract.
Burnley’s contribution to the game was also entertaining. Ings and Barnes ensured Chelsea captain John Terry had a far from easy ride.
Burnley boss Sean Dyche disagreed with Mourinho’s belief that Barnes should have been sent off. He said: “I’ve only seen it as it happened. It looked like a coming together at an odd angle. Then Matic reacts in the way he did.”

CHELSEA: Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Luis (Drogba 86); Fabregas, Matic; Cuadrado (Willian 63), Oscar (Ramires 72), Hazard; Costa.
BURNLEY: Heaton; Trippier, Keane, Shackell, Mee; Boyd, Jones, Arfield, Kightly (Vokes 79); Ings, Barnes.

Man of the match: EDEN HAZARD – a delight to watch as teased and tormented the Burnley defenders.
Referee: M Atkinson.
Attendance: 41,629.

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

Star:

Chelsea 1 Burnley 1: Ben Mee snatches point for Clarets after Ivanovic opener
NEMANJA MATIC lost his head just when Chelsea were putting right wrongs.

By Tony Stenson

He was sent off for a reckless 70th-minute push on Ashley Barnes after he believed he had been fouled.
His reaction after was pure petulant schoolboy, getting up off the floor and racing ten yards to push the Burnley player over.
Referee Martin Atkinson had no option but to wave the red card.
It led to a nail-biting end for Chelsea as Burnley charged down the ten men and grabbed an 80th-minute equaliser through Ben Mee’s header.
It was a sad ending to what started out so brightly.
Chelsea let their grip slip at the top of the Premier League after Branislav Ivanovic had given them hope of taking all three points.
Surely Ivanovic – hero of their Champions League draw against Paris St-Germain in midweek – must now be regarded at the best goal-scoring full-back in world football.
He has often been their saviour, both in defence and attack. Chelsea should really have won easily.
They were always on the front foot and credit must go to Burnley for refusing to be overawed.
The Blues had two decent penalty appeals denied.
Angry Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho refused to call Ashley Barnes ‘a player’ and claimed he should have been sent off BEFORE his reckless tackle on Matic.
His challenge led to the Serb retaliating and being sent off. Matic will now miss next week’s Capital One Cup Final.
Mourinho said: “Don’t make me laugh because I am not in the mood to laugh.
“The tackle? I leave it with you. I prefer not to call it that because I will use some words (I don’t want to). I prefer to say this game had four crucial moments. Minutes, 30, 33, 43 and 69. This is the story of this game.
“The player – if I can call him a player – was involved in minute 69 and also involved in minute 30. Normally minute 31 he should have been in the shower. “
Burnley boss Sean Dyche said: “I only saw it as it happened and it looked to me as a coming together of two people.
“I can only give my instant reaction and I will look it again. If that is the big talking point I accept it but I also thought we were excellent today.
“I do not know if Barnes will face retrospective action. I would be surprised but who knows?”
It was ironically Chelsea’s annual Day of Equality at the end of a week where the club had been forced to condemn the racist behaviour of some supporters in Paris.
Off the field they showed courage and dignity by slamming and banning those who stained their name on the Paris Metro.
Burnley went a goal down early on but showed a fighting spirit that should help them survive the drop out of the Premier League.
Dyche constantly patrolled his area, demanding no let-up.
His team responded well but it needed the efforts of keeper Tom Heaton to keep them holding on. Eden Hazard, Oscar and defender Lilipe Luis always kept Chelsea ahead on points.
They also found an emerging new star in Juan Cuadrado, a livewire version of Willian, who replaced him later.
Cuadrado certainly put in a shift and helped create the first goal after forcing Burnley keeper Heaton to tip over an early header from Luis’ cross.
It was Cuadrado’s industry that led to them taking the lead in the 15th minute.
He won the ball, lost it, won it back and then stepped back for Hazard to weave his magic.
Hazard made his way to the byline before crossing for Ivanovic to tap home.
Chelsea were denied a penalty when Michael Kightly threw out an arm for block Ivanovic’s 32nd-minute shot.
Mourinho had his arms aloft again when Chelsea were denied another penalty after Shackell pushed over Costa on the stroke of half-time.
Heaton saved from Costa in the 56th minute as Chelsea relentlessly kept in pursuit of the killer second goal.
Instead, Burnley – lifted by Matic’s dismissal – equalised when Kieran Trippier swung over a corner and Mee headed in.
Sought-after Danny Ings could even have won it for the visitors in added time but his shot flew inches over.

Paris St-Germain 1-1

Independent:
Edinson Cavani cancels out Branislav Ivanovic opener to leave Champions League tie delicately poised
PSG 1 Chelsea 1

By SAM WALLACE

This was the way Jose Mourinho likes his team to play away in Europe: unyielding, disciplined and gradually introducing in opposition minds a looming sense of despair about their prospects in the London when the final business of this tie will be conducted.
Never a classic European game by any means – these Champions League tie first legs so rarely are – but it would have been the perfect performance for Mourinho’s team had a brief miscalculation not allowed Edinson Cavani in for the equaliser ten minutes into the second half. They needed to Thibaut Courtois to intervene more than once, but there they left Paris in control of this tie.
In this great clash of two of European football’s fossil fuel fortunes, Chelsea still look very much the grown-ups of the piece when it comes to Champions League football. Their performance ebbed a little in the second half and yet for the few chances PSG created Mourinho’s team, and their fine goalkeeper, back in the side, looked in control.
After Branislav Ivanovic had given them the lead in the first half it was not implausible to think they might have gone on to win this match but a scoring draw was no hardship. In the quarter-finals last year they lost 3-1 at the Parc des Princes and then scored two goals without reply at home, and with a much better result against PSG this time, they are the favourites to go through.
By the time they meet again, Mourinho will hope to have the first trophy of his second coming at Stamford Bridge, the League Cup, the final of which divides these two legs, absurdly three weeks apart. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his team-mates will have to conjure the performance of PSG’s recent Qatari oil-fired history to eliminate Chelsea. Mourinho has never lost a two-leg Champions League tie in which his team secured an away score draw in the first leg
There is a precision to Chelsea’s tactical formation in away games in the Champions League that even the best teams can find themselves confronted by a thousand dead-ends. They were at their obstinate best before half-time tonight even on the occasions when Ibrahimovic pinned Gary Cahill behind him and tried to get PSG’s attacks going.
The Swedish striker is a very hard man to control all of the time, even for a defence as accomplished as Chelsea’s with Cahill back in the side in place of Kurt Zouma. But what they did manage was to limit the damage he could do and when there was no other alternative, Courtois came to the rescue.
The Belgian was back in the team after Petr Cech’s return against Everton and three times in the first half he made important saves. On 11 minutes, Blaise Matuidi and then Ibrahimovic had headers in quick succession which Courtois left himself as much time as possible to read and succeeded in pushing both away.
That was one of PSG’s best spells in the first half, when they managed to get some traction down the wing and did not find themselves wondering lost into that triangle of pain between Nemanja Matic, John Terry and Cahill.  They had found it hard going otherwise and their only other good chance at goal was Cavani’s near post header from Ezequiel Lavezzi’s corner that Courtois thrust a fist at and saved.
Otherwise you always felt that Chelsea were shaping the first half according to their own expectations. Ramires and Matic took care of whatever PSG tried to work through the middle. Eden Hazard found himself fouled, as per usual, most times he had the ball at his feet. It was more frustrating for Diego Costa, but then he knew what he was signing up for as the lone forward in a Mourinho team.
The goal came from yet another free-kick won by Hazard, for which the likes of Terry and Cahill pushed up to contest. The ball came back to Matic and it was his low ball out to the left that found Terry. There was nothing much in the cross that was waist-high and unpromising until Cahill flicked out a heel and changed pace, direction and trajectory. The PSG defence failed to react and Ivanovic nodded the ball past a stranded Salvatore Sirigu. 
This was the classic Chelsea European sucker punch, one that they have made a habit of landing on an opponent’s jaw more than once. They committed their defenders to set-pieces and while on this occasion a goal did not result directly, it was the reason that all three of the central protagonists found themselves in the PSG third together.
It was a dismal outcome for PSG whose efforts had dwindled before the break. They came out for the second half with a lot more impetus and equalised within ten minutes, with only Cavani’s fourth goal since the start of December. The attack had been begun by David Luiz, occupying a deep-lying midfield position against his former club and from him had gone to Matuidi who had crossed for Cavani to head in.
The cross from Matuidi had dropped just over the head of the unfortunate Cahill which opened up the angle for Cavani to direct it low and into the corner past Courtois. Chelsea’s defenders are fastidious about the positions they take up in the area – always zonal, never man-for-man – and occasionally there is a cross that is liable to drop beyond both their spheres of influence.
As for Luiz, he had played a familiar game for PSG – strident passing but not much moving off the ball to open up the space for the return. The goal aside, there was a lack of briskness about his and PSG’s passing that permitted Mourinho’s well-drilled men to re-organise and re-form behind the ball.
Luiz got a shove from Cesc Fabregas, back in the team, after one challenge, and then another from Costa later on. He is a good player, but not a great midfielder and you can see why Mourinho would prefer a player with a greater economy of touches in that position.
In the last ten minutes, there was a growing panic among PSG that they would be taking less to London in three weeks’ time than they did one year ago. Cavani opened up some space in the right channel and his shot beat Courtois but was outside the far post. Ibrahimovic had a late header which, Courtois did well to get down to and push over the bar.
The final whistle was greeted with grim resignation by the home crowd. PSG had thrown their best at Courtois and Chelsea in the closing stages, and you wonder how much more they can offer in London.

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

Guardian:

Chelsea hold advantage despite PSG recovery from Branislav Ivanovic goal
PSG 1 - 1 Chelsea
Daniel Taylor at Parc des Princes

For Chelsea there was a measure of satisfaction but maybe a hint of exasperation too. They had struck first, courtesy of another addition to Branislav Ivanovic’s portfolio of important goals, but what they could not do was further enhance their reputation as possibly the best team anywhere when it comes to absorbing pressure and holding on to a lead.
José Mourinho will certainly be aggrieved by the uncharacteristic lapses that let in Edinson Cavani to equalise nine minutes into a second half in which Chelsea barely made any pretence about wanting to commit too many players forward. They invited some prolonged pressure during those moments and, re-energised, Cavani created enough problems in the last half an hour to remind Chelsea that at this level the advantage of taking an away goal into the return leg is only a slight one.
Ultimately, though, it was still a reasonable night’s work from Mourinho’s team, particularly when the manager later revealed that five of his players had barely trained since their last match against Everton.
Chelsea’s spells of conservatism might not appeal to everyone. They might not be the most exciting team in the world, or the most daring, but they are hugely effective and, though his team just about always operated with restraint, it is not as if Mourinho is against the odd moment of adventure. Ivanovic’s goal was created by a combination of John Terry and Gary Cahill, and how many other occasions will there be in the Champions League’s knockout stages when one centre-half crosses, another flicks the ball on and the right-back is there to apply the finishing touch? It was just a pity, perhaps, that Chelsea rarely showed any real ambition to go for a second goal.
For long spells their strategically slow tempo successfully took the sting out of the occasion, making sure their opponents could not build too much momentum, but it was a spirited response from Laurent Blanc’s side in the second half and Chelsea needed Thibaut Courtois to justify why he had been restored to the team.
Mourinho’s team selection represented a huge show of faith in the Belgian bearing in mind Petr Cech’s performance against Everton and Courtois certainly warranted his place. His outstanding moment was probably the near-post save to turn away Cavani’s header a couple of minutes before Ivanovic’s goal.
There were other times, when he kept out Zlatan Ibrahimovic and again, in stoppage time, when the Swede had a header to win the game but could not get enough power in his neck muscles to beat the goalkeeper.
Chelsea’s tactics once they had taken the lead meant Diego Costa was often an isolated figure in their attack. Cesc Fàbregas dropped further back into midfield, joining Nemanja Matic and Ramires in protecting the Chelsea back four.
Willian and Eden Hazard tucked inside to cut out even more space and the disappointment for Mourinho was the nature of Cavani’s goal just as it had started to look as if Blanc’s side were low on ideas.
The most obvious positional error was Cahill’s, getting under the cross from Blaise Matuidi and allowing a forward of Cavani’s gifts too much space. Yet Mourinho should not apportion all the blame to one man. The delivery had come from Chelsea’s right, with Ivanovic having deserted his position and Willian left with two men to pick up. It was unusual to see Chelsea being prone to this kind of carelessness and Cavani is not the kind of opponent to be generous, flashing his header past Courtois.
It was his sixth goal in seven Champions League ties, extending PSG’s run of having scored in home matches to 19 in this competition.
Ivanovic’s goal was a typically precise header, reminding one again that he has the qualities of an old-fashioned centre-forward in the opposition’s penalty area. He never again ventured so far forward after that. Chelsea were happy instead to defend for the rest of the match and they rarely strayed from that tactic even after Cavani’s equaliser changed the complexion of the evening.
The volume went up several notches and a few minutes later it needed a fortunate block from César Azpilicueta to keep out Ezequiel Lavezzi’s goal-bound shot. Courtois had saved Ibrahimovic’s initial effort and, for the first time, there was the sense that Chelsea might be rattled.
Cavani continued to be a menace, wriggling free at one point before stabbing a shot just past the post. Marco Verratti’s indefatigable running was a prominent feature and David Luiz, also operating in midfield, looked eager to do well against his former club.
Blanc said it was a better performance than when his team won 3-1 in the match here last season and, even if he was being slightly economical with the truth, they could probably be forgiven for thinking Chelsea might still be vulnerable when the teams renew acquaintance at Stamford Bridge on 11 March.
“I must say, Chelsea didn’t show much,” Blanc said. Yet the advantage is still with Chelsea. “Minimal”was the word Mourinho applied.

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

Telegraph:

Edinson Cavani cancelled out Branislav Ivanovic's first-half header as Thibaut Courtois saves day for visitors
Henry Winter

On a good night for London in Paris, this was a case of backs for the goal, then backs to the wall for Chelsea. John Terry and Gary Cahill set up Branislav Ivanovic for a vital away goal. Chelsea’s backs then played resiliently, resisting Paris Saint-Germain’s second-half pressure barring an equalising header from Edinson Cavani.
Chelsea were, though, deeply grateful to the outstanding Thibaut Courtois for a string of saves, including a late one from a Zlatan Ibrahimovic header that ensured they remain favourites going in to the second leg at Stamford Bridge on March 11.
From Barcelona to Munich, Chelsea have been in these demanding defensive situations so many times that they seem to possess a default defiance setting. The personnel occasionally changes, Courtois replacing Petr Cech, but they avoid risks, concentrate hard, clear their lines, stand tall, time their tackles, cover each other’s backs and repel attacks.
Individuals take responsibility. Nobody hides. Their work ethic and team ethos shine through.
This was a reminder that Chelsea can secure results without their creative fireflies really sparking. Cesc Fabregas was still struggling to shake off his cold. Eden Hazard was struggling to shake off Gregory van der Wiel and Marco Verratti. Diego Costa was struggling to pick up the pace of the game on returning from his enforced exile. Willian had one of his quieter games.
Yet PSG deserve considerable praise. Thiago Silva and Marquinhos pushed Costa deep or wide. Blaise Matuidi was the best outfield player on view, creating Cavani’s goal, getting down the left, moving inside and duelling with Nemanja Matic, and thwarted by Courtois in the first half. There was no shortage of midfield talent looking on from the chic seats, including David Beckham, Dunga and Michel Platini, watching PSG’s improved second-half display with Matuidi at its heart.
Nobody expected it to be a stroll by the Seine for Chelsea. They lost here last year. It was even a difficult evening for their supporters with many still outside five minutes after the game kicked off, with one fans’ leader calling “French police organisation a shambles”.
When the visiting fans managed to get into their corner of Parc des Princes, they witnessed their team’s character. With their attacking forces blunted, Chelsea simply relied on others, on Ivanovic for the goal, on Courtois to keep the score level. Their spirit was shown by the fact that Hazard, Willian, Ivanovic, Fabregas and the substitute Oscar had not trained since the Everton game last Wednesday for reasons from knocks to colds. They all reported for duty, all determined to play their part in steering Chelsea closer to the final. PSG had seven corners to Chelsea’s one, six efforts on target to Chelsea’s one, but that one away goal meant so much.
It was hardly a physical game, yet the stats also showed that Hazard was fouled nine times, compared to 10 for all the other Chelsea players combined. It was a sign of PSG’s concern over the former two-time Ligue 1 player of the year. Jose Mourinho made the legitimate point afterwards that this was also a debate that should be held more frequently in English football, namely the protecting of talent. Mourinho emphasised that Hazard is not the type to milk challenges, rolling around to alert the referee, exaggerating the impact to ensure the perpetrator receives a sanction. The Belgian was “pure”, argued Mourinho, and suffered for his honesty.
Mourinho was low key on the rhetoric front afterwards, yet he will know the importance of Ivanovic’s intervention nine minutes from the break. On three occasions in three separate competitions in his last five games, Ivanovic has now contributed significant goals.
The Serb headed the winner in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool on Jan 27 to send Chelsea to Wembley, cutting his foot in the process so badly that Mourinho said his blood-filled boot should be placed in the club museum to show young players the sacrifices made by the best.
On Feb 7, Ivanovic’s goal secured a 2-1 defeat of Aston Villa, strengthening Chelsea’s position at the top of the Premier League. Ivanovic struck another important blow, his 30th goal for the club since arriving from Lokomotiv Moscow for £9 million in January 2008.
The sight of three defenders involved in the goal, Terry and Cahill teeing up Ivanovic, was a riposte to those who suggested Chelsea might park the bus. Chelsea’s coach had suffered a scrape arriving at the ground, becoming briefly wedged in the tunnel, leading to jokes among onlookers about Mourinho parking the bus yet the Chelsea manager stepped from the briefly marooned bus in search of an away goal.
For a while, it was extended sparring, plenty of probing combinations but no real punches landed. PSG went closest first. Zlatan Ibrahimovic played the ball left to Cavani, whose cross was headed by Matuidi but Courtois punched the danger clear. Moments later, Matuidi was out on the left, delivering a ball destined for Ibrahimovic. The Swede has laboured against English defences in the past, barring that bout of pyrotechnics against England in Stockholm in 2012 and the odd game against Arsenal. He managed to outmuscle Terry to reach Matuidi’s cross, heading down but again Courtois was alert. Chelsea’s keeper then saved at the near-post from Cavani.
Then came that sweet moment of devastating attacking by Chelsea’s defenders. Terry clipped the ball across from the left and Cahill turned potential into potency with the deftest of flicks. Ivanovic, easily losing David Luiz, met the ball with a well-directed header steered past Salvatore Sirigu.
Yet there is such talent in this team of Laurent Blanc’s that they equalised nine minutes into the second half. Matuidi’s cross from the left was perfect, totally catching out Cahill, the ball carrying over the England international and being headed by Cavani past Courtois. Cahill has been embarrassed by the Uruguayan before, not least at the World Cup when the centre-half failed to close down Cavani who crossed for Luis Suárez’s first. Yet Cahill responded well here.
After 66 minutes, Ivanovic was cautioned for a tackle more in keeping with the stadium’s rugby union connections. The Chelsea right-back was so determined to stop Cavani escaping that he pulled his leg back.
Ezequiel Lavezzi’s free-kick was headed strongly goalwards by David Luiz but Courtois again excelled, pushing the header over.
The momentum was with the Parisians. Chelsea were being pinned deep and Mourinho needed an outlet, a new challenge to test PSG. Juan Cuadrado came on for Willian, and then Loic Remy replaced the rusty Costa.
In between, Cavani almost gave PSG the lead. Taking a pass from Matuidi, the Uruguayan glided in from the left, wrongfooting Matic and placing a shot just wide of Courtois’ left-hand upright. Mourinho twisted again, playing his last card, sending on Oscar for the tiring Fabregas.
Chelsea were protecting their goal well, Cahill beating Ibrahimovic to the ball and then clearing as Matuidi charged through.
Courtois made his final superb save, pushing away Ibrahimovic’s header, making it advantage Chelsea.

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

Mail:

PSG 1-1 Chelsea: Branislav Ivanovic scores crucial away goal to give Jose Mourinho's side slender advantage going into second leg despite Edinson Cavani equaliser
By Martin Samuel

Jose Mourinho learned a lot in Paris. Not on Tuesday night, necessarily, but a year ago. It was in this fixture in the previous campaign that this Chelsea team began to take shape.
David Luiz made a mistake that got Paris Saint-Germain back into the game; Petr Cech was unconvincing in goal. Mourinho corrected both of those perceived flaws in the summer and on Tuesday night those changes paid off.
Thibaut Courtois, who has taken Cech’s place as first choice goalkeeper, was quite outstanding and kept Chelsea in the match. Luiz, sold to PSG for £50million, appeared to lose Branislav Ivanovic for Chelsea’s goal. His extraordinary fee made the signings of Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas possible and one imagines they will have greater influence on the outcome when these teams reconvene on March 11.
Costa and Fabregas were both recovering from spells out of the team and were below par. In three weeks’ time it may be a different story.
It will need to be because while this was a job well done, nobody should think a draw and an away goal amount to a guarantee for Chelsea against the champions of France. It needed Courtois to be at his very best, and Chelsea to weather a second-half onslaught in which PSG found a fresh level of menace, before the sides could shake hands, honours even.
By then, Chelsea were more than acquainted with the danger posed in that second leg. Edinson Cavani’s 54th-minute equaliser was not the half of it.
PSG ran out 3-1 winners here last year and could have done so again had Courtois, and others, not been at the top of their game. This PSG side cannot be underestimated, no matter what the history books say about the record of French teams in England.
Having lost heavily a year ago, a 1-1 draw is to be respected. Yet an away goal at Stamford Bridge will make for a very tense night, and Laurent Blanc’s team are more than capable of it.
Cavani was a constant threat and while Zlatan Ibrahimovic has never scored against a Mourinho defence, he caused enough problems to suggest the continuation of that run cannot be presumed.
He should have won the tie deep in added time when a cross by Blaise Matuidi found him at the far post. His header was directed into the dirt and reared up to force the final intervention from Courtois, tipping it around for a corner. There were other saves, equally spectacular.
He had earlier kept PSG at bay with an outstanding low stop after Ibrahimovic had broken free of his guards. The ball came out to Ezequiel Lavezzi but this time Cesar Azpilicueta came to the rescue, making excellent ground to clear his line. PSG were certainly a different proposition after half-time.
It had not been the most thrilling opening 45 minutes, in all truthfulness. In the 11th minute, a cross from Cavani was headed powerfully goalwards by Matuidi, but parried with both hands by Courtois. From the next attacking phase, Matuidi crossed to Ibrahimovic, whose header was again kept out by the Belgian. Chelsea then regrouped and it was not until the 33rd minute that Paris came close again.
On this occasion it was a desperately poor touch by Ramires that conceded possession and set up a PSG counter-attack. Azpilicueta took no chances offering up the corner and, from it, Lavezzi’s delivery was met by Cavani at the near post, Courtois’ stunning reflexes equal to the challenge again.
The Parc des Princes bristled with anticipation yet it is in Chelsea’s nature to prick balloons and four minutes later PSG were behind.
It was a goal remarkable for doing entirely without forwards, wide men or even hard-running midfielders. A set-piece had broken down but not left the danger zone and John Terry sprinted out to the left to recover the loose ball. He whipped in an early cross, flicked on by his central defensive partner Cahill and falling to right back Branislav Ivanovic, who lost Luiz.
As is his style in important games, Ivanovic seized the moment and directed a deft header past goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu. It was very clinical, very Chelsea. They had to defend much the same way, as Paris upped the tempo after half-time.
Mourinho will be upset at the goal, though, which came after a Matuidi cross was poorly read by Cahill, pulled out of position, allowing Cavani a free header from his favourite place on the edge of the six-yard box. It was the one occasion on the night when Courtois was rendered powerless.
For Luiz, playing his first game against his former club, the match was a mixed bag. Deployed in midfield in place of the injured Thiago Motta, he had a dust-up with Costa, took one from Fabregas, gave plenty back, will be disappointed with the goal, but pleased with his growing influence on PSG’s build-up play after half-time.
For a defender, he has an excellent range of passing, but not always the best sense of danger. One imagines Mourinho will still feel he got the best of that £50m transaction.
This may go down as the earliest parking of a bus in the history of European football, close to two hours prior to kick-off when Chelsea’s vehicle managed to get stuck in the Parc des Prince tunnel and was abandoned.
Mourinho stomped off, face like thunder, and sent out a team in that image. This was a growl of a performance at times, brooding, occasionally irritable, but resolute.
Not that PSG were wholly different. They recognised Eden Hazard as the danger and swarmed around him, committing fouls. Costa copped it, too. The striker, as is his instinct, met fire with fire, leaving a foot in here and there and bristling with physical defiance as PSG sought to close him down.
Fabregas was hit hard and took his frustration out on Luiz. He had got away with a verbal warning and then Costa intervened, pulling Luiz’s hair on the sly and needlessly upping the ante just at the moment Chelsea should have been beating a respectful retreat. The professionals all love that spiky attitude but in this of all competitions, Costa’s grumbles and rumbles could return to haunt his club. If referee Cuneyt Cakir from Turkey had seen it, there could have been damaging repercussions.
Still, all’s well that ends well.

PSG (4-3-3): Sirigu 6.5; Van der Wiel 6, Marquinhos 5.5, Thiago Silva 6, Maxwell 6; Verratti 6.5; David Luiz 6.5; Matuidi 6.5; Lavezzi 6.5 (Pastore 81), Ibrahimovic 6.5; Cavani 7
Subs not used: Douchez, Camara, Bahebeck, Digne, Rabiot, Kimpembe
Goal: Cavani 54
Booked: Van der Wiel, Verratti

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Courtois 7.5; Ivanovic 6, Cahill 5.5, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 6.5; Ramires 6.5, Matic 7; Willian 6 (Cuadrado 79), Fabregas 7 (Oscar 83), Hazard 6; Diego Costa 6 (Remy 81)
Subs not used: Cech, Filipe Luis, Zouma, Drogba
Goal: Ivanovic 36
Booked: Ivanovic, Fabregas
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir 6 

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

Mirror:

PSG 1-1 Chelsea: Ivanovic's away goal hands Mourinho's men the initiative despite Cavani equaliser
John Cross

The Chelsea defender headed his side into the lead before a second-half revival from PSG saw the first-leg end all square
Jose Mourinho went over to the fans at the final whistle to celebrate a huge result on the way to immortality, reports John Cross in Paris.
The Special One immediately sensed the importance of a priceless away goal and a major step towards the Champions League quarter-finals.
It was a tough night in the Parc des Princes and had it not been for the heroics of keeper Thibaut Courtois then Chelsea would have suffered a similar fate as last year.
But now Mourinho returns to London for the second leg next month with Chelsea red-hot favourites to progress thanks to Branislav Ivanovic’s first half opener.
And despite Edinson Cavani’s leveller, Chelsea weathered a second half storm with a determination and resolve instilled by a manager in search of history.
Mourinho clearly has the bit between his teeth as he wants to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs.
Having conquered Europe with Porto and Inter Milan, he knows trophies are won on the back of nights like these.
They had to defend for their lives, survive some major scares and even call on a major slice of Lady Luck at times.
But to emerge from Paris with a good result is no mean feat bearing in mind that PSG have now not lost in 33 European home games.
And despite that incredible run, PSG are outsiders now in a tie which shows exactly why they tried to recruit Mourinho before Chelsea and their current manager Laurent Blanc. They had chances, but failed to take them.
Even when Chelsea don’t play at their best, they find a way. This time, just like last year, they went ahead. The difference a year on is that they held out rather than losing 3-1 as they did last season, albeit they overturned the defeat in the second leg.
If they hold their nerve at Stamford Bridge, then they will remain on course for European glory and you just get the feeling that Mourinho is in the mood with Chelsea entering the business end of the season well placed both at home and abroad.
They didn’t start well - and didn’t park the bus well at all. In fact, the coach driver crashed the Chelsea team bus going round a corner on the way into the stadium.
And the defence looked equally shaky as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Blaise Matuidi and Cavani all forced good saves from Courtois before Chelsea even got going.
But when Chelsea found a way through, it came via the most unlikely source. A back trio, in fact. The three big guys had stayed up for a set piece, didn’t retreat and ended up conjuring a wonderful goal for Ivanovic.
John Terry put over a corner from the left, Gary Cahill provided a deft flick on and Ivanovic rose to head home into the top corner. A week ago a villain after the bust-up with Everton’s James McCarthy, now a hero for the travelling Chelsea fans.
It was rough on PSG who had been the better team. But back came the French giants and Mourinho’s disappointment will be that they cracked under pressure just 11 minutes after the restart.
PLAYER RATINGS: Who was your man of the match in Paris?
Matuidi’s cross from the left exposed a worrying trend in Chelsea’s defence as Cahill - for so long reliable and dependable - once again made a mistake as he lost Cavani and the Uruguayan’s powerful near post header flew to the far corner past Courtois.
It left Chelsea with a mountain to climb and a long time to survive with PSG picking up a powerful momentum. Courtois denied Ibrahimovic at point blank range and Matuidi’s follow-up shot was blocked by Cesar Azpilicueta.
Edinson Cavani celebrates after scoring the first goal for PSG
Cavani, easily PSG’s best forward, was always a threat and weaved his way through the Chelsea defence like a slalom skier only to poke the ball wide as Chelsea sustained a heavy spell of late pressure.
But Chelsea’s final let off came in injury time when Ibrahimovic’s close range header was brilliantly blocked by Courtois. It was the sort of moment that makes you think this could be Mourinho’s destiny.

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

Express:

PSG 1 - Chelsea 1: Thibaut Courtois to the rescue as Blues hold on for draw in Paris
Tony Banks

Chelsea pranged their bus as they arrived here but Jose Mourinho’s team were far more assured as they placed one foot in the quarter-finals.
In a white-hot atmosphere in Paris, Branislav Ivanovic gave Chelsea a priceless lead with the away goal they wanted, before Edinson Cavani levelled.
But Chelsea rallied and held out for the draw and are now favourites to make the last eight.
Mourinho was the man who once accused Tottenham of “parking the bus” when they held Chelsea to a goalless draw. His club have also been guilty of such tactics – but they certainly were not last night, as the Chelsea coach bashed into a wall and cracked a window pulling into the stadium.
But at least Diego Costa was back after his three-game ban and Cesc Fabregas had recovered from his bout of flu to take his place in midfield.
A year ago Chelsea had edged past Laurent Blanc’s team in the quarter-finals with a goal three minutes from time to give them a win on away goals. But they have improved since then.
Before the game, Mourinho had cheekily reminded everyone that he had twice turned down the manager’s job at the French club. But PSG, who have had a rocky season with coach Blanc under pressure lying only third in Ligue 1, had a point to prove.
When Cavani crossed from the left, Blaise Matuidi’s header was excellently pushed away by the recalled Thibaut Courtois, and then the Chelsea goalkeeper also stopped Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s weak nod down, as the hosts started strongly.
David Luiz, playing in midfield due to PSG’s injury problems, was orchestrating play – as Costa made his presence felt early by flattening Thiago Silva.
Ibrahimovic’s sheer strength and power were a problem for Chelsea but it was cagey, tense stuff, with PSG pulling everybody back every time Chelsea had the ball.
Eden Hazard finally got away out of the blue but Paris goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu grabbed his cross as Costa lurked. PSG though broke quickly and ominously whenever a Chelsea move failed, and that was the danger for Mourinho’s team.
From one such break, Ezequiel Lavezzi swung in a corner, and Cavani glanced in a header, but Courtois tipped the ball round the post.
And then, against the run of play, Chelsea went ahead. PSG did not clear a free kick, John Terry crossed from the left, Gary Cahill flicked the ball on and there, as ever, was Ivanovic to evade his marker Luiz – and nod past a stationary Sirigu.
It was, incredibly, the defender’s 30th goal for Chelsea – his seventh in the Champions League since 2009, more than any other defender. And the Serb has a habit of getting crucial ones.
Suddenly the atmosphere had changed – there was anxiety in the air. Blanc’s team were finding Chelsea hard to break down, with Ramires and Nemanja Matic chasing relentlessly in midfield whenever a gap appeared.
But PSG have quality – expensive quality – in all areas. They cannot be kept down for long. Once again Matuidi crossed accurately from the left and this time Cavani lost Cahill to head in.
Now there was real danger, as PSG poured forward with spirits revived.
It took a brilliant interception by Terry to stop Ibrahimovic. Then, when the Swede broke through again, Courtois stopped his shot with a foot, and Cesar Azpilicueta was in the right place to block Lavezzi’s shot from the follow up. Costa shoved Luiz as tempers frayed.
Suddenly, for the first time in the evening, Chelsea looked vulnerable and the French side poured forward.
Ibrahimovic bustled and threatened, Matuidi drifted into dangerous areas, Cavani jinked and swerved around the edge of the area. Chelsea were holding on – but then they have always been good at that in Europe.
Matic was everywhere, hustling, tackling, getting a crucial foot in when it mattered, and most of the time it did matter. Then Cavani dribbled through once more but drilled his shot wide of the far post while Ibrahimovic had a late header tipped over the bar by Courtois as Chelsea secured the draw.

PSG (4-3-3): Sirigu; Van der Wiel, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Maxwell; Verratti, Luiz, Matuidi; Lavezzi (Pastore 81), Ibrahimovic, Cavani. Booked: Van der Wiel, Veratti. Goal: Cavani 54
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Willian (Cuadrado 79), Fabregas (Oscar 83), Hazard; Diego Costa (Remy 81). Booked: Ivanovic, Fabregas. Goal: Ivanovic 36.
Referee: C Cakir (Turkey).

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

Star:

PSG 1 Chelsea 1: Ivanovic away goal gives Blues advantage in tight Champions League tie

George Scott

Jose Mourinho and his players had to trudge into the Parc des Princes after their driver failed to negotiate his way into the underground car-park.
Chelsea also had their moments on the pitch, but steering the way into the quarter-finals of the Champions League will be a whole lot easier thanks to Branislav Ivanovic's vital away goal.
Chelsea were back at full strength with Diego Costa restored to the attack after his three-match stamping ban and Cesc Fabregas back in midfield following a bout of flu.
And the visitors were certainly comfortable enough in opening exchanges, PSG conjuring little to suggest swift revenge for their away goals exit at the hands of Chelsea at the quarter-final stage last season
Blaise Matuidi did force an excellent save from Thibaut Courtois, back in net in place of Petr Cech, on 11 minutes with a powerful header from Edison Cavani's cross.
And moments later Zlatan Ibrahimovic had his first sight of goal, his weak header lacking the power to trouble the Chelsea keeper.
Ibrahimovic chose to come deeper to try and influence matters more while Costa was content to drop back, the powerhouse striker making his presence felt with a crunching challenge on PSG skipper Thiago Silva.
The French Champions continued most of the ball in this cagey affair, David Luiz moved into midfield against his former side help deny Chelsea's playmakers space and time.
This was turning out to be classic Mourinho tactics on the road in the knockout stages.
But as half-time approach, so Chelsea began to edge further forward. Eden Hazard, coveted by the moneybags French side, burst forward and his driven cross was well gathered by goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu with Costa lurking.
But Chelsea's adventure almost caught them out as PSG force a corner after a swift break. Ezequiel Lavezzi's inswinger was met by the head of Manchester Unite target Edison Cavani at the near post, the Uruguayan's glancing header needing a strong hand from Courtois.
And PSG were punished two minutes later when three Chelsea defenders combined to grab a vital away goal.
In the 36th minute, a failed attempt to clear a free-kick presented John Terry with the chance to cross. Gary Cahill met the centre with a cute back-heel and up popped Branislav Ivanovic to loop a header past a stationary Sirigu for his seventh Champions League goal.
Doubtless Mourinho reminded his troops to protect their precious advantage during his half-time team-talk.
But less than 10 minutes after the restart, PSG were back on terms. Matuidi managed to break free down the Chelsea, and with Cahill guilty of ball-watching, the midfielder's cross was gratefully headed home by an unmarked Cavani.
The equaliser breathed life into the Parc des Prince crowd and their team. And on the hour Chelsea were had Courtois to thank once more as he brilliantly parried an Ibrahimovic drive, the rebound cannoning off Terry as Lavezzi pounced.
PSG, undefeated on home soil in their previous 32 in UEFA competition, continued to pour forward looking for the winner. Ivanovic saw yellow for bringing down Cavani and Luiz's header from the resulting free-kick needed to be tipped over by Courtois.
With 10 minutes remaining, Cavani fashioned another shooting chance fore himself. But yet again Courtois fully justified Mourinho's decision to restore him to the starting line-up with another fine save.
Last year Chelsea needed a late, late Demba Ba strike at Stamford Bridge to progress on away goals.
Their away goal in Paris last night might prove just as vital.

Paris St-Germain (4-3-3): Sirigu; Van der Wiel, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Maxwell; Verratti, Luiz, Matuidi; Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic, Cavani.
Subs: Douchez, Camara, Digne, Kimpembe, Rabiot, Pastore, Bahebeck
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Matic, Ramires; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Costa.
Subs: Cech, Filipe Luis, Zouma, Oscar, Cuadrado, Drogba, Remy.

Everton 1-0

Independent:

Willian fires in vital deflected goal as Blues leave it late to maintain seven-point lead over Manchester City
Chelsea 1 Everton 0

Sam Wallace

It was unstoppable here, and when Willian scored in the penultimate minute of normal time the reaction on the Chelsea bench and among the players was that of a club who knew they had passed an important milestone. They had broken Everton at last and for Mourinho it prompted a march onto the pitch at the final whistle to shake the hands of his players rather than his usual scoot up the tunnel.
The night was not without its controversy and you could see in Mourinho's reaction to questions about the behaviour of Branislav Ivanovic that despite the glow of victory he was also spoiling for a fight. The Serb had rushed into a melee just before the goal and locked an arm around the neck of the substitute James McCarthy before thrusting his forehead into the player but was not punished by referee Jonathan Moss.
It had begun with a foul by Gareth Barry on Willian, the second yellow card of the Everton midfielder's night. Ivanovic's reaction was extreme and it was clear that the Chelsea manager saw the potential consequences when he announced in his post-match press conference that he would walk out if he was asked another question on the subject. He did just that during a BBC interview minutes earlier when the subject of Ivanovic came up.
Mourinho will doubtless point to the elbow that Robin Van Persie thrust at James Tomkins last weekend and by Friday he will probably have searched out a couple more examples. But the reality remains that this incident will, at the very least, be studied by the Football Association. It will not want another battle with Chelsea and Mourinho but it may have no choice.
Roberto Martinez had no hesitation in saying that Ivanovic should have been sent off. “If you want to be on top of the law, that's a red card,” he said. Even more galling for the Everton manager was that the Chelsea full-back was then central to the goal that ensued. It was his header from the resultant free-kick that Tim Howard punched towards Willian who drilled the ball in via a deflection off Steven Naismith.
The same Everton midfielder might have had a penalty against him in the first half for handball. Mourinho later claimed that Barry should have been sent off earlier, before half-time in fact. So the argument goes round and round with every team nurturing its own set of grievances and the FA pitched into the middle to make sense of it all.
As Manchester City ran away with victory against Stoke City, Mourinho was facing a cut in his club's lead at the top of the league to five points. In fact, he needed his goalkeeper Petr Cech, reinstated at the expense of Thibaut Courtois to save him in the second half with a brilliant instinctive stop from Romelu Lukaku before Chelsea went on to get all three points.
Everton also had a strong goalkeeping performance from Tim Howard, straight back into the team at the expense of Joel Robles. But Martinez's team are in are in a bad place at the moment and have just one win in nine league games.
As Mourinho said, Cech had two saves to make all game but both were vital. The first was the only chance the away team had before the break when Ross Barkley and Naismith worked the ball to Lukaku who should have done better with his shot. In those early stages, Chelsea almost overwhelmed their visitors but instead they failed to make the breakthrough that reflected their good work.
The Everton midfielder Muhamed Besic was booked within five minutes for a foul on Eden Hazard, a “soft” one according to Martinez who said that the low threshold set the standard for the rest of the game.
With Diego Costa sat in the stands for the third and last game of his FA ban it was clear again that the side lacked that cutting edge. Loic Remy took his place in the team and did little to reassure Mourinho. The first booking for Barry came when he thrust himself head-first into Cuadrado's midriff. Mourinho claimed Barry should have had another for a later foul on Hazard.
There was another appeal for Chelsea on 27 minutes when the young English centre-back John Stones wrapped an arm around the waist of Remy in the box and prevented the French striker from challenging properly for a cross from the right.
At half-time, Martinez took no risks with Besic and replaced him with McCarthy. Nemanja Matic had run the game from his position in front of the back four in the first half, but McCarthy prevented the Serb having as much of the ball after the break.
There was a good run and cross from Hazard just before the hour and whenever he was on the ball, it looked like there were possibilities for Chelsea. He had earlier drawn Seamus Coleman out of position and forced the full-back to foul him for a booking. Yet Hazard was on the ball too little for Chelsea. Matic struck a free-kick after the hour that Howard saved. Willian hit a shot over.
On 68 minutes Bryan Oviedo got the ball over from the left and Lukaku, completely unmarked in the six-yard area, had a clear sight of goal with his left foot. This was Cech's moment. The goalkeeper reacted instantaneously to block the ball with his foot and Chelsea escaped.
Mourinho has seen enough and unleashed Didier Drogba and Cesc Fabregas but it was not until the final moments of the game that they got their breakthrough. There was a goal for Matic disallowed when the ball took a touch off Ivanovic in an offside position. An increasingly fractious game eventually caught fire with Barry's red card and the ensuing chaos that saw Ivanovic put his arm around McCarthy's throat.
The goal came from a clearing punch from Howard that fell to Willian in the left channel. The Brazilian hit his shot low and hard and at the last moment Naismith thrust out a foot that put enough on the ball to take it past the Everton goalkeeper. The home bench erupted. These are the kind of win that every team that wants to be champions must produce.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Cuadrado, Hazard, Willian; Remy.
Subs: Drogba/Remy 70, Fabregas/Cuadrado 70, Cahill/Willian 90
Everton (4-2-3-1): Howard: Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Oviedo; Besic, Barry; Lennon, Naismith, Barkley; Lukaku.
Subs: McCarthy/Besic ht, Gibson/Barkley 74, Mirallas/Lennon 74
Referee: J Moss
Man of the match: Matic
Rating: 6
Booked: Chelsea Azpilicueta, Ramires, Fabregas Everton Besic, Barry, Coleman, McCarthy
Sent off: Barry

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

Guardian:

Chelsea’s Willian leaves it late to take the three points from 10-man Everton
Chelsea 1 - 0 Everton
Daniel Taylor

Every season there are standout moments when everything falls into place for the team who will eventually finish at the top of the league. For Chelsea this seemed as if it could be one.
The clock was turning into its 90th minute when Willian let fly with his right boot. A seven-point lead was in danger of being whittled down to five and in the moments preceding the goal it was clear how the frustration had got the better of one of José Mourinho’s players.
Branislav Ivanovic is likely to get a three-match ban for that loss of control when he grabbed the substitute James McCarthy by the neck, then rammed his head into his opponent, as the two sets of players argued over the challenge from Gareth Barry that brought the Everton player’s second yellow card to end his night prematurely.
The referee, Jon Moss, also booked McCarthy, Ramires and Cesc Fàbregas for their parts in the confrontation and both teams stand to face a separate FA charge for not controlling their players, but the most important detail came next.
Fàbregas aimed the free-kick into the penalty area and it was Ivanovic who headed it on. Tim Howard punched the ball clear but Willian was lurking 20 yards from goal. His shot was struck with power, from the outside of his boot, but it was the deflection off Steven Naismith that helped it into the bottom corner and had Mourinho talking of a “beautiful” win.
The relief was considerable because Chelsea might have been behind at that stage but for a sensational save from Petr Cech to prevent Romelu Lukaku scoring against his former club midway through the second half. Everton had defended diligently, with John Stones excelling in front of the England manager, Roy Hodgson.
Howard had produced a series of fine saves and, however stroppy Mourinho was when it came to answering questions about Ivanovic, nobody should think it particularly spoiled his mood.
“I don’t remember a team to be champions without a couple of victories in the last minute,” he said. “In my case every time I won the league title I had a couple of matches where we won in the last minute. This was the first time this season.”
It was a breathless finale that also featured Nemanja Matic, the game’s outstanding performer, slashing the ball past Howard in the 86th minute only for his celebrations to be cut short because it had taken a deflection off Ivanovic, in an offside position, on the way to goal.
Chelsea’s manager was even moved to describe it afterwards as being “fantastically well disallowed”, though his praise for the referee went only so far. Barry, he said, should have been sent off in the first half.
Mourinho being Mourinho, the oddity was that he forgot to mention it might have been a much more straightforward night if the referee had seen Naismith use an arm to lever the ball away from Juan Cuadrado inside the penalty area, with only four minutes gone.
By now Mourinho’s issue with the Premier League’s referees and what he perceives to be a “campaign” against his club is familiar. He goes too far, undoubtedly, but this was one of the more justifiable grievances to go into his increasingly thick file of complaints.
Cuadrado slipped in seamlessly on his first full start, interchanging positions with Willian, and was full of quick, direct running. Yet there were also times when Chelsea missed Diego Costa, serving the final game of his three-match suspension, and Everton actually had the best chance of the first half when Aaron Lennon and Ross Barkley combined to set up Lukaku.
Mourinho had left out Thibaut Courtois because he had seen signs of fatigue in the last two matches. Cech is a remarkable man to have in reserve and reminded everyone why his manager still regards him among the top three goalkeepers in the business.
It was certainly a brilliant reflex save to turn Lukaku’s later chance over the bar, from almost point-blank range, after Bryan Oviedo’s low cross had picked out the former Chelsea striker. Lukaku will feel he ought to have scored but Cech deserves the acclaim and must have played his way into Mourinho’s thoughts for the Champions league tie against Paris St-Germain next Tuesday.
On the balance of play the victory was deserved, yet it also seemed harsh on Everton. Too often this season Roberto Martínez’s team have been undermined by their defending.
Phil Jagielka played here more like the assured competitor of old and Stones’ performance was epitomised by one of the game’s outstanding moments to take the ball off Loïc Rémy with a sliding tackle. Higher up the pitch, there was also an assured performance from Barkley.
Chelsea, however, had most of the second-half momentum. After the hour there was a burst of pressure that involved Howard making as many saves in the space of five minutes as he had done throughout the entire match to that point.
The American, playing his first game since Boxing Day, showed in those moments why Martínez had brought him straight back into the team at the expense of Joel Robles. He was finally beaten by a deflection and the point was not lost on Martínez that Ivanovic played a part in the “hurtful” late goal.

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Everton 0: Willian seals it at the death for Chelsea
By Henry Winter

Chelsea persevere against stubborn Everton to grab crucial win for Premier League title race

These are not the performances of which memories are made but these are the results upon which titles are built. This was a night when Chelsea showed their perseverance, pounding away at an Everton defence in which Tim Howard and John Stones excelled, eventually breaking through a minute from time through Willian.
Chelsea’s hunger for the Premier League could be seen in all of their contributions; short of their creative best, lacking the cutting edge of the suspended Diego Costa, Chelsea kept going, kept hunting the goal as news came through that Manchester City were winning at the Britannia.
Willian ensured that Chelsea remain seven points clear of City with 13 games remaining. At the final whistle, Chelsea’s players celebrated loudly and were joined on the pitch by Jose Mourinho. They all knew the significance of this result, that this was another game successfully ticked off, another step towards the title. Willian took the headlines but Petr Cech took the players’ salute at the final whistle.
They were quick to congratulate a second-choice keeper still so good he would get in most Premier League clubs’ starting XI. Thibaut Courtois, Mourinho’s regular keeper this season, was on the bench and Cech certainly impressed. He made two saves from Romelu Lukaku, one in each half, both with his left foot. The second was particularly remarkable as it was at point-blank range, the 32-year-old stretching out his foot to clear after 68 minutes. An Everton goal then could have changed the outcome and given City more hope.
This was Cech’s fifth Premier League appearance of the season, guaranteeing a medal should Chelsea progress to the title. He has been on the field for 426 minutes in the Premier League this season and not conceded a goal, against Arsenal (replacing Courtois after 24 minutes), Hull City, Newcastle United, Swansea City and Everton.
Cech was one of the few on the field who was not embroiled in a fracas late on when Gareth Barry tripped Willian and received a second yellow to go with his first-half one for fouling Juan Cuadrado. Barry is due an unscheduled break now as his first yellow, his 10th of the season, brought an automatic two-game ban for the matches against Leicester City and Arsenal.
His sneaky stopping of Willian’s darting run infuriated Chelsea, and their players piled in. Branislav Ivanovic grabbed James McCarthy around the neck, appearing to bring his forehead towards the Everton player. A charitable interpretation would be that Ivanovic’s momentum ensured his head carried on towards McCarthy but Everton were aggrieved, and the Football Association could ask Jonathan Moss, the referee, to look at the incident again. It was a particularly strange action by Ivanovic as it was a free-kick to Chelsea and the clock was ticking down.
Mourinho was in no mood to discuss the incident afterwards. He was annoyed that Barry had not departed earlier, as he easily could have done for impeding Eden Hazard shortly after fouling Cuadrado. Chelsea should also have been awarded a first-half penalty when Steven Naismith handled.
It was 89 minutes of frustration for Chelsea but they kept going, kept looking for a way through. They were repelled for so long because Howard, returning to the side after six weeks out with a calf problem, produced some magnificent saves and Stones gave another display of composed centre-half play, reading moves well, intercepting danger decisively. He was so committed to keeping Chelsea out that he gave Bryan Oviedo a withering look when the full-back conceded a cheap corner from a Nemanja Matic cross. With Roy Hodgson watching, Stones again showed why he is England material.
This was one of those nights when Chelsea laboured without Costa to finish off their moves. Loïc Remy started but failed to trouble Howard.
Cuadrado impressed many Chelsea fans on his home debut. Light on his feet, quick to get forward, the Colombian enjoyed a promising 69 minutes, dribbling down the right, cutting inside, and linking well with Ivanovic, Willian and Hazard. Where Cuadrado also caught the eye was in his work ethic; after failing to convince Moss that Naismith had handled, he immediately went chasing the loose ball.
Chelsea were largely in control, with Matic dominating midfield. ­Willian, playing the central role off Remy, cleverly made a yard of space for himself and a curled a right-footed shot wide of Howard’s goal. Down the other end, Cech saw off Everton’s first attack of note.
Aaron Lennon briefly burst into life, passing to Ross Barkley, who was striding through the middle. Barkley passed to Lukaku, who advanced down the inside-right channel, but his low shot was repelled by Cech’s left foot. Back came Chelsea, with Cuadrado breaking through and shooting across Howard from right to left but wide.
Roberto Martínez made a switch at the break, removing Muhamed Besic for McCarthy, who had just received a lengthy pep talk from Duncan ­Ferguson. Everton really needed Lukaku to emulate Ferguson in his combative pomp, imposing himself on defences.
Lukaku was struggling to escape John Terry and Kurt Zouma, who put in one masterful challenge on the Everton striker, much to the delight of the home fans. Hazard then sped past Naismith and Bryan Oviedo but Howard saved, echoing his work for the United States against Belgium in the World Cup (although Hazard’s side eventually prevailed).
Then Matic whipped a free-kick over the Everton wall, but Howard was again equal to the challenge, stretching out his left hand to save. Howard then denied Willian.
Yet the save of the half came from Cech. McCarthy swept the ball first time to Oviedo on the left and the full-back transferred it low into the box. Lukaku met it strongly but
Cech showed all his enduring ­excellence to save.
The siege of Howard’s goal intensified. Willian drilled in a free-kick from the right that was punched out by Howard. He was beaten by a Matic drive but it was deflected off the offside Ivanovic. Then came that scuffle, which concluded with cautions for McCarthy, Ramires and Barry, who eventually departed.
Depleted in numbers if not spirit, Everton were finally breached. Ivanovic headed into the box, Howard punched clear but the ball fell to ­Willian, who returned it venomously, the ball flying via a slight deflection off Naismith between Howard and his left-hand upright.
Chelsea’s celebrations at the final whistle said it all. This was not a pretty win but it was a big win.

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

Mail:

Chelsea 1-0 Everton: Willian leaves it late to break down 10-man Toffees after Gareth Barry sees red
By Neil Ashton

There was a moment, less than a minute into Jose Mourinho’s post-match appearance, when the threat was real and the mood was menacing.
‘One more question I leave, so I’m more concerned with my reaction, so one more question and I will have to go,’ claimed Chelsea’s manager. Mourinho was back in Campaign mode, driving the Chelsea battle bus towards another ridge in the road. He left us with another cliffhanger.
Because this is Chelsea, because this is Mourinho, the repercussions and the recriminations will last for days. How sad that is.
Mourinho had just been asked about the moment in the 88th minute when Gareth Barry’s dopey challenge on Willian caused an almighty rumpus in front of the two technical areas.
In real-time Mourinho jumped out of his seat, followed wearily and predictably by the concertinaed figures of coaches Rui Faria, Steve Holland, Christophe Lollichom and Silvino Louro. Ramires was waving an imaginary card at referee Jonathan Moss, for which he was booked, and Chelsea’s bench were demanding the return of capital punishment down there.
Scenes like that make you want to cough up blood. What followed was the ugly side of the game, with players from Chelsea and Everton puffing out their chests and pretending they are all hard as nails. For the FA the focus this morning will be on Branislav Ivanovic, the Chelsea defender who was accused on social media of biting Everton substitute James McCarthy. The video is inconclusive.
Instead he is likely to be charged with violent conduct for shoving his head into the side of McCarthy’s left ear before Chelsea’s captain John Terry and Didier Drogba could eventually drag the doofus away. Lovely player and all that, but even the great players lose it from time to time.
‘Don’t make me laugh, don't make me laugh,’ scoffed Mourinho when he was asked by television after the game for his verdict on the events.
This is classic Mourinho territory, with every defence mechanism under the sun kicking in as he contemplates the prospect of a three match ban for his right-back.
What we do know is that the referee, who sent off Barry for a second booking for his chop on Willian, could not possibly have seen the incident between Ivanovic and McCarthy.
It was only two weeks ago, here at Stamford Bridge, when Michael Oliver failed to spot Diego Costa stamping on Emre Can during their 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Capital One Cup semi-final.

That was enough to send Mourinho nuclear and there is likely to be another mushroom cloud hanging over Stamford Bridge if the FA decide to punish Ivanovic. A retrospective three-game ban, which includes the Capital One Cup final against Tottenham, awaits.


The problem for Everton, on reflection, is that they failed to re-organise quickly enough to cope with the inevitable ball into the box after Barry had made his way down the tunnel.
Cesc Fabregas, on as a substitute for Juan Cuadrado, launched the free-kick into the box for Ivanovic to head towards Everton keeper Tim Howard.
The mistake Howard made was to punch it towards danger, into the feet of Willian idling on the edge of the Everton penalty area.
His corkscrew winner is a mere footnote.
A minute later, after Moss had signalled the end, Mourinho marched across the turf at Stamford Bridge to throw his arms tightly around Petr Cech in a bear hug.
Without Cech between the posts against Everton, who knows whether Willian would have gone on to score Chelsea’s winner in front of the Matthew Harding Stand.
On another night - and goodness knows the public deserves a well-earned rest from Chelsea’s disciplinary problems - we would be talking about Cech’s masterful performance.
They won this game, their 18th in the league this season, because Cech twice saved brilliantly, one in each half, from the feet of Romelu Lukaku. For the first, he threw out a left leg to deflect Lukaku’s effort wide of his post when Ross Barkley had split the Chelsea defence with a measured pass beyond Kurt Zouma and Terry.
He had to be on his game again in the second half when Lukaku, unmarked six yards out, should have put Everton in front. Cech’s save was breathtaking. Thibaut Courtois will be sweating, he has to be ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Paris St Germain in the Parc des Princes. It is no longer clear cut.
‘He touched the ball twice, he was a spectator,’ claimed Mourinho and it was difficult to argue.
‘This is what we need - competition with Petr and Courtois. The focus must be permanent and also a keeper can be tired - it can affect your nervous system.
‘Petr worked hard and I believed he was the best option for the team became John Terry was ill in the morning. I wanted leadership.’ Mourinho has redefined the term at Chelsea, braying at everyone and anything after maintaining their seven point lead over Manchester City.
His team could easily have been ahead in the first half, particularly when Stephen Naismith’s bizarre ball juggling act in the Everton penalty area went unpunished. It should have been awarded.
Instead we are sitting in the Court of Mourinho again, a place where the Portuguese coach sits as judge and jury. But what of the law? As we have discovered, Mourinho makes that up as he goes along.

MATCH ZONE BY SAMI MOKBEL
Petr Cech was preferred to Thibaut Courtois in Chelsea’s. Jose Mourinho probably wouldn’t call it a dropping, but that’s what it seemed like. Courtois took his place on the bench, suggesting there was no injury to the Belgian. With the Champions League clash against PSG on the horizon, on Tuesday to be exact, it’ll be interesting to see who the Special One plumps for. Mourinho has enough time to think about his decision with Chelsea without a game this weekend following their shock FA Cup exit to Bradford.
Ray Wilkins was at the Bridge to watch the club he served as a player and coach. He was sat just behind the dug-outs. Perhaps it rekindled memories of his bygone days in the Blues technical area under Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti.
If Jose Mourinho told his charges to keep a particular eye on Everton midfielder Steven Naysmith, here’s why. Ahead of the encounter, the Scotland international had scored in three of his last four Premier League appearances against the Blues. It would had been Naysmith’s handball in the first-half that caught Mourinho’s eye, though.

Chelsea: Cech 7.5, Ivanovic 6.5, Zouma 7, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 6.5; Ramires 6.5, Matic 7.5; Cuadrado 7 (Fabregas 70, 6.5), Willian (Cahill 90+2) 8, Hazard 6.5; Remy 6.5 (Drogba 70, 6).
Subs not used: Luis, Ake, Courtois, Loftus-Cheek.
Manager: Mourinho 7
Booked: Azpilicueta, Ramires, Fabregas
Goal: Willian 89

Everton: Howard 7.5; Coleman 7, Stones 7.5, Jagielka 6.5, Oviedo 7; Naysmith 6.5, Besic 5 (McCarthy 46, 6.5), Barry 7, Lennon 6.5 (Mirallas 74, 6); Barkley 6 (Gibson 74, 6); Lukaku 6.5
Subs not used: Robles, Kone, Garbutt, Alcaraz.
Manager: Martinez 6.5
Booked: Besic, Barry, Coleman, McCarthy
Sent off: Barry

Attendance: 41,592
Referee: Jon Moss
Man of the match: Willian

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

Mirror:

Chelsea 1-0 Everton: Willian breaks 10-man Toffees' resolve with dramatic late winner
John Cross

Roberto Martinez's men must have thought they'd weathered the storm but Willian's deflected strike snatched all three points after Gareth Barry's dismissal
Titles are won on nights like these.
Chelsea simply refused to give up even if they had to wait until the last minute before Brazilian playmaker Willian fired in the dramatic winner.
And it could not have been more typical Chelsea as it finished with a red card, a row and Jose Mourinho complaining about TV coverage.
This time it was BT rather than Sky as Mourinho did not appreciate questions as to whether Branislav Ivanovic should have been sent off.
Ivanovic appeared to head butt James McCarthy in the mass brawl as Gareth Barry was dismissed for a second yellow card after conceding the free kick which led to Willian's winner.
Chelsea rarely do things the easy way but the other side is their sheer resilience, never-say-die spirit and their refusal to settle for a draw is why they sit seven points clear of Manchester City.
City have reeled them in before but, from being level on points on New Year's Day, Chelsea have rediscovered a winning mentality and desire which was typified by their victory at Stamford Bridge.
Even when Chelsea are not at their best - and Petr Cech, Nemanja Matic and Eden Hazard aside they certainly didn't hit top gear last night - they still get their job done.
Cech justified his surprise selection ahead of Thibaut Courtois with a stunning point blank save from Romelu Lukaku. Cech is now just three behind David James' Premier League record of 170 clean sheets.
Hazard also never stopped running as he showed a desire which drove Chelsea forward and kept them going even when Everton were defying them at every turn.
Everton keeper Tim Howard almost single handedly kept Chelsea at bay with a string of stunning saves and it looked as if they had survived until the last gasp drama.
Howard was brilliant all night as Chelsea went close early on through Matic, Willian, Juan Cuadrado and Loic Remy while Steven Naismith was lucky to escape after a clear handball in his own area.
But after Chelsea failed to find the early breakthrough, the more solid Everton's defence became and Lukaku was their outlet as he also forced a fine save from Cech in the first half.
Despite Hazard's determination and Matic dominating midfield, they toiled and laboured. In fact, Everton should have taken a 68th minute lead but Lukaku's close range shot was blocked by a stunning reflex save with Cech's feet.
On came the big guns as fit-again Cesc Fabregas and Didier Drogba were introduced as Chelsea went in search of a winner. They thought they had it after 86 minutes when Matic's shot hit the net but it was flagged offside after hitting Ivanovic on the way through.
It boiled over when Barry saw red for a trip on Willian and Ivanovic then appeared to put his head into the back of the McCarthy's head as an ugly brawl broke out.
But referee Jon Moss did not take any action and you just knew that Ivanovic would play a part in the winner. Fabregas lumped the resulting free kick into the box, Ivanovic headed on, Howard punched the ball away and Willian lashed it home through a crowd of players from 20 yards.
The whole stadium went crazy as Chelsea celebrated the 89th minute winner as if they had won the Premier League already and, in truth, last night was one hell of a step towards doing exactly that.

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

Express:

Chelsea 1 - Everton 0: Willian strikes late to snatch all three points for Mourinho's men
Tony Banks

Willian scored a deflected goal to claim all three points for Chelsea
Jose Mourinho’s side were stuttering and stumbling until the Brazilian let fly with a low shot from the edge of the area that flew past the defiant Tim Howard.
But Chelsea last night owed a massive vote of thanks to veteran goalkeeper Cech.
The 32-year-old was recalled in place of the dropped Thibaut Courtois, and he produced two saves right out of the top-drawer to stop Blues old boy Romelu Lukaku. Had it not been for the Czech, Everton could have won this game long before Willian’s precious strike.
Mourinho sprang a surprise as he dropped Courtois for the first time since the Belgian came back to the club in August  after erratic displays at Aston Villa and against Manchester City.
Cech came in, and £26.8million January signing Juan Cuadrado made his full debut – with the injured Oscar dropping out.
Chelsea started strongly as Nemanja Matic strode through two tackles to shoot just over, and Everton were lucky when Steven Naismith appeared to clearly handle Willian’s cross, but got away with it.
The Brazilian curled a shot just over the angle as Chelsea got into their rhythm. But then Lukaku, on his first visit back to Stamford Bridge since leaving permanently in the summer, showed his power as he pounced on Ross Barkley’s pass and forced Cech to save with an outstretched foot.
Everton keeper Howard produced an equally good save to keep out Loic Remy’s flashing header. But as Chelsea poured forward the chances kept coming, and the Frenchman then skidded a shot just wide of the post.
Then Eden Hazard’s low shot was well saved by Howard at the second attempt as the pressure continued to mount. Everton boss Roberto Martinez’s ensured his side mostly had 10 men behind the ball as they fought off the siege.
The Colombian Cuadrado showed speed going forward but kept running into blind alleys, as did too many of his colleagues. He got into good positions, but then took one touch too many.
Hazard was one who became more direct, and he fired in a shot that Howard had to parry away. But the American World Cup hero produced an even better stop when he tipped Matic’s free-kick round the post. He was there again when Willian curled in a shot from the left.
But Everton were then foiled by the save of the night. As Chelsea failed to clear a corner, Bryan Oviedo fired in a low cross, and when Lukaku shot from five yards, somehow Cech once again saved with an outstretched leg. The old man had fully justified his recall with two pieces of brilliance.
Even when Matic’s shot was deflected in, Branislav Ivanovic was offside. It was that kind of night. Gareth Barry’s sending off for two yellow cards at the death looked likely to make little difference.
But from the free-kick Howard punched clear, and Willian met the ball on the edge of the area. It may well be a crucial moment in this season’s title race.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Cuadrado (Fabregas 70), Willian (Cahill 90), Hazard; Remy (Drogba 70). Booked: Azpilicueta, Ramires, Fabregas. Goal: Willian 89. NEXT UP: Paris Saint-Germain (a), Tue CL.
EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Howard; Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Oviedo; Besic (McCarthy 45), Barry; Lennon (Mirallas 74), Naismith, Barkley (Gibson 74); Lukaku. Booked: Barry, Besic, Coleman, McCarthy. Sent off: Barry 88. NEXT UP: Young Boys (a), Feb 19 EL.
Referee: J Moss (West Riding).

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Star:

Chelsea 1 Everton 0: Willian strike keeps Blues marching on
David Woods

Up until the 89th minute, the American keeper had looked set to thwart Chelsea almost single-handedly, topped by a couple of super-saves.
He was matched, though, by the returning Petr Cech, who produced two excellent stops himself, both with his feet from Romelu Lukaku, after coming in for the axed Thibault Courtois.
Cech’s performance led boss Jose Mourinho to walk 30 yards to congratulate him at the end of this tight tussle.
Willian’s goal came just after Gareth Barry was sent off for tripping him, having picked up a caution in the first half for felling Eden Hazard in similar circumstances.
The dismissal sparked some fiesty scenes with rival players squaring up to each other en masse and Branislav Ivanovic face into face with James McCarthy.
Despite all the posturing, referee Jonathan Moss was able to calm things down before showing red to ex-England star Barry.
When it came to beating Howard, it took a deflection off Steven Naismith, after Brazilian Willian shot from 20 yards, sending the ball into the bottom left corner of the stranded keeper’s goal.
The Chelsea bench went bonkers, all except for Mourinho, who immediately pointed to Gary Cahill, telling him to get ready to come on, with Willian being replaced.
Some might say Chelsea won ugly, but, in fairness, they tried to play football throughout.
But Roberto Martinez’s Toffees proved harder to chew this time round, having been thrashed 6-3 at Goodison in August.
There was a full debut for Chelsea’s £26m Colombian Juan Cuadrado, who looks set to fit in well.
But it was former Chelsea striker Lukaku, who had the first serious chance, in the eighth minute.
Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon - making his full debut on loan with the Goodison outfit - picked out Ross Barkley.
And his clever pass into Lukaku’s path allowed him to drive in a fierce low shot which Cech somehow deflected over his bar with an ankle.
Howard clutched a Hazard shot at the second attempt and then forced Howard to beat away at his near post with a snapshot.
The bearded stopper did even better soon after to hurl himself to his left to beat away a curling free-kick from Nemanja Matic.
He maintained his fine display with another impressive leap to his left, to knock clear a Willian bender, again with one hand, before it could sneak inside a post.
Not to be outdone, Cech proved he was no back number, with a sensational reflex save in the 69th minute.
Bryan Oviedo sent in a low ball from the left and Lukaku sidefooted with his left towards goal from six yards. Somehow Cech twisted his body to block with his left foot. Lukaku could not believe it.
Howard was beaten by a Matic drive just before the goal, but it was correctly rubbed, having taken a deflection off the offside Ivanovic.
Sadly for Howard the next deflected shot did count, much to battling Everton’s despair and the delight of the home faithful,
They went away all talking about how important king Willian’s goal will be if Chelsea win the league, with nearest rivals Manchester City winning 4-1 at Stoke.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Cuadrado (Fabregas 70), Willian (Cahill 92), Hazard; Remy (Drogba). Subs: Courtois, Luis, Ake, Loftus-Cheek.
EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Howard; Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Oviedo; Besic (McCarthy 46), Barry; Lennon (Mirallas 74), Barkley (Gibson 74), Naismith; Lukaku. Subs: Robles, Kone, Garbutt, Alcaraz.
REFEREE: Jonathan Moss.